| About Rachel's Library
Rachel’s Library is the third and final book in the Rachel Series. The first two books, Rachel Captures the Moon and Rachel’s Gift, were clear adaptations of classic Jewish folktales. With Rachel’s Library I wanted to prove something to myself… that I could write my own story; one that was original and not an adaptation.
I can’t remember how long it took but I do know that the story didn’t come to me fully formed in a dream or sudden moment of inspiration. I had to work at it. But it did come eventually.
As with my other picture books I did my own illustrations for Rachel’s Library. I remember one gut-wrenching moment in my editor’s office when I showed her what I thought was a pretty good rough illustration of Rachel and some of the townspeople in a horse-drawn wagon on the way to Warsaw. Rachel was a ‘stowaway’ on the wagon and at the moment in time captured by the illustration, she had only just popped up from under the blankets to let her presence be known.
But where are they looking?
“Shouldn’t the other people in the wagon be looking at Rachel rather than away from her?” asked my editor.
She was right of course. They should have been looking at Rachel. But they weren’t. Why I didn’t think of this while I was drawing the picture I can offer no explanation. But the fact was that I had already spent about twenty-five hours on this drawing. I couldn’t erase the ‘problem’ areas because I had already sprayed the drawing with fixative. And I didn’t relish starting all over again.
But in an inspired moment, I thought of a solution. I cut scraps of drawing paper and pasted them over the faces of the people in the wagon. Then I drew their new faces, looking backwards, on the paper scraps. When I traced everything on to my watercolour paper, the ‘mistake’ had vanished!
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