A literary family affair

Dubai mother writes her first children's book; illustrations done by her mother-in-law

We were sitting on the bed, reading. I had just finished the beautifully-written and illustrated book cover to cover for the second time. I love the story, said my four-year-old daughter. Will you also take me to the park and buy me a pink balloon?

That is exactly the result the writer and illustrator of Gracie's Pink Balloon wish to achieve. A simply told story about a little girl, her pink balloon and her visit to the park, the creators hope that children will love it, identify with it, and maybe learn something from it.

Former banker Susan Dibden, living in Dubai since 1999, has written the book. Her mother-in-law Noel, an artist living in England, has done the watercolour illustrations.

And yes, there is a real Gracie: Susan's daughter and Noel's granddaughter, Grace, now nine, who was affectionately called Gracie when she was younger. "The book started in my head when Grace was two. I was working full time, leaving home when she was still sleeping and trying to get home before she went to bed. But weekends were entirely our time together.

I was observing how she was always fascinated with balloons. And I think the favourite colour of all two-year-olds is pink. So - Gracie's Pink Balloon," Susan said.

"This is Gracie's story. It evolved out of me watching how she reacted to balloons being handed out; how she played in the park, going on the swing and slide and into the tunnel."

Interestingly, the balloon in the story lasts a long, long time. "Yes, it is fiction too," Susan said, laughing. "This is a super balloon. An ordinary balloon would have never made it so far. But it could happen this way. In a child's mind, it DOES happen."

Susan, 44, had the story in her mind as she worked in London and elsewhere (she has an M.Phil in Economics from Cambridge University, UK, and has worked in Merril Lynch, among others). When she came to Dubai,following her husband who joined Emirates as a pilot, she decided it was time to write it down.

"For once in my life, I had time. I joined the writing group of the American Women's Association. We all got together and brought our written work, read it out, land critiqued it in a positive way. I sat down and wrote out the whole story. It was in my mind already, so it took me about a day. I e-mailed it to Noel," she remembered.

Noel, 73, picked it up, read it, and began thinking of the drawings. "I chose watercolour with inks because it is a soft medium, just perfect for children's books," she said, during her current Dubai visit.

English backdrop