聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 After only a week listed on an Internet site that helps raise funding for various projects, a former Kamsack resident has already reached her target amount, confirming that her children鈥檚 book will be published and distributed early to mid-summer.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Former Kamsack resident Ilara Stefaniuk-Gaudet of Edmonton said last week that she has spent the past year crafting a labor of love in the form of her new children鈥檚 book, The Secret Wish of Dragon H.
鈥淭he Secret Wish of Dragon H is the moving story about a young dragon named Horus,鈥� Stefaniuk-Gaudet said. 鈥淎lthough he is a very social dragon with a very loving community and a very strong faith in that community, when Horus is alone in his bungalow he is a very sad dragon.
鈥淗orus is sad because he has always wished for wings; just like his Mother, and his sister, and his Baba dragon have. But only ladydragons have wings while boy dragons breathe fire, or so the story goes.
鈥淭hankfully, through the care of a supportive community and the magic of storytelling, the dragon formally named Horus is able to make the connections she needs to gain her wings and transition to become Harriet.鈥�
Intended to help create acceptance and normalization around gender-non-conformity, The Secret Wish of Dragon H is both heartbreaking and hopeful, she said. It includes a discussion guide for teachers and parents to aid in conversation with school-aged children, but the young and old alike can delight in the vivid, hand-drawn illustrations and playful antics of the story.
聽鈥淚 work with children and youth, and I鈥檓 shocked by the statistics,鈥� she said. 鈥淵outh between the ages of 18 and 35 in the LGBTQ community are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their gender-conforming peers.
鈥淎s a liberal religious educator, my job is to create acceptance in my community and the world at large, and this book is one more way to do that.鈥�
Daughter of Maureen Stefaniuk of Kamsack and Michael Gaudet of Manitou Beach, who are both artists, Ilara has been residing in Edmonton for the past six years. She has served in her role as Director of Religious Education for Westwood Unitarian Congregation for nearly five years, and is aspiring to return to school to study ministry in the foreseeable future.
The Secret Wish of Dragon H can be pre-ordered on its wildly successful Kickstarter campaign until April 20 by Google searching the book title (it鈥檚 the first search result), and will be available on Amazon.com and in Chapters and Coles bookstores by mid to late summer in both paperback and e-book formats.
Last week Stefaniuk-Gaudet said that after only a week on Kickstarter, she has already passed her goal and is now able to donate to libraries and schools 50 copies of the book for every $1,000 over the goal that she raises.
Autographed hard copies of the book are available for $40.
鈥淚鈥檝e had great response after having read the book,鈥� she said. 鈥淓veryone said that I should have it published, so I decided to proceed.鈥�
Stefaniuk-Gaudet encourages people to follow her blog for more creative projects and updates on the book at Leafcreaturelove.wordpress.com.
One may purchase the book through Kickstarter at:
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