Ellen Jean Diederich of Fargo likes to sketch while traveling on airplanes.
She often plans out her neoimpressionist watercolors there, high above the earth, where nobody can bother her.
A bit of whimsy during a flight three years ago has become “Where’s Petunia?” It’s a children’s book about two cats and other animals, a couple little girls and some riotously rendered flowers.
Diederich, 43, a professional artist since 1985, has written articles for artists’ publications and newsletters, but “Where’s Petunia?” is her first foray into fiction.
“I had absolutely no intention of making a book,” she says.
On that flight three years ago, she was making preliminary sketches from photographs, which she later would turn into paintings. She drew pigs in a barn, then a picture of irises.
“I looked at the sketch and I said -- I have these conversations with myself -- ‘You’ve done this painting a million times, you don’t need to do this again,’ ” she says. “I didn’t feel like wasting a piece of paper, so I drew a pig on top of the irises.
“I thought, that looks cool. What would you name this painting? I thought, ‘Looking for Petunias.’ And I said no, these are irises.” And the idea clicked.
The click became the plot of “Where’s Petunia?” In the book, a cat, Art, looks through a nearby flower garden for another cat, his house-mate Petunia. In real life, the Diederichs had a cat named Art until he died in 1996; Petunia is based on their surviving cat, Ole.
While Art is looking for Petunia, he encounters other animals and asks them if they have seen her. But the other animals are gamboling through other kinds of flowers and, misunderstanding Art’s question, correct him by saying those flowers aren’t petunias and then naming them.
At the close of the book, there’s a glossary of all the different flowers mentioned, accompanied by pictures of each.
The book also features appearances by Diederich’s children, Monica, 14, and Brittany, 10.
Diederich did 37 paintings that are part of the story. Thirteen of those were done special for the book; the rest were works she already had completed. As an artist, she specializes in watercolors of flowers and animals.
“I loved the paintings,” she says. “I had so much fun with the idea.”
She worked off photos of the cats, many of them taken by her daughters.
She first started writing the copy a couple years ago. She sent early drafts to Lynette Wert, a retired Oklahoma college professor, who edited the text.
The first time Wert sent the manuscript back, it came with three pages of suggestions, Diederich says. Wert said, “As a friend, it’s really cute,” Diederich says. “As an editor, work on the plot.”
She worked on the story off and on for a couple years, sometimes putting it away for a while to return to painting.
When she finally finished it, she sent it back to Wert for a final edit. It was printed in February.
The book is an entirely local production. It was designed by Sheyna Laurich of Heart and Soul Designs and Ideas of Barnesville, Minn., and printed at Kaye’s Printing in Fargo.
Diederich tested the book by reading it to first-, second- and third-graders at Lincoln Elementary School in Fargo.
“All the kids loved it,” she says. “The third-graders got all the jokes. The teachers and the librarians all agreed it was a third-grade-level book.”
She’s enjoyed the process of both writing and painting -- although she admits to being more sure of herself as a painter. But it’s uncertain whether she’ll try another book.
“Everybody’s asking me that,” she says. “This is really fun. My kids are giving me all kinds of ideas. I’m not going to commit to anything.”
Sue Brown, a manager at Barnes and Noble in Fargo, says the book arrived at her store only a week ago, so she wasn’t sure how many have been sold.
But it could be popular, she says.
“It’s beautifully done. It looks like it’s got some really great pictures in it; with kids, that’s half the book.”
Readers can reach Forum reporter Tom Pantera at (701) 241-5541
Where to get it
- “Where’s Petunia?” costs $18.99. It is available locally at Archie’s West, Country Greenery, Shotwell Floral, Southpoint Pharmacy, Northport True Value Hardware, Zandbroz Variety, B. Dalton and Barnes and Noble.
It can also be previewed and purchased on this website.
