In this blog post, I'm discussing my upcoming Kickstarter campaign for an inclusive read aloud picture book!
INCLUSIVE CREATIVITY
I'm passionate sharing about ways to use creativity to make projects that are more inclusive! As a parent of an autistic child, I've had to navigate how to create a safe and fun environment for my son that our whole family can enjoy.
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WHY THIS BOOK?
Hello at the Farm is a fun read aloud picture book that promotes non-speaking communication. Written and illustrated by Sherry Fry (Freyermuth), the book features common farm animals you've seen in typical picture books such as cows and ducks, but focuses on physical actions rather than sounds. The goal of this book is to have fun reading aloud, while also providing an inclusive experience for kids that don’t communicate verbally.
Above image: A sample page from the book Hello at the Farm publishing in April 2024
WHO'S IT FOR?
As an autism mom, I'm always trying to find ways for my son Ollie to participate in activities with a focus on his strengths. Ollie is non-speaking, and loves to move and play, so this book was written with Ollie's needs in mind, but it's a fun, active read aloud for any kid to enjoy.
The primary age group for this book are Preschool and Kindergarten age kids from 3-6 years old, but I've had fun sharing the book with older kiddos too! It's also a great way to spark a conversation about how people learn and communicate differently.
WHAT'S THE STORY?
Inspired by my own childhood favorites such as Eric Carle's Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Hello at the Farm is a lyrical picture book featuring the actions of 7 different farm animals.
Click here to see the prelaunch page and follow the project.
Above image: A sample page from the book Hello at the Farm publishing in April 2024
WHO'S THE CREATOR OF THIS PROJECT?
My name is Sherry Freyermuth, and my pen name is Sherry Fry (much easier for kids to say, right?). I'm the author and illustrator of Hello at the Farm.
I use a hybrid process of paper cut collage and digital techniques to create my illustrations. I'm inspired by artists such as Eric Carle, Leo Lionni, Mary Blaire and more. I hope to delight and inspire kids through my art and storytelling.
Sherry and her son Ollie after decorating their fidget Christmas tree in November 2023.
WHAT IS KICKSTARTER?
Kickstarter is a funding platform. Unlike other crowdsourcing sites, Kickstarter is a presale platform that requires backers to receive a physical or digital project in return. In other words, each Kickstarter is a presale for a new product.
Kickstarter is an all or nothing platform, so if a creator doesn't meet their funding goal, you won't be charged any money.
Why did I choose Kickstarter?
Kickstarter is helping many authors in the self-publishing space lauch books that they may otherwise be unable to afford to create. The best way to create a high quality picture book is to order in bulk, which requires a significant amount of money up front. I want to provide a high quality, full color, hard cover picture book for my readers, and this will help me determine if there's enough interest to order my book in large quantities. I plan to start with a small run of 50-100 books in order to keep my funding goal at an achievable price point.
My biggest goal is to get my book in the hands of as many readers as possible! If this doesn't work out, I plan to launch a paper back version of the book on Amazon in June 2024. By supporting the project on Kickstarter, the product you receive will be higher quality and longer lasting for your kiddos, but I love both formats and hope to make both available at some point!
(I'll let you in on a secret...my biggest goal is to make Hello at the Farm into a board book, but I've learned that I will need to order at least 500-1000 copies to make that feasible, which is very expensive, so for now, I'm focused on the hard cover format)
When is it coming out?
Hello at the Farm is scheduled to launch on Kickstarter in March 2024. My plan is to publish it and ship out books to backers in April 2024. The only risk in the timeline is if the printing process is delayed—then fulfillment could be delayed, however, I'm in close communication with my printing partner to minimize this risk.
Want to help get Hello at the Farm out into the world?
Right now, my project is in the prelaunch phase. It would mean the world to me if you viewed the page and selected "Notify me on launch" and consider sharing it with anyone you think would enjoy the project.
Click here to see the prelaunch page and follow the project.
Disclaimer! The only way to do this is a create a Kickstarter account. You are not committing any money at this time, and just following the project helps me so much because the more followers I have at the prelaunch, the better chances are that Kickstarter will promote my project to other people on the platform that love picture books.
What will the book cost?
I'm currently working on my costs and overall funding goal, but I do have a breakdown of the first two reward options that backers can choose.
Reward Tier #1 – Digital Book Bundle $12
The digital bundle comes with a PDF and ePub digital copy of Hello at the Farm, a pdf coloring book, a digital book mark, digital artwork, classroom discussion questions, and templates to make your own shirts, totes or decorate a bulletin board. Designed with teachers, librarians, and therapists in mind. Also great for crafty caregivers!
Reward Tier #2 – Signed Hard Cover Copy of Hello at the Farm $25
This reward includes a signed hard cover copy of Hello at the Farm, plus all the contents included in the digital bundle.
Stay tuned for more!
This is the overview of the Hello at the Farm project and the prelaunch on Kickstarter. The project will launch by the end of March. If this seems like your jam, I'd love for you to stay tuned for more by following the project and signing up for my newsletter.
Click here to see the prelaunch page and follow the project.
If you're interested in hearing about future posts on inclusive creativity, sign up for my newsletter here.
Thanks for reading!