Fairlight artist Ione Krainyk's upcoming book, Penelope-Our House of Pretend, is "a true labour of love."
The first of three full-colour, hardcover, rhyming books, all illustrated by Krainyk, is due mid-November, and are all true stories, co-written by Krainyk's sisters, Zelda Luchenski of Regina and Nona McMillan of Ottawa. However, the trio has chosen to pay homage to their childhood memories and their grandparents by publishing the book under their first and middle names: Ione Rae, Zelda Gaye, and Nona Faye.
"It's a children's book about a playhouse," says Krainyk. "But it's a true story. My grandfather lost his arm in a combine accident. My grandparents-Albin and Lily Carlberg- moved into Fillmore with my mom and her three little girls when my dad left. The biggest part of the story is that family connection and the playhouse symbolizes that."
"My grandpa built that playhouse for us. My grandparents had 18 grandchildren all within seven miles of Fillmore. We played in it, we had birthday parties in it. Later on, it became a bunkhouse at White Bear Lake and my grandma had it set up with two double beds and two little camp beds, so six of us could sleep there. When my grandma passed away, the playhouse went back to Fillmore and became my mom's garden shed. When my mom was passing away, she made me promise to take it and use it as a playhouse for her great-grandchildren to play in and now, it's in my yard and my grandchildren play in it."
Krainyk's sons are now grown up. Jody lives in Sylvan Lake, Alberta and Jeremy lives in Redvers with her grandchildren, Jade, 9, and Coby, 6.
"Right now, it's decorated inside and out for Halloween. The kids play in it as long as they can and we have a little heater inside. In December, we decorate the outside of it, but of course, it's too cold for them to play in."
"Jade and Coby are really excited about [the book]. They see themselves in it and their friends. Every one of the grandchildren are in the book and everybody should be able to pick themselves out in the book. It's not just family, though. My grandparents touched a lot of people during their lives, and some of those people appear in the illustrations, too."
As one of Albin and Lily's grandchildren, Bev Moore of Carlyle, also makes an appearance in the book, and agrees with Krainyk about the playhouse's legacy of love.
"I remember staying in the playhouse at White Bear with some girlfriends from Regina," says Moore. Grandma always seemed to find room for one more person. Grandpa built that playhouse with only one arm. We were all so involved with them growing up and it's the memories of Grandpa's playhouse...There were so many age groups in it, but our whole family has memories of it."
"It's a very family-orientated book."
Krainyk agrees. "I felt very close to my grandfather when I was working on the illustrations," she says. "It was a very emotional rollercoaster and the love of my family and grandchildren inspired me that way."
"After Grandpa's accident-he lost his arm in a combine accident-he built the playhouse. I remember sitting on the boards with him. But it's also a universal story, even though it's about something real for our family. We played in the playhouse, we had birthday parties there...In the book, there are things like wiener roasts, and funny things from the past, like baby-doll pyjamas, an old record player and Beatles posters on the wall."
"The thing is, every word of it is true."
The book began when Krainyk and her sisters decided that their precious family memories should be preserved, if only for their families. "My sisters thought we should do a book. We started last October and I worked on the illustrations last winter. I did drawings and used pencil crayons as my medium," says Krainyk. "I've really enjoyed it. Each page brought back memories and is full of memories. For me, it was and is a labour of love."
"There were more memories when I shared the pictures with my family. It really blossomed from there as well, so much so, that this book is now the first of three."
"Penelope-Our House of Pretend's dedication page says that it's 'a true story from beginning to end,'"says Krainyk. "The next two books are also rhyming books about our childhood memories and of course, the stories are all true, even the names of our pets. 'A Pigeon Named Dove' is about a pigeon that my grandpa found. It's kind of an 'If you love something, set it free' story. Grandpa found her in a hayloft-and we got her when I was five and she passed away when I was 12. She followed us to school and sat in the school window. Our third book will be called 'I See the Moon'. It's an old song that Grandma used to sing with us. This book is basically about farm memories and family. We used to pile into Grandpa's old truck and on Sundays after church, we'd go out to what used to be Grandpa and Grandma's farm. I'm sure we drove my aunt crazy, but we'd all gather there and spend the day, riding horses, playing ball and all of those things that I'm sure a lot of people will remember doing. We were out there as much as we possibly could be."
Krainyk describes herself as "a fulltime grandmother" rather than a fulltime artist, and says that her entire family-especially her husband Richard-has been "very supportive and are all very excited about the book."
Set for a mid-November release, the book is $15. To pre-order a copy or for more information on signings, contact Ione Krainyk at (306)-646-4533 or [email protected].
