A Horse Named Ray-Ray is a collection of stories about the special bond between girls and horses, and highlights a few of the many challenges of competitive trail riding. Imagine keeping your horse calm as you’re handed an open umbrella, riding through bouncing balloons, or over a flapping tarp. We wanted the illustrations to express the trust and teamwork, joy and friendship involved, as well as the diversity of riders and horses from all over the world. Sketched in pencil first, finished in Photoshop.
The author’s sister, Jenn, rode horses when she was young, but suffered a brain aneurysm as an adult. It was her brother’s creation and repetition of these stories that helped in restoring her memory.
Available from Amazon.
Proceeds help offset the cost of Jenn’s recovery.
Gabby Batts, Extraordinary Hero is a story that got its start in the classroom as a lesson to prepare students for the inevitable – conflict! It focuses on the cause and effect, and how to turn the situation around.
The author could imagine the main character in her head, with wild hair and freckles, but others, like the bus driver, needed to look like her real-life counterpart. A fun project, I sketched characters first and colored them in Photoshop.
Gabby Batts Extraordinary Hero is a great conversation-starting tool for parents and grandparents. And we found children really opened up to share their experiences on this topic in group discussions. It is available on