BROOKFIELD (SPECTRUM NEWS)— Children’s book authors use kid’s imagination to help fuel content for their collection of books.
Children have vivid imaginations but what happens when their imagination is captured and put into a unique story? Two authors are doing just that by creating books from the ideas of children.
Inside a Brookfield home, lie untold stories and blank canvasses ready to help bring them to life. On one side of the room is Natalie, the other Courtney. Together these two create Gnat and Corky books.
"It's been a journey, it's been a wild ride but I wouldn't change it for the world," Gnat and Corky Illustrator, Natalie Sorrentino said.
The pair met thanks to Natalie’s husband who pushed them both to create together
"He was like you know your little character need a voice, they need another person and enter Courtney and it's kind of like it exploded. She brought the words to my art, which it needed," Sorrentino said.
After three years in business with each other, it seems like these two are on the same page when it comes to their books.
"It's a joy to be able to bring this alive and to just have it resonate and speak to people of all ages in ways that you could never imagine," Gnat and Corky Author, Courtney Kotloski said.
The unique thing about these books is they are inspired by children, and the content is actually pulled straight from their imagination.
"We put together a list of questions that children could answer. Anything from like what does the tooth fairy do with the teeth? If you could go to the moon what would you do up there," Kotloski said.
They read at schools and encourage children to go online and fill out their questionnaire. Once the answers come in from their website these two use the imagination of these children as the fuel for their next book.
"They are our biggest inspiration and the whole reason we started the blog," Sorrentino said.
Courtney creatively crafts each story while Natalie brings to life the words on the pages with her water color art. From there, the hard cover goes on and their talents are bound together for all ages to enjoy.
"Really the messages in our books transcend in any age, they really hit you to the core and it's a universal message," Sorrentino said.
Although these books are not biographies on the kids who helped create them a sweet message of who the child is can be found at the end of each story.
"What you don't know until the end when you read the little biography in the back is that will is facing blindness. But it's not a story about blindness, it’s about just going for it you know, living your dreams your purpose," Kotloski said.
With each turn of a page, the reader is taken deeper into a special meaning or lesson created by the imagination of a child.
If you are interesting in submitting some answers for a book by Natalie and Courtney, you can visit their website HERE