By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Children can join a baby owl and a young Pegasus, who eats rainbows for dinner, as they fight the forces of the evil night Night Mare in Hays librarian Nicole Thibodeau’s new book “Pegasus Dan and the Little Owl.”
For her first her first book, Thibodeau teamed up with Ellinwood artist Robert Joy.
Last week, Thibodeau and Joy were on hand at the Hays Arts Center for a book signing.
All the books on-hand at the HAC sold out. However, an exhibit of Thibodeau and Joy’s artwork is on display at the HAC until the end of October. Books can be purchased online through Amazon for $12.
The book is a tale of tolerance that Thibodeau, 38, said was inspired by her uncle. Her uncle was gay, and Thibodeau said he was misunderstood by his family. He recently died, and Nicole went to California to help her mother with her uncle John’s estate.
“It was a very moving experience, and it really inspired me to search for bringing more narratives into the world that are about inclusion and overcoming fear,” she said. “That was the narrative of this story and what this story is about.”
The main character in the story is a young Pegasus named Dan, who lives in a treehouse in an enchanted forest. Dan’s parents tell him not to trust the night creatures in the forest below.
One day, Dan is flying to school and he hears a noise. He swoops down to find a little owl whose wing is caught under a branch. He realizes she is a night creature.
“He says, ‘Just this once I would like to help you, but will you promise not to hurt me with your talons?’ She says, ‘I promise.’ He lifts up the branch and she flies away,” Thibodeau said.
Dan thinks about the little owl all day at school and hopes her wing is doing OK.
“He flies home at the end of the day and tells his parents he helped a night creature in the forest below. They look very worried and they tell him to be careful that the night creatures can be dangerous,” she said.
Dan has rainbows for dinner and goes to bed.
He wakes up to the sound of a crash and finds his father fighting the evil Night Mare, a horse.
“The little owl flies into the window, and she hoots, and the Night Mare vanishes into the night,” Thibodeau said.
Dan’s father thanks the owl, and Dan and the little owl are friends forever.
The little owl in the book was inspired by a baby owl that baby owl fell out of a tree in Thibodeau’s backyard. After a friend who works at the Sternberg examined the owl, he deemed it healthy enough to go back into the tree.
“It is about friendship, because he is afraid at the beginning because he doesn’t know any night creatures,” Thibodeau said. “Then he gets to know one and she helps him out. It is the overcoming of fear and learning about different kinds of creatures, which could be in our world different kinds of people.
“I also feel in this time in our society it is so important to generate more narratives that are bringing more people together and increasing the amount of compassion.”
Painting and drawings by Nicole Thibodeau and Robert Joy at the Hays Arts Center
Thibodeau said she did not think the book was appropriate for very young children because of the length of the story. She recommended it for first- through third-graders.
“Pegasus Dan and the Little Owl” was self-published. Thibodeau became acquainted with Robert Joy through an area art show. Joy and Thibodeau corresponded through the mail, and Joy sent her intricately hand-decorated envelopes with her letters. Photos of some of these made it into the back of the book.
Thibodeau is a library assistant in the young adult department at the Hays Public Library. She received her bachelor of arts in studio art from Bethany College in Lindsborg and her MFA from FHSU. She also received instruction at the Art Student’s League in New York, Lacoste School of the Arts in France, as well as from Studio Art Centers International in Florence, Italy. Additionally, she earned a master’s degree in English from FHSU.
Thibodeau has written and hopes to publish other children’s books. She is also a poet and visual artist.
“It is rewarding to create,” she said. “That is my favorite thing.”