Rahele Jomepour Bell's OUR FAVORITE DAY OF THE YEAR

Different cultures embrace and celebrate different holidays and events around the year that, while dear to them, might be unknown to other cultures. So, I flipped over Rahele Jomepour Bell's new book, OUR FAVORITE DAY OF THE YEAR, that gives children the opportunity to learn about other people's favorite day of the year. Rahele stopped by to talk about it... e: What was your creative process/medium for Our Favorite Day of the Year, can you walk us through it?
Rahele: When I want to start to make sketches for a story, first I read the whole story, then I write down the main characters of the book in my notebook.
      After that, I break down the paragraphs and make the words to the storyboard. Then I begin to draw spreads for my book. For Our Favorite Day of the Year, I sent the storyboard sketches to my publisher, and after I made revisions, my art director asked me to do the characters in color, and I also did a page like as final art. My art director liked it, and I continued with the style that was approved. For the final arts, I made different kinds of textures by using printmaking ink, gouache and acrylic, and printmaking brayer on different types of papers. I scanned the hand-painted textures and collaged them together to make the pictures using digital tools.


e: There are so many more holidays that there was room for in a picture book. What is your favorite day of the year?
Rahele: My favorite day of the year is Nowruz. It means "New Day" in Persian. Persian people in Iran and many other countries celebrate the first day of spring and the vernal equinox as their new year. Nowruz was celebrated by major cultures in ancient Mesopotamia as early as 3000 BCE. It has its origin in Zoroastrianism. Before Nowruz's arrival, all the families start to clean their homes, get a haircut, and buy clothes in preparation for the new year.
      On the day or night of Nowruz, everyone takes a shower, clean, and put on the new clothes. Everyone helps to set up the Haft Sin table, which is included seven symbols of spring. Families gather around the table and make wishes for the new year arriving.
      Then they exchanged love by hugging and kissing and saying: Nowruz Mubarak.
      Next is going to the grandparent's house and visiting the whole family like aunties, uncles, cousins. The best moment I remember was exchanging gifts and taking that crisp bills of money from my grandma that she kept them in her special edition Quran.

e: Is there a unique or funny story behind the creation of Our Favorite Day of the Year?
Rahele: Something is unique for me about creating the characters of this book. I am being inspired by real children who I have met them in the real world. For example, Kevin is very similar to a boy I met in the Unitarian Church in Ames. He had this beautiful red hair tied with a pink hair tie. And I had his image in my mind until he came to my mind when I started to revise this book's characters. I also included Nowruz image in this book. It is pictured in the quilted endpaper, showing Haft Sin table symbols. :) e: What do you think makes an illustration magical, what I call "Heart Art” - the sort that makes a reader want to come back to look again and again?
Rahele: What I think makes an illustration of a Heart Art is giving love to every small object pictured in that illustration alongside the main characters and the main scene. A picture of a pencil on the table in an artwork needed love while the artist was creating it. e: How do you advertise yourself (or do you)?
Rahele: As an artist who most the time spending hours and hours in my studio, I love being in social media and stay connected with my people in the bookmaking field. I like both Instagram and Twitter. e: What is your favorite or most challenging part of being a creator?
Rahele: My most favorite part of being a bookmaker is waiting for the next project coming to my hands! At those moments, I am like a child waiting for the next gift wrapping to be torn! The challenging part is waiting to see your book to be born. That is a long time of waiting! Being patient is a challenge! e: Is there something in particular about Our Favorite Day of the Year you hope readers will take away with them, perhaps something that isn’t immediately obvious?
Rahele: This book has lots of layers of concepts. It is not just about holidays or religious. It is about appreciating each other's lifestyle! It is about friendship, it is about we all are human, and we all love the texture of our different cultures, foods, celebrations. e: What are you working on next or what would be your dream project?
Rahele: I am about to finish my third book’s final artwork. My next book will be: Book’s Big Adventure, and I can’t wait to share it with the world; written by Adam Lehrhaupt, publisher: Paula Wiseman Books.
      My dream project is to create a good picture book with my name on its cover as an author/illustrator. Thank you, Elizabeth.

e: Thank you, Rahele!

Rahele: This is how I make my hand painted textures: https://www.instagram.com/p/B3XqH9WgG9k/

And these are characters of the book in the very early stages:
I do not have my dreamy fancy studio yet but here are some pictures from my favorite corner of the studio.



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