The first children’s book on my agenda is a book called Taio & Regit. As you proceed to read this article, please keep in mind that this book is in the middle of the editorial phase where changes to the story are prone to happen.
*Concept art by Abigail Jacoby
As it stands, Taio & Regit is the story of two anthropomorphic tigers living in the modern world. Our first protagonist is Taio, a sweet rambunctious five-year-old cub who loves to play and fool around with his friends & family. Next we have Regit, Taio’s thirty five year old father who is a little more hardened around the edges, but whose walls are quickly melting every time he hears Taio laugh. These characters popped into my head years ago and for the longest time I wasn’t sure what to do with them. I loved them dearly, but I couldn’t find a way to incorporate them into any of my “serious” YA manuscripts. So, I just enjoyed the casual daydream about them going on adventures, learning life lessons, and Regit slapping his forehead every time Taio got into some mischief. It wasn’t until recently that I realized Taio & Regit would be perfect as a children’s book.
At its heart, Taio & Regit is meant to introduce kids to the concepts of mental illness. In this story, Taio notices that his father hasn’t been acting his normal self. Regit has been more closed off, more irritated, and much sad. Taio’s life is then turned upside down when he learns that his father has been admitted to a special hospital and he must now live with his aunt and uncle until his father gets better. During this time Taio struggles to learn why his father needed to leave, why is his father was sick in the first place, and whether or not Taio was responsible for it.
*Concept art by Abigail Jacoby
Now some people might be worried about giving their kids a children's book about depression & mental health. It’s a tough subject to learn that can eventually lead to talks about self-harm, suicide, and other scary situations. However, this is exactly why I wanted to write this book in the first place. Much of what is written is drawn up from my own personal experiences. I didn’t learn about depression until I was diagnosed with it as an adult, and that crippled me for the longest time because I didn’t know how to recognize my situation. Now-a-days people are much more open to talking about their mental health experiences, and this is my way of doing so. I wanted to write a book that teaches kids about these things in a safe and healthy environment.
I’ve attached the first draft of the book below for everyone to read. Mind you, what you are about to read is what we writer’s like to call the vomit draft. It’s the very first draft of the book, filled with problems such as pacing issues, spelling errors, & cringey dialogue. This is because the first draft of the book is meant to serve as the foundation of the story. As time goes on, we build off that foundation with rewrites and other drafts until we have ourselves the best version of our story. I am currently working with an extraordinary editor who will help me get to this point, and I will be posting the rewrites of this draft as they come along. Until then, please feel free to give my draft a read and let me know what you think!
Manuscript #1
Page 1-2 Taio could tell that his daddy was sad. “Daddy, why are you sad?” he asked. “I’m not sad,” said daddy. “I’m just sleepy.” But Taio knew when his daddy was sleepy. He always knew what kind of daddy he was that day. We see an illustration of Taio, an adorably small anthropomorphic tiger cub who is talking to Regit, his large muscular father, who is sitting in an armchair. We do not see Regit’s face, we only see him from the chin down. Page 3. There were days when he was Super Daddy. There were days when he was Silly Daddy. And there were days when he was Stinky Daddy. We see three different small illustrations. In the first illustration, we see Taio hanging from Regit’s arm with a big smile on his face. In the second illustration we see Taio dancing with Regit in the kitchen. In the third illustration, Taio is watching Regit punch a punching bag. In each illustration, Taio looks like he is having the time of his life while Regit’s face is either hidden or turned to the side Page 4. But today, he was not any of those daddies. Today he was Sad Daddy. So Taio curled up against his daddy’s chest and gave him a big hug before they both fell asleep. We see an illustration of Taio curled up against his father's chest in bed. Again, we do not see Regit’s face, but a protective hand is over Taio as they both fall asleep. Page 5-6 The next day, Taio waited for his daddy to pick him up from school, but it wasn’t his daddy who came. It was his favorite Aunty Kay and Uncle Jack. “Where’s daddy?” asked Taio. “Oh Taio,” said Aunty K. “Something happened to your daddy today. He got hurt. He needed to go to a special hospital to get better.” “But don’t worry!” said Uncle Jack cheerfully. “The doctors said your daddy is alright, but he might be gone for a little while.” We see an illustration that introduces us to Aunty Kay and Uncle Jack. Unlike Taio & Regit, Aunty Kay is a white tiger while Uncle Jack is a grey wolf. They’re picking up Taio from school, and Taio is starting to look worried. Page 7. That night, Taio got a call from his daddy. His daddy sounded like he had been crying. Taio had never heard his daddy cry. “I need you to be a good for Uncle Jack and Aunty Kay,” said Regit. “Okay? I’ll be home before you know it.” “Okay Daddy,” said Taio. We see an illustration that is split in two. On one half, we see Taio on a stool talking into a phone that’s a little too big for his hands. On the other half, we see Regit talking into the other line. His back is turned to us, and his room seems darker than the one Taio is in. Page 8. But Taio’s daddy was gone for a long time. A long, long time. We see an illustration of Taio walking into Regit’s exercising