Young, autistic illustrator and her former teacher publish a picture book
By Amanda Schwartz
One day, Amee S. Neal gave her teacher at Ashton Elementary, Janet Rowe, a drawing she had made. Amee is autistic and was very shy and reserved at that time, but she loved to draw and read. She was always the Accelerated Reader of the month and year; Janet thinks she may still hold the school record today.
“I was honored she would give me drawings. I became friends with her family,” Janet said, describing via email how she taught Amee’s older sister then Amee herself. “I told her, if I ever wrote a book, I would ask her to be the illustrator.”
Janet was an elementary educator for 34 years in Mason County and retired in 2013. After retiring, she began volunteering as a Read Aloud WV classroom reader, reading to her granddaughter’s Kindergarten class and a first-grade class at Martha Elementary. During this time, she was inspired to write her own children’s book, making good on her promise to Amee years before.
“I approached Amee and her mother, Kelly, about going on an adventure to become an illustrator for a story I had written,” Janet said. “I explained, I knew nothing about being an author and getting a book published, but I was going to research it and find out. Amee was thrilled and so was her mother.”
Two years later, Janet came into some unexpected money and used it to self-publish their book – Aliera Wants to be a Monkey – through Covenant Books, Inc. The process took eight months, and both Janet and Amee were a little disappointed in the end to find out that their book would only be available to purchase online, not in stores.
Even so, they persevered. Amee and Janet began visiting local schools to share their story and promote their book. “I would read the book aloud and Amee would talk about being an illustrator and draw the picture that is on the cover of our book while talking,” Janet explained. “She did a great job and got better and better.” Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic put a halt to these visits, but the pair hopes to resume them next year.
In the meantime, they finished their second book! Janet is currently searching for an agent to represent them, with the hope that this book can be sold in retail stores.
“I would like Amee to be in the spotlight!” she shared. “She does many artistic pieces other than illustrations for me. She wants to use her talents to be an inspiration for others, and I would like to see our book get published so we can be partners all the way through life.”