We are Andrea and Pamela, the creators of “Ocean Eyes”, a children’s book that explores the topics of death and grief. Our story follows a little girl after she experiences the loss of a loved and and she makes an unusual friend in Death himself, who begins to help her understand the concept of death and how to go through the grief process.
“Grief is an act of love”. That has been the driving notion that led us to create this story. The both of us had very recent experiences with deaths of members of our families, and thinking and feeling the aftermath of that made us come to the conclusion that death can seem scary only because of the love and connection we share with those around us. We often treat death as something that shouldn’t be talked about, even less around children, to avoid frightening them. But we believe that reluctance to discuss it is what makes it frightening to begin with. We fear what we don’t understand, after all. To normalize talking about loss and grief as another aspect of what it means to live can be immensely helpful. And well, story focuses on a little girl since most of us experience the death of elder members of our families when we are only kids.
Specialized counselors, like those at Mourning Hope Grief Center (https://www.mourninghope.org/), have assured that loss can be especially confusing for children because adults try to shield them rather than openly explain the situation when there is a loss of a loved one. The healthiest thing to do us talking honestly with them in terms they understand, avoiding euphemisms, and being encouraging to talk about the person that died.
Pamela González: I’m a designer who has specialized in User Experience, so my goal is to improve experiences for others. However, UX is often linked with web development and I really wanted to push the envelope and take those concepts in another direction. With “Ocean Eyes” I want to help bring a better understanding of the notion of death and advocate for a healthier grief process based on openness and empathy. For this project I’ve been working as the illustrator!
Andrea Magaña: I’m an actress and production assistant who has also studied narrative and fiction writing, so I was in charge of writing the story. I have always loved stories deeply, especially those that move something in me and leave me thinking, reevaluating concepts that I thought I already knew. After noticing that most books and films generally treat death as something that is exclusive to teens and adults and inappropriate for children, the idea came to try to change that.
As Mexicans, we grew up with a culture that has celebrations like Día de Muertos, the Day of the Dead. Life and death go hand in hand and we don’t ignore that. We honor those that have died and by being so aware of death, we celebrate life. In Mexico we also have La Catrina, a lady Death that isn’t terrifying or evil or cruel. So trying to look at death as an old friend we will eventually encounter is something we wanted to bring to this story.
Throughout the story we have also included some methods to cope with loss, suggesting certain tools that children -or any person, really- could use through their grief journey. Death and grief are topics for children if only we treat them with honesty and empathy, and not like the taboo most have grown up to believe it is.
The pages of the book are also going to have the story in both English and Spanish, so it could even be a tool for children to start learning either of those languages!
If you choose to fund this project (besides getting our sincere gratitude) you will get some pretty cool rewards. Everything from “Thank you” postcards featuring the characters of this story to the autographed hardcover book shipped to your home!
Some of the rewards you will find there are:
We have created special kits featuring some or all of these rewards, so make sure to check the tab with the description of each one of them to pick your favorite!
So, the risk is money and the challenge is time. When it comes to the money you give to us the two big questions are: What happens with that money if we don’t reach our goal? And what happens with it if we do reach it?
If we don’t reach the goal you don’t have to worry about losing money. As per Kickstarter guidelines, this campaign is all-or-nothing. That means that no one will be charged for funding this project unless we reach our goal.
If we do reach the goal, the money will go towards producing the first edition of our book! How exciting is that!?
So wish us all the luck in the world to make sure we do reach that goal. Support us if you can and please help spread the word about this campaign so more people can get involved and give us a hand in sharing this beautiful story with the world!
Thank you so much for taking the time to check or Kickstarter campaign! We hope that we can spread our message with your help and get a chance to send you a finished copy of “Ocean Eyes”!
We have included a description of the risks and challenges in the general description of our campaign, so make sure to read that! That way you can be reassured when it comes to funding this project.