SSHS graduate publishes book

WHITEFISH, MONTANA - Children can now learn about Greek and Roman mythology while learning their ABCs thanks to Cassidy Meade's new book, "A is for Athena: The ABCs of Greek and Roman Mythology."

The paperback book is organized in an ABC format with every letter attached to a Greek or Roman mythological figure. Every page also contains an illustration representing the associated figure. Meade said it is targeted towards younger children mostly between the ages of five and eight.

Her passion for the book came from her childhood dreams of being a children's book illustrator. She began developing "A is for Athena" in summer 2018 when her older sister had chosen the name Athena for her new baby. 

"I was hoping to have it done in October of 2018 but it took a lot longer than I expected," she said. "There was a lot more research that went into it. There were a lot of different style changes, because I was still in school at the time and learning graphic design."

Meade said she was not well-versed in Greek or Roman mythology when she first approached the topic so she had to use multiple sources including library books and online encyclopedias to make sure her information was accurate.

"I fact checked within multiple sources for each specific god and goddess to make sure it was all the same information," she said.

She used Adobe Illustrator to develop the images where she experimented with several different styles. She said she did not take particular inspiration from any other illustrators in order to develop her own style.

"The original illustrations I was working on do not look like the current illustrations I have now," she said. "I probably went through like four or five different style changes and then I did a lot with color palettes. ... And I wanted to keep a very limited palette so it was easier to work with and the theme was more consistent."

The most challenging aspect of creating the book for Meade was deciding on the illustration and design style.

"I went through well over 100 iterations exploring different typefaces, color palettes, textures, style of illustration, you name it," she said in an email. "Part of that was due to still being in school when I started this project and having to experience that learning curve in the design industry. It was definitely a learn as I go process."

Every time she worked on the book she would learn something new about design like techniques, program features or about how colors interacted with one another. She said if she were to revisit the project a year or even a few weeks from now she would continue to find ways to adapt it. 

Meade recently completed the book in December 2020 and subsequently self-published it on Amazon on Jan. 10. Depending on the book's popularity she would consider eventually going through an established publisher. However, for now she decided to do it herself to keep costs low and retain more of her creative rights. It is currently only being sold on Amazon but she hopes to eventually sell it in local bookstores.

Meade graduated from Seeley-Swan High School in 2014 and currently resides in Whitefish, Montana. She graduated with a degree in graphic design from Montana State University in 2019 where she also indulged in photography. She works remotely as a graphic designer for an advertising agency.

In the future, Meade hopes to take on additional personal projects and continue to find inspiration.

Find "A is for Athena: The ABCs of Greek and Roman Mythology" at https://www.amazon.com/Athena-ABCs-Greek-Roman-Mythology/dp/B08SGZLFM1/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=A+is+for+Athena%3A+The+ABCs+of+Greek+and+Roman+Mythology&qid=1611707453&sr=8-1