Please note that these image descriptions are rough, just like the sketches themselves. That said, it is important to me that a book centering Disability and emerging from Disability culture is thoughtful about accessibility throughout its process. A work in progress, these image descriptions describe the dummy sketches on the previous page.
Sketch One
A rough pencil sketch that is a full-page spread. The image shows Acornopolis, an ethereal faerie city high up in a tree, and we are looking at it from below, making it appear especially tall. Various mushroom-like platforms extend off the tree, