hi everyone -

a while back, I decided that I wanted to write and illustrate a children's book. one early morning when I was half-awake, part of this story came to mind. I drew and painted the characters and put a little thought towards the plot. "production" kind of slowed down and I haven't thought much about it since. this may be a good way to turn the ignition again.

here's what I've come up with:

AARON, ALLON and the OAK on HIGH MOUNTAIN

allon is a young boy. maybe around nine or ten. around the age where things are happening to you that you'll surely remember in your adult life.
allon is facing a problem of some sort. I kind of wanted the problem to be a common thing boys of that age deal with. some of the issues I considered were auto-biographical and some were just related to me in some way. bullies - an 'addiction' to video games or other indoor things like that - parents divorcing. I don't know. the problem he faces, like everything else, is totally up to revision.

aaron is a bald eagle. at a crossroads in the problem allon is facing - maybe he's in some kind of danger - aaron swoops down and picks him up. I read about the size of a bald eagle vs. the average ten year old boy and I'm pretty certain an eagle could wrap his talons around a boy's biceps. I doubt the eagle could actually pick up a boy but, you know.

when aaron picks up allon, what he's doing is taking allon out of the situation he's in. sometimes you can't think clearly about what you're facing until you have a chance to get away from it and see the big picture. during this flight, allon thinks out-loud about his problem. he looks up to aaron a few times, who doesn't seem to be responding to what allon is saying, just looking very serious as eagles usually do. I like to think that at some point in the flight, allon looks below and says something like this: "even really big things seem really small when you're far away." to me, this means that when something huge happens, you can take comfort in knowing that, when time passes, the issue will become smaller.

allon, almost to a point of realization during the flight, says "you know what I mean?" or something like that. to which, aaron replies "yes." allon, of course, is astonished that the eagle who picked him up has been listening to him and is now responding.
"you can talk!?"
"yes."
"why didn't you say anything before?"
"you never asked me to."

aaron takes allon to a high mountain where there is a cliff-face, maybe over some water. at the top of this mountain is a giant oak tree. as the two of them hang out on this mountaintop, allon finally gets a better understanding of his predicament with aaron's wisdom and advice. I have an image in my mind of aaron perched on a branch on the tree and allon feeling the breeze at the edge of the cliff at sunset.

finally, I suppose aaron takes allon home.

the names aaron and allon both originate from the hebrew language. allon, the boy's name, means oak tree. and aaron, the eagle's name, means high mountain.

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so there's the idea. I'd appreciate feedback and development. I'm out of town for the week but when I'm home again, I'll scan and REC the watercolor I made of aaron and allon.

this, by no means, has to remain a children's story. I often imagine it animated as well.

thanks for reading!