Wauconda fiber artist illustrates new children's book
Loving Healing Press has announced the publication of "Jenny & Her Dog Both Fight Cancer: A Tale of Chemotherapy and Caring," written by the late Jewel Kats of Toronto and illustrated by Claudia Marie Lenart of Wauconda.
A bittersweet tale of mutual devotion and loyalty, this children's book tells the journey of Jenny, a young girl undergoing treatment for cancer, who discovers that her best friend, her family dog Dolly, also has cancer. Their friendship becomes their core strength in their fight against the deadliest of maladies.
Cancer has devastating effects on both physical and psychological condition of young patients. It takes extra emotional support to manage the disease in children and pets without losing hope; precisely the message in the book.
"Jewel Kats and Claudia Marie Lenart accomplished the unimaginable by telling an important and moving story in just a few mesmerizing pages," said Laurie Zelinger, Ph.D., ABPP, RPT-S, board certified psychologist.
Loving Healing Press considers "Jenny & Her Dog Both Fight Cancer" as an invaluable legacy of the late Jewel Kats, whose personal life and uplifting books for children, particularly those with special needs, have helped many families around the world, and continue to achieve it with works that are currently in print.
"'Jenny & Her Dog' is the book that brought Jewel and me together as creative partners and I cried the first time I read it," said Claudia Marie Lenart, who has pioneered a distinctive 3-D style of illustration using needle-felted wool.
"I think everyone knows someone, whether family, friend, or pet, who has struggled with the disease, and the story paints a picture of how the struggle can be eased with the help of a true friend."
"Once in a lifetime, a lucky publisher may find an artistic collaboration that communicates emotion and ideas in a way that grabs your heart and won't let go. For me, the teaming of textile artist Lenart and children's author Kats is both unforgettable and bittersweet because of the unexpected and devastating loss of Jewel Kats' unique voice in early 2016," publisher Victor R. Volkman of the Loving Healing Press said.
Lenart also illustrated a title in Kats' "Fairy Ability" series, "Hansel & Gretel: A Fairy Tale with a Down Syndrome Twist."
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