From the Publisher: “Bye, Ocean! We love you!” the little girl sang along, a big smile on her face, because she knew she’d be back again. Her heart needed this place.
This quaint and beautifully-illustrated children’s story perfectly captures that last-day-of-vacation, nostalgic feeling.
We’ve all experienced making memories at the beach with loved ones, friends, and the fun sanderlings as they scuttle along the shore. For many of us, these are current opportunities to soak in the sun and have a great time with our little ones at the beach. For others, the beach brings back memories of loved ones and times gone by. The words of this book and the works of art on the pages will connect with your heart and your fondest memories of spending time with family by the ocean.
“Bye, Ocean” is a heartfelt story about family, the beach, and soaking up every moment that is sure to touch the hearts of readers of all ages.
More info About the Author: Nadette Rae Rodgers lives and writes in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Naples, Florida. Her passion for writing, words and language developed at a very young age. Nadette is a nationally certified pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist, who loves to use books to help children grow in their speech and literacy skills.
Nadette is a member of the Quill & Scroll Society. She was also a featured author at the Beaver County Book Fest and Passages & Prose 2016: A Gathering of Authors & their Books. Nadette’s books have been finalists in the 2018 International Book Awards, 2018 American Fiction Awards, and the 2019 International Book Awards.
She is the author of The Illusion Trilogy, the Hoo Loves You children’s book series, and “Wanna Cuddle? And Other Modern Love Letters”.
Author Site About the Illustrator: Ally Bartoszewicz is a Pittsburgh-born artist celebrating life one vibrant brushstroke at a time. One of her earliest commissions, paid in get-out-of-history-class-free cards, was painting the cafeteria windows with her friends at St. Alexis grade school. St. Alexis is also where she met Nadette!
After running track and studying creative writing at Notre Dame, Ally gave teaching her best shot before following her heart into a dynamic, creative, entrepreneurial life.
She has visited the beaches of the Outer Banks with her family nearly every year since she was born– actually, technically even before she was born!– and considers the ocean a dear old friend (when it’s not knocking her off her boogie board).
Illustrator Site
“Bye, Ocean” is a quaint and beautifully-illustrated children’s story that perfectly captures that last-day-of-vacation, nostalgic feeling.
We’ve all experienced making memories at the beach with loved ones, friends, and the fun sanderlings as they scuttle along the shore. For many of us, these are current opportunities to soak in the sun and have a great time with our little ones at the beach. For others, the beach brings back memories of loved ones and times gone by. The words of this book and the works of art on the pages will connect with your heart and your fondest memories of spending time with family by the ocean.
“Bye, Ocean” (written by Nadette Rae Rodgers and illustrated by Ally Bartoszewicz) is a heartfelt story about family, the beach, and soaking up every moment that is sure to touch the hearts of readers of all ages.
The author and illustrator teamed up for a Q&A to take you behind the scenes of the writing and illustration process, as well as the inspiration for this nostalgic story.
Questions for the Author
Ally: Do you remember the first time your mom guided you to say, “Bye, Ocean”? What made that moment meaningful for you?
Nadette: Honestly, I can’t remember a beach trip when we didn’t say goodbye to the ocean! I think it was the earliest vacation I can remember. It was one of those things early on that I just assumed everybody did when they left the beach because it made so much sense to me. When you leave visiting with a friend, you always say goodbye, right? Leaving the beach felt like leaving a good friend behind. It wasn’t until I got older that I realized not everyone had that same tradition, which is what made me want to share it! It’s also a moment at the end of a family trip with my mom and I just to soak in one last minute of sunshine and sea salt air and time together before heading back to reality. Now, as an adult, I still take a minute to say bye to the ocean and it’s such a calming feeling.
Ally: What is the emotional journey like creating a book to honor this family tradition?
Nadette: It was so emotional, but in a good way. My Nana passed away seventeen years ago now and writing this book felt like a way to keep her memory alive. It was also so surreal when I got the illustrations back because somehow you captured her spirit in them. My mom cried the first time she saw the illustrations because the resemblance to my nana was uncanny! It was also emotional seeing the pages referring to the future days when I’ll be at the beach with my own future daughter and my mom to keep that tradition alive for generations to come.
Ally: Where were you when you decided to write this book?
Nadette: I think I was at Marco Island, FL when I had the idea and jotted down the main part of the story that repeats and a few ideas. Then, I finished it up when I got home from the trip and was already missing the ocean.
