The Beautiful Blur is a unique collaboration between poet Katie Dolan-Morrison and illustrator Sylvie Theriault. It’s a lovely–dare I say, beautiful–illustrated book that uses colour and form to capture a child’s imagination. At the same time, the words speak directly to a mother’s heart and the experience of growing together.
“To me the beautiful blur is giving an adjective to the reality that motherhood is a blur and turning it into a positive.” – Katie Dolan-Morrison.
“It started with a poem,” Dolan-Morrison says of the book, “which I wrote while in the trenches of the blur, the beautiful blur, as I call it. I think Beckett, my son, was about ten months old when I wrote it so definitely in the thick of things, and for me as a new mother I was very much focused on trying to capture every single moment, document everything, making sure that I was present and enjoying everything and not missing a thing. And I quickly realized that it’s impossible, even though I tried so hard.”
“I really don’t think it was until I became a mom that I realized exactly how time really is something that goes so quickly.” – Katie Dolan-Morrison
Dolan-Morrison originally shared her poem with friends on social media, and the feedback was overwhelming.
“It made me realize that maybe this poem could help other mothers,” Dolan-Morrison explains, “just so that they know that they’re not alone in how they felt, because I felt not necessarily alone… but I definitely felt lonely quite a bit.”
While alone with her infant son, Dolan-Morrison read to Beckett constantly.
“I remember thinking one day, if he doesn’t understand the words, why can’t I? And why can’t the words be for me? And then the images be for Beckett, because that’s really all he cared about was looking at the pictures and cuddling with me and hearing my voice. So, I approached Sylvie.”
The Beautiful Blur. Photo provided.
Ottawa-born Katie Dolan-Morrison and Sylvie Theriault met years ago while working at Ottawa Tourism. Still, they created The Beautiful Blur while Dolan-Morrison lived in Michigan and Theriault in Australia.
“I’m amazed at how well we worked together,” Dolan-Morrison says. “I would wake up to updates from her and go to sleep giving her updates.”
It took some time, but The Beautiful Blur was achieved from opposite sides of the world, and Dolan-Morrison hopes the book will inspire other creators.
“I would love for other people to hop on board and create books like this, so that moms have lots of options to read to their babies and make story time even more magical by being able to have something that they can hold on to and that resonates with them while entertaining their baby with some beautiful imagery.”
A QR code on the back of the book links to musical accompaniment by Debbie Erlandson that enhances the experience for mom and baby.
“This is more than just a book,” Dolan-Morrison says. “This is a movement to make story time even more magical by infusing words for the mother, images for the baby, and music to bring everything together to make it even more special.”
The Beautiful Blur is available through Amazon. To learn more about The Beautiful Blur and its co-creators, visit Little Firefly Poetry on Facebook or Instagram.
This post was originally published on here
