Itty Bitty Bits nominated for book award

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This article was published 10/04/2014 (4284 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A local book designer’s work may have been just one part of a team effort, but her contributions were far from itty-bitty.

Itty Bitty Bits, a children’s book written by Anita Daher, illustrated by Wendy Bailey, and designed by the West End’s own Melanie Matheson, has been nominated for the Manitoba Writers’ Guild’s 2013 Manitoba Book Awards for best illustrated book of the year.

“Itty Bitty Bits is about a girl who is having trouble focusing on getting a job done and she tries to get everybody else around her to do the work for her,” Matheson, owner of Blue Claw Studio, said.

Matheson, Daher, and Bailey worked on the book for a year, from 2012 to 2013. Matheson said her job as the designer included taking care of the cover imagery and the title page.

“In this case, between Wendy and I, we both did the cover and the endsheets. They are really important; they’re the first thing you see when you open up the book,” Matheson said.

Matheson said the most important thing a designer does with a children’s book is to make sure the text can be easily read, including making sure the fonts are suitable for the audience, and that the imagery and colours being used are consistent. Overall, Matheson’s job is to make readers want to turn the page.

“It’s not like a newspaper article or a big magazine article or a coffee table book,” Matheson said. “In a picture book, it’s about an average of 600 to 800 words on 32 pages, so that’s not very many words on a lot of pages. Every word counts, so every page turn counts. The words have to be placed perfectly so that when you turn the page, the flow is right.”

The other three books nominated in the best illustrated book of the year category are 300 Years of Beer: An Illustrated History of Brewing in Manitoba by Bill Wright and Dave Craig, Confessions san pénitence by Lise Gaboury-Diallo, and Would Someone Please Answer the Parrot! by Beryl Young.

“I’m giddy,” Matheson said with a laugh when asked about her feelings on being nominated. “I’m just thrilled because it was a labour of love. Doing a book like this is really a team effort, so I hope we win.”

Itty Bitty Bits can be purchased at McNally Robinson  Booksellers (1120 Grant Ave.), Toad Hall Toys (54 Arthur St.), and Chapters.

The 2013 Manitoba Book Awards will take place at the West End Cultural Centre (586 Ellice Ave.) on April 27. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the ceremonies begin at 7 p.m. Admission is free.

For more information about the awards, including a complete list of the nominees, visit mbwriter.mb.ca

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