room that we briefly saw on page 3. The punching bag hangs untouched, Regit’s gloves and wraps lie motionless on a table. It seems that no one has been in here in days. Page 9-10 There were days when Taio’s daddy didn’t call to say goodnight. There were days when Taio didn’t feel like being good for Uncle Jack and Aunty Kay. And there were days where Taio thought that maybe his daddy wasn’t coming back. Maybe his daddy liked being away from Taio. Maybe it was Taio that was making his daddy feel sad. We see three different illustrations. The first one is a sad picture of Taio waiting by the landline for his daddy to call. The next is of Taio throwing a tantrum in front of Aunty Kay and Uncle Jack. The third is of Taio curled up alone in his bed. It is reminiscent of when he was curled up with his daddy on page 4, except now it’s just him, alone, holding a small stuffed tiger. Page 11. “No!” said Uncle Jack when Taio asked him. “That’s not true! Your daddy loves you more than anything.” “I think,” said Aunty Kay. “It’s time for you to learn what happened to your daddy.” We see an illustration of Aunty Kay and Uncle Jack speaking with Taio in the kitchen Page 12. So they went to the living room and sat down. “Taio,” said Aunty Kay. “Do you know what depression is?” “No,” said Taio. “What is it?” We see an illustration of the three of them sitting on a couch. Taio is in the middle with Uncle Jack and Aunty Kay on each side. Page 13-14 “Well,” said Uncle Jack. “Depression is a sickness that many people have. Depression makes it hard for people to feel happiness. Their body can only feel sadness.” “Your daddy has depression,” said Aunty Kay. “He’s had it for a long time now.” “But why?” asked Taio. “Why is daddy sad?” “We don't know,” said Aunty Kay. “Sometimes there’s a reason, and sometimes there isn’t. That’s why your daddy chose to go to the hospital. He wanted to learn how to get better.” We see an illustration of the three of them continuing the conversation. Page 15-16 “It’s good when people with depression ask for help,” said Uncle Jack. “There are doctors there that know how to help your daddy. “And when your daddy comes back, he’s going to need your help too.” said Aunty Kay. “How?” asked Taio. “By letting him know how much you love him every single day,” said Aunty Kay. “You can also help him around the house,” said Uncle Jack. “Doing things like making your bed, cleaning up your toys, and brushing your teeth help a lot.” “But most importantly,” said Aunty Kay. “You need to tell him how much you love him.” We see the final illustration of the three of them ending their conversation Page 17. So Taio started doing the things that would help his daddy. We see an illustration of Taio standing in the middle of his messy bedroom. Page 18. He made his bed… He cleaned up his toys… And he brushed his teeth every single night. We see three different illustrations. The first is of Taio making his bed. The second is of him cleaning up his toys. The third is him brushing his teeth. Page 19. And he waited… We see an illustration of Uncle Jack reading a bedtime story to Taio in bed. However, Taio’s head is turned to his bedroom door, as though waiting for Regit to come strolling in at any moment. Page 20. And he waited… We see an illustration of Taio helping Aunty Kay with the dishes. Again, Aunty Kay looks focused on cleaning while Taio’s head is turned to the front door which is visible to the side. Page 21-22 Until finally… We see a set of illustrations that tell the story of Regit coming home. The door to Taio’s bedroom opens. Taio hears it as he is playing with his stuffed tiger and turns Page 23-24 We see an illustration of Taio and Regit standing face to face. For the first time, we see Regit’s face. He's handsome, with an expression that is somewhat nervous, somewhat apologetic, and very much emotional. He has a small present in his hands for Taio. His right wrist, for some unknown reason, is bandaged, but his left one is not. Despite the present, all Taio can see is his daddy. Page 25. Daddy came home. “I missed you so much,” said Daddy. We see an illustration of Regit embracing his son. There are tears in his eyes. He hugs and squeezes Taio as though it’s their last day on earth. Taio is equally emotional as he hugs his father back. Page 26 After Aunty Kay and Uncle Jack went home, Taio did everything he could to learn how to help his daddy. His daddy taught him about things they could do together, like going for walks in the park… We see an illustration of Taio and Regit walking through a park. It is filled with trees, grass, and flowers. Taio is sitting on Regit’s shoulders as they talk to one another. Page 27. Doing yoga We see an illustration of Taio and Regit taking a yoga class together. They’re both trying to do the exact same pose. Regit seems to have the hang of it, but Taio looks like he’s about to lose his balance Page 28. And making sure his daddy went to see his therapist once a week We see an illustration of Regit sitting down with his therapist. He looks at peace as he discusses his past week with her. Page 29-30 There were still days when he became a Sad Daddy. Some days were really bad. On those days, Taio would run up as fast as he could and give him a big hug. We see an illustration of Regit sitting in the same armchair from the beginning of the book. Again, his back is towards us. But this time, Taio is running to him as though his life depended on it. Page 31. Whenever he did, his daddy would smile and then Taio would smile. Sometimes they cried. But you know what? We see an illustration of Taio giving his father a hug. Regit is now smiling. Again, there are tears in his eyes. But for some reason, they are tears of hope, not loss. Page 32 It was wonderful. We see an illustration similar to that of the previous page. Taio and Regit look happy with each other. The reader can relax and know that everything is going to be alright with them