Local women team up to collaborate on kid’s book

A local author has published her third children’s book under the careful eye of a 6-year-old.

Jamestown resident Jean Green donated her new book, “Rabbit… Rabbit… What’s Your Habit?” to the library on North Road last week. The book takes place in Jamestown and follows a rabbit through his experiences across the island.

Green, a retired Spanish teacher at North Kingstown High School, credits her grandchildren as the inspiration behind her books. She runs her work by Cora, 6, prior to publication.

“I wanted to write a book about Jamestown,” Green said. “I wanted to write it from the standpoint of an animal. I’ve been here 50 years, and I’ve noticed populations fluctuate.”

The increasing populations of humans in Jamestown led her to rabbits, which also have been booming. In the book, the rabbit answers questions asked by the narrator. Green describes Jamestown as a “silent character” as the rabbit goes from the windmill to Fort Getty to the Beavertail Lighthouse.

Green said a children’s book is only as good as the illustrations. Drawing “Rabbit…Rabbit… What’s Your Habit?” was Jamestown resident Alex Kent, who collaborated with Green on her first book, “Brady’s Bog,” which was published in 2018, and “Bolt of Shady Acre Farm,” in 2020. The main characters of both of her previous books are dogs.

Kent, who met Green through her management of the local farmers market, has two grown daughters. She keeps Green’s grandchildren in her mind, however, while illustrating.

“I try to keep that spirit that she’s reading to them,” Kent said.

Kent tries to keep something hidden in each of her illustrations. For instance, every illustration fades from painting to drawing and often includes little things, such as bugs, for children to explore.

Kent, who has a degree in art history from Wellesley College and a fine arts degree in illustration from the Art Institute of Boston, does not anthropomorphize her characters too much. There are some human characteristics, however, such as a female rabbit having long eyelashes.

Both books were self-published. While Green and Kent have discussed working with a professional publishing house, they are concerned about being split up. Kent has previous experience illustrating children’s books with the publisher Little, Brown and Company.

“I know some publishers might accept my work, but they’ll say, ‘We’ve got an illustrator for you.’ I don’t want them, I want (Alexandra),” Green said.

For laying out the work, Green and Kent used Beth Blanken, production manager of The Jamestown Press.

“I remember when Alex got hold of me for it,” said Blanken, who also owns her own website and design company, Blanken Arts. “It was just an amazing collaboration.”

Blanken described getting handed boxes of paintings by Kent for the book and realizing that she was going to have to “guard the paintings with her life.”

The three women said they hope to work together on other books down the line.