Mel Elliot from Hastings is an artist, author and local business owner. Pearl Power and the Girl With Two Dads is the third in her Pearl Power series and answers questions children might have about same sex parents.
Mel explains: “A lot of kids aren’t brought up by traditional families anymore. We need to celebrate and make normal things that weren’t thought of as normal before. The message to the kids is that if someone has two mums, or two dads, or lives with their grandparents, then they still get told off just like you. It’s a book that tries to normalise different family set-ups. It’s 2017 and not everyone has a mum and a dad.”
The character Pearl Power is named after Mel’s own daughter, “She absolutely loves it. When the first book came out she took it into school and pretended she was actually called Pearl Power. The novelty has worn off a little bit now and I think that she gets a little embarrassed, but she really enjoys all the books.”
It was the experience of having a daughter that inspired Mel to write the first Pearl Power book which tackles gender stereotyping amongst children, “I have two boys but it wasn’t until I had my daughter in 2009 that I started to realise how unequal the world is and how children have these messages forced upon them by TV programmes and advertising as well as toys and toy shops.
“Not just girls but little boys as well. They are told to be a certain way by so many different media and I wanted to try and do something about it.”
Mel’s next project is to create a series of five minute animations staring Pearl Power, “She will go into a different story each time with prominent women from history. I’ve storyboarded the first one and sent it to an animator.”
Mel illustrates her books using a tablet drawing straight into Photoshop, “It’s all completely digital. For this style of illustration, it’s the quickest and easiest way of doing it.
“For the first book it took me quite a while to create the style, i tried using lots of different media. I went for a 1950’s style of design which I like because it’s quite a juxtaposition – the ’50s style and what the book is about.
“Once I get the idea, the writing comes really really quickly. The story probably took me day. It really flows once I know what I want it to be. It’s the illustrations that take a while.”
You can find more about Mel on her website.
