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Friendship fable teaches children about acceptance of differences

3:05 p.m., Aug. 13, 2003--Meet Squizzy the black squirrel, who lives in Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park and teaches young children lessons about friendship and acceptance of each other. Squizzy is the subject of a new picture book, illustrated by retired UD graphic artist and photographer Jeannie Jackson and written by former UD journalism professor Chuck Stone.

Jeannie Jackson

The project began when Stone and his then 8-year-old son, Charlie, saw a black squirrel in the park, the first they had ever seen. Many years later, the small squirrel inspired Stone to write a story about Squizzy and his playmates, who came in shades of red, brown and gray, and how they played and lived together and didn’t care what color they were.

Stone knew Jackson because her husband, Dennis, an English professor at UD, is writing a biography of Stone, and he asked her if she would be interested in illustrating the book, “Squizzy the Black Squirrel.”

“I said ‘sure,’” Jackson said, “thinking I could do the illustrations easily in about 10 minutes each. I didn’t realize how many illustrations or how much work a children’s book requires. It was a learning but fun experience.”

The 10 minutes turned into countless days, painting 30 8x10 illustrations in oils for the book. Jackson received a fellowship from the Delaware Division of Arts for the project.

By coincidence, Jackson was well-prepared to illustrate a book about squirrels. “We have several squirrels in our back yard, and I had been photographing them in action because they are cute and fun to watch,” she said.

Squirrel models were easy to find, but finding a young boy model was more of a challenge. A faculty friend had a nursing student who was a young mother in one of her classes, and the student’s son became Jackson’s model for the book’s main human character, Marcus Chase Chafin, aka Marky.

Jackson had only one session with him and took several photographs of him.

A West Virginian, Jackson, who is a self-taught painter, said she wants to return to the area where she grew up and paint the miners, mines and landscapes of the area as her next project.

Jackson worked at UD for more than 12 years. She was a professional photographer at the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and after taking graphic design courses, worked six years for what is now Creative Services in the Office of Public Relations. Three years ago, she decided she wanted to devote herself to her painting full-time.

She has exhibited her works in oil, watercolor, pastel and mixed media. “I paint it all,” she said, “flowers, people, landscapes and things out of my head.”

Stone, now Walter Spearman Professor of Journalism at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, served on UD’s English faculty from 1984-91.

“Squizzy the Black Squirrel, A Fabulous Fable of Friendship” is published by Open Hand Publishing. For more information, visit [www.openhand.com].

Article by Sue Moncure
Photo by Duane Perry


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