Ally: What was one of your favorite picture books growing up?
Nadette: The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn and The Most Thankful Thing by Lisa McCourt are two that instantly come to mind. They were my comfort books that I read with my parents again and again growing up.
Ally: Did any of your Speech-Language Pathology background influence your writing for this project?
Nadette: Yes, absolutely! Honestly, it’s so funny now looking at how my life has panned out. I just think I love words and language so much that it’s my main job helping people with their words and language skills and then my side passion is writing, which also goes back to words and language. To me, the two intertwine so well! For this book, I wanted to include some foundational reading skills since it’s geared for a younger audience. There is a lot of rhyming, repetition- which helps allow for children to fill-in-the-blanks, counting (1,2, 3!), and action words throughout the book to help build on language skills.
Ally: What’s your most ideal beach day?
Nadette: You know that time of day, around 3 or 4 pm, when the sun is glistening off the ocean and it looks like the water is sparkling? My ideal beach day would be one where that moment and feeling lasted longer than it usually does. I would probably want to read a bit, take a walk, and maybe even get some writing done while the waves wash over my toes.
Ally: Do you have any exciting projects on your vision board?
Nadette: Oh gosh, so many!! My dream would be to be able to work on a screenplay for one of my books someday to be a show or movie and get to see what I’ve been picturing in my head all these years on the big screen. I also have some projects up my sleeve to combine my SLP world with writing a little more!
Questions for the Illustrator
Nadette: What was your illustrating process like for this project? Did you listen to music while you did the art, inside, outside etc.?
Ally: I started by reading your glorious manuscript a few times, outlining what each illustration needed to include, and creating reference sketches of each character. Then, there were sketching days and painting/coloring days– and plenty of instances of me spreading all of the pages out on the floor to make sure it all flowed! For that reason, indoor workspaces were friendliest, but I did have the opportunity to take a few lucky illustrations on a coffee shop date to De Fer once! Ow ow!
I used lots of beachy reference photos, but within all the planning and structure, I gave myself ample permission to have fun with it, and bring a vibrant, childlike whimsy to each page. I wanted that joy that I always feel at the beach (think: spontaneous cartwheels in the sand energy) to shine through. As far as what I listened to, podcasts such as Almost 30 and The School of Greatness gave me lots of yummy brain food, and the entirety of Uncomfy’s YouTube channel was always the most calming, inspiring companion.
Nadette: Did you illustrate the book in the order we see it or did you paint as you felt drawn to/inspired to?
Ally: I illustrated the first few pages chronologically, and that allowed me to get a good feel of the setting, characters, colors, and style. Once that was established, I was able to work through the rest of the illustrations a bit more intuitively! It was less like a linear journey and more like a big puzzle.
Nadette: What paint color did you go through the most on this project?
Ally: R.I.P. to all the blues, pinks, and purples. Orange is hanging in there, but barely.
Nadette: Why did you choose a sanderling to hide on each page?
Ally: I have always adored those little birds! I could walk along the beach and watch them run around all day. There’s something delightful about their being on a probably very serious food-seeking mission but looking so clumsy and silly while executing it, so they felt like the ideal candidate for the job. The sanderling in the book started as a fun character to hide in every scene, but I soon realized he was also witnessing the whole story, and therefore maybe even a narrator of sorts. It felt right to include his antics as well as his moments of connecting with both the characters (particularly Nana) and the readers (with that wave good-bye at the end!)
Nadette: What was it like to illustrate a children’s book? And what is another project you have on your vision board/bucket list?
Ally: My typical medium is one-off original acrylic paintings, so 15 paintings together that told a single story was a challenge, but such a rewarding one! I was especially honored to illustrate this meaningful story about your family. Another project on my vision board is starring in your book’s future movie. I’ll send you my demo reel. Haha but actually, I have been slowly compiling poems and paintings that I think could make a cool coffee table-type book down the line!
Nadette: Where is a place where you feel most inspired to paint?
Ally: If I’m by some awe-inspiring nature– bonus point if a body of water or flowers are involved– or just any slice of life that makes me think “I want to savor this a bit,” then I’m either painting it right there or taking a photo to paint it later. Painting is my means of celebrating life.
Don’t miss out: Nadette Rae Rodgers will be launching “Bye, Ocean” with Ally Bartoszewicz at Generoasta Coffee on August 17th. She’ll also be launching “Wanna Cuddle? And Other Modern Love Letters”!
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