Momma, What’s an Abolitionist?
WRITTEN BY LIZ WAMSLEY
Join Maddie and her momma as they learn about the difficult subject of modern day slavery and what it means to be an abolitionist. Our challenge was to find a way to make this topic palatable to children without feeling too heavy but rather hopeful. The story is empowering to readers of all ages as we learn alongside Maddie how the choices we make can have a positive impact on people around the world. It was a joy to be a part of creating the characters and visuals that brought this story to life.
Peek into the process
Exploration
I really enjoyed exploring the character designs for Maddie and her mother, the author wanted Maddie to have parents of different ethnicities, but to leave it a bit ambiguous. Below are the explorations and final designs for them and for Sherry, a real life abolitionist the author met who inspired this story.
Layout Sketches
After the characters were designed I got to work sketching out the layout and working with the author on text placement. Below are some early roughs.
Final Illustrations
Once the layout and sketches were approved I got to work on the finished illustrations, below are a few spreads.