The impressive abilities of superheroes don’t have to be warp speed, x-ray vision or shapeshifting. Instead, super powers can be kindness, acceptance and other personal qualities. That’s what Kloey of Universe City aims to prove to young girls.
The colorful lead character of the newly published book Marvelous and Kind Kloey is the creation of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville alumna and illustrator Danielle Seago, of central Illinois.
“At one point, I made a doodle of a girl superhero,” Seago recalled. “When she saw it, my cousin Kathy told me she enjoyed the character, and we decided we should write a children’s book about her. We named her Kloey, a mix of our daughter’s names: Kinley and Zoey.”
Seago, and author Kathy Guthrie, decided their first book would promote kindness, and teach readers that it’s OK to need help and to ask for it.
“I want all little girls to see that kindness and acceptance can be super powers,” Seago said. “They don’t have to have any crazy, extraordinary feature. Just being kind is an amazing quality.”
Seago earned a bachelor’s in mass communications from the SIUE College of Arts and Sciences in 2011. She says she owes her eye for illustration and color to her studies at SIUE.
“I had a layout and design class that gave me such a great understanding of color,” she explained. “Thanks to my professors, I fell in love with design and learning which colors are associated with which feelings, the best placement of words in basic white space and more. I just soaked it up like a sponge.”
She channeled those lessons and used them to perfect every detail in Marvelous and Kind Kloey.
“Marvelous and Kind Kloey lives in Universe City, which is up in the clouds,” Seago said. “That way she can see Earth and all of the people she can help. Each character has different colored hair and superhero masks. I also really focused on including a diversity of characters, so that every child can see themselves as a superhero.”
Seago hopes Kloey’s experiences will resonate with parents, too. She and Guthrie are already planning the next book in their series, which will focus on leadership and what it means to be a good leader.
Inspired by Seago’s creative illustrations, SIUE alumna Paige Hampton, of Litchfield, reached out to see if she could partner with Seago to produce a book based on a story close to her heart.
Together they have published Faith Over Fear, a story about a beautiful little princess who fights a courageous battle. The lead character, Faith, is based on Hampton’s best friend’s daughter Faith Hartzell, who was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma at age six. After 15 months of being cancer free, Faith was diagnosed with secondary leukemia.
Faith passed away in March 2015, after a fierce battle against her health “dragons.” Hampton was asked to give the eulogy at Faith’s funeral, which inspired Faith Over Fear.
“While in treatment, Faith had drawn a picture of herself slaying a dragon – cancer,” Hampton explained. “Her portrait was my inspiration for this story. I didn’t really ‘write’ her story, rather I told it for her in a way that I know she would have loved.”
“Faith was incredibly influential in our small community,” she added. “She was truly loved. Many people commented after her funeral that they loved the story, and thought it would make a great children’s book for kids going through a struggle.”
Seago says she was honored and humbled to illustrate the meaningful story.
“Faith was a real superhero,” Seago said. “No, she didn’t fly or have super speed, but she was kind and incredibly brave and courageous. These are the same qualities I hope to promote in the Marvelous and Kind Kloey series.”
Hampton and Seago’s creation was a surprise for Faith’s mother, family and the community. According to Hampton, more than 350 copies sold in the first week. Faith Over Fear is available on Amazon.
Marvelous and Kind Kloey is also available on Amazon. For more information, visit Facebook.com/KindKloey.
Photo: SIUE alumna Danielle Seago illustrated the books Marvelous and Kind Kloey and Faith Over Fear.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=33&v=cbMZsNOu8kQ