Welcome to the second of a two-part series, ‘Creations from Twenty-Twenty’, which focuses on two mini-projects I worked on last year. Enjoy!

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Before I start, please note that there will be spoilers. With any luck, there might even be a plot twist at the end.

A few years back, I was at home washing dishes after dinner and daydreaming about making a storybook for my nephew. This was before my niece was born, but once she came into the world, I knew the story would be for the both of them.

It was a quiet night. I stood with a soaked sponge in one hand and dirty utensils in the other. A soapy bubble floated up from the pile of unwashed plates in front of me and, voilà, that was how I decided to write a story about the adventures of two toddlers and a giant bubble.

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I started the creative process by jotting down notes on sources of inspiration. There was the brilliant short essay by Maria Popova that explored the importance of children’s books for all ages; the 2018 Japanese film Mirai, about a kid brother who meets his younger-but-grown-up-sister-from-the-future; The Detective Dog by Julia Donaldson and Sara Ogilvie, a storybook with absolutely stunning artwork.

Each of these works helped to shape the storyline and illustrations in my book, and I always sought to figure out why. Was it the appeal of the color palette applied to an art piece, or the way a particular paragraph flowed? In turn, this made me think about how my niece and nephew would interact with the storybook. Will they trace the outlines of drawings with their fingers? Will they have fun sounding out the words in each sentence? What will make them throw their heads back in laughter?

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One summer, I was traveling in Hong Kong and came across an exhibition at the Asia Society HK Center. It was a project called Hidden Forests, consisting of quiet rooms and open spaces exploring the roles of local flora and fauna in the ever-expanding city. The visit ended up becoming a part of the storybook as I decided to create a scene with the program’s plant life, from Giraffe trees (Acacia erioloba) to Turn-in-the-wind leaves (Mallotus paniculatus).

A thick green forest would be just one of the backdrops that the kids and their bubble friend would travel through in this story. There is also one with dinosaurs, another in outer space, and yet another atop a “rocky, windy, frosty mountain.” The idea to construct a diverse collection of settings came from watching Mirai, which features rapid transitions between dramatically different scenes experienced by the protagonist; it was a reminder not only of a child’s spectrum of imagination, but also the depth of details they can conjure up for each world.

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But beyond the artwork and the adventures, I wanted to leave a message in the book for my niece and nephew. It’s a message from when I was watching that soap bubble float up from the pile of dirty plates a few years back. As the bubble drifted out the kitchen window and into the evening, I thought, Hm, those sparkling reflections on the soap bubble sort of look like the stars in the night sky. An odd thought to have while washing dishes, I know, but that’s just how it was.

And so in the closing scenes of the storybook, the two toddlers find their bubble friend sparkling in the moonlight, just like stars. Both the bubble and the stars seem far away, but when they reach out, the siblings find they can touch their soapy bubble friend.

The idea is that the bubble represents one’s dreams, hopes, and ambitions. Sometimes, it can feel as though those dreams are abstract flutters that cannot be reached. But if you stretch out with open arms, you’ll find them to be more real than you think!

Along the way, you might have to traverse wet jungles, befriend a Stegosaurus, build a rocket ship, and scale icy peaks. But that bubble will always be there, nearby, in the end.

That’s the message I’d like to share with my niece and nephew.

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A Postscript

In case you didn’t notice, I should admit that this storybook was not simply a mini-project from 2020; it did take a few years of researching, drafting, and procrastinating to complete. However, when I finished making the book last year, I did have plans to publish copies as part of a fundraising campaign with a charity focused on improving children’s literacy.

Unfortunately, as with many businesses and organizations impacted by the pandemic, the charity went on a hiatus and our efforts were put on hold. And as we all struggled and figured out how to navigate ever-changing government policies, awareness for personal health, and strive for general livelihoods, it wasn’t clear if this project would ever resurface.

Having written this entry now, I’m excited and looking forward to restarting those plans with the charity. I’ll be sharing more details in the next few weeks – stay tuned!