First of all, I'd like to say thank you to Linda Eve Diamond from the Beauty of Picture Books Blog for giving me the opportunity to introduce to you my first picture book which is called Mawee Wawee!
Just like an old and gnarled tree grows very slowly, my first picture book took some time to come along. Now it's here, and I'm glad to see it printed.
When I started writing the story of Mawee Wawee and doing the first sketches and illustrations, I was living with my three-year-old daughter, Liseli, in a beautiful wild garden without running water. That's why the pictures were made of gouache colors with rainwater or during the wintertime with melted snow.
It was a great time for five years—living in a small and peaceful cabin with a fireplace, nearly like Henry David Thoreau was living in his famous Walden cabin. This place, of course, was important for the spirit of the pictures and helped bring out my creativity.
The story of Mawee Wawee is quite simple: it's about a little twig named Mawee, who broke himself from his branch with a snap- and ran away. Unusual? Impossible? Not for him! During the day, Mawee wandered about, and when evening fell he began looking for a mouse hole or a bed of moss where he could spend the night.
He explored the world on foot, on the water and trough the air. He made lots of friendships, till at last he found his true love on a small island in the Pacific Ocean where he wanted to stay and put down roots and raise a curious, wooden family.
So enjoy, seeing the world through a little twigs eye. I'm sure, you'll like it!
Photos of the Garden & Lovely Little Liseli
Book Illustrations
Phillip Maiwald lives and works in Braunschweig/Germany. He studied Art at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste/ School of Fine Art, Braunschweig. He has two children, Liseli and Lois.Phillip features his first book Mawee Wawee, as well as other illustrations on his blog, The Pink Elephant.
Mawee Wawee is financed by a Crowdfunding campaign and printed with eco-colors on FSC paper. It's produced in a carbon neutral way on a small edition of 300 German and 200 English books.
Thank you, Phillip!