About the book

WHAT'S INSIDE?

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eXPLORE EMOTIONS

Children are able to see Pamplemousse experience a wide range of emotions throughout the story. They will feel his excitement as he prepares for the competition and join him in his confusion when the judges do not let him compete. They'll empathize with his sadness and smile at his joy. It's a definite wave of emotion!

overcoming obstacles

Pamplemousse loves to surf and his dedication is evident in his efforts to prepare for his first competition. However, his perseverance in overcoming obstacles is what really solidifies his deep love for surfing.

do what you love

The message of Pamplemousse is simple: If you do what you love , you will always feel like a winner. We want our children to grow up knowing that trophies and fame are wonderful, but how we feel about ourselves, and how we handle life's challenging moments, is what will leave us feeling fulfilled at the end of the day.

remain true to YOURself

When met with adversity, Pamplemousse could have easily given up and accepted that he was not meant to surf. Instead, he takes time to reflect on his experience and come to the conclusion that he is a surfing goat. Not being allowed to compete wasn't going to change that. He was a surfing goat when he woke up that morning, and he would be a surfing goat when he went to bed that night!

where did pamplemousse come from?

When COVID-19 sent everyone to work-from-home in March of 2020, we were all uncertain about what the future would be like. At the time, author K Monahan was working nights but the work-from-home switch happened to coincide with him also moving to an earlier shift. This meant he was able to spend some much needed time with his young kids. It also meant that he was able to finally be home for bedtime!

His daughter was a big fan of the “tell me a story” request so he would have to invent a new story for her every night. On one of those nights, he dreamt up a story about a surfing goat with the silliest name he could think of… Pamplemousse. The story is about how an adorable surfing goat is denied entry into a surfing contest because he’s a goat and the contest is for humans only. Pamplemousse has to find a way to still showcase his talents and keep doing what he loves. Well… his daughter LOVED it! She loved it so much that she asked for it night after night. She even retold it to her mom, who loved it as well. In fact, K Monahan’s wife loved it so much that she hired an illustrator to bring the story to life.

Fast forward to today and “Pamplemousse” is an official, published book. K Monahan is beyond excited and happy that the story can be shared with other kids all around the world. Although it’s a children’s book, he believes we all need to be reminded of its message from time to time: There will be obstacles in life. So, we can look at them as the end of our journey or we can find a way to overcome them and move on.

MORE ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS

AUTHOR

KYLE MONAHAN

Q & A

I wanted to have a fun name that my daughter would enjoy hearing and saying. Pamplemousse is French for grapefruit so, as an added bonus, I got to each her one word from a foreign language. 

No. My mind is always primed to share the next crazy story for my kids. 

I do not. I enjoy a good boogie board session once in awhile in the waves of the Atlantic, but I am not a surfer. I am also not a goat.

Seeing the initial sketches and final illustrations. Watching the story develop and seeing Pamplemousse come to life was incredible. Working with our illustrator, Deborah Wells, was an awesome experience.

Waiting. There is a lot of waiting between steps in the process, especially after all the work is completed and you are waiting to get it published and distributed. We were so excited the product was finished but couldn’t seem to get it out there fast enough. 

I think children would love watching the adventures of a surfing goat. Especially an adorable, sweet one like Pamplemousse. I think there is no limit to the amount of fun and antics he could get into. I could see 5 seasons worth of material…

I hope they learn that nothing in life is impossible. It may take longer than you originally thought, and you may have to find a new way to get there, but nothing is out of reach. At the risk of sounding trite, you can accomplish anything you put your mind to. 

I have so many inspirations that drove me forward when I was developing the visual aesthetic for Pamplemousse. During this process, I decided that I wanted to create something that was not only colorful and fun to look at, but I wanted my artwork to inspire a child’s creativity and imagination. I took inspiration from my favorite cartoons, peoples’ vacation photos, tropical arts and crafts, and cute baby goat photos, of course!

My favorite part about working on this project was designing the characters’ looks, honestly! I love the fact that you can just draw a person, an animal, or a thing and they seem to just come to life in their own little way, thanks to your own creativity. When I was designing Pamplemousse’s look, I wanted him to radiate a fun personality and come across as a playful, cheerful, and friendly kid (pun intended!)

Honestly, the most challenging part of working on this project was storyboarding the spreads so that they not only stood out as their own compositions, but also flowed into each other competently. However, it was also one of the most enjoyable parts of working on this project, getting to see the story unfold and come to life right in front of me!

I used the Procreate app for the iPad Pro, an Apple Pencil, and various Max Ulichney brushes to draw and paint my illustrations. Adobe Photoshop was used to format each page spread.

What I want readers to enjoy the most about my illustrations are how fun they are. I hope that readers are uplifted by art and look forward to seeing more.

ILLUSTRATOR

DEBORAH WELLS

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