Jackson native writes, illustrates Christmas-themed children's book

Dee Kesterson-Booker held steadfastly to the belief her adaptation of an old Irish/Welsh legend needed artwork.

She believed that about 10 or 11 years ago when she put in writing the traditionally oral story of a robin aiding Jesus at the Nativity, only through the narrative she created between a grandmother and a granddaughter putting up a Christmas tree.

She believes it even more now that her children's' book, "Mim's Story: How the Robin Got Her Red Breast," is in print.

It's the first book the 62-year-old from Jackson has had published after numerous attempts with "Mim's Story" and others.

"When you submit a picture book, most companies have artists that they know of; that's just something they didn't seem to want to do, and I didn't want it published without artwork," Kesterson-Booker said. "I just really felt it needed it, and it looked like I was right."

So who did she get to do the water-colored pictures featured throughout?

That answer is found on the book's cover, which depicts the baby Jesus lying in the manger with a hand extended to a red-breasted robin hovering above. Below the title and above the picture is: "Written and Illustrated by Dee Kesterson-Booker."

A clerk with the Child Support Unit of the Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney's Office and a self-taught artist for the most part, Kesterson-Booker went where publishers would not.

"Last year, I just got a wild idea that I might be able to do it myself," Kesterson-Booker said. "I did."

Kesterson-Booker needed only about two weeks. A friend's daughter posed as the little girl hanging ornaments, and her own grown daughter filled in for Mary. A big porcelain doll she bought in Alaska made for the swaddled baby Jesus.

She submitted the story and pictures to Archway Publishing in March and received the good news in a phone call about two weeks later.

Her reaction?

"Yeah, well, can we say, 'squealed like a 10-year-old'?" Kesterson-Booker said. "It's a good feeling. I hope every aspiring writer gets a chance to live through it. It's a unique experience."

The book was published Oct. 11 in both hardback and paperback. In it, the grandmother relays the story told by her own father when he gave her the Nativity set she's putting out, telling how a robin sacrificed its own nest piece by piece to nurture a dying fire to keep Jesus warm after a fatigued Mary and Joseph had nodded off. An angel ultimately rewards the robin, which was plain brown at that time, and all to follow with a red breast for the unselfish act of saving the baby.

"It's just a very sweet little story," Kesterson-Booker said. "It's a lot about family in an odd way; of course you have the holy family, but then you have a grandmother passing down the story her father told to her granddaughter. It's that whole thing about family and keeping tradition going."

Kesterson-Booker will sign copies of the book from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at Riverside Regional Library, 1997 E. Jackson Blvd. in Jackson, and from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday at Barnes & Noble, 3049 William St. in Cape Girardeau.

jbreer@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3629

Pertinent address:

1997 E. Jackson Blvd., Jackson, Mo.

3049 William St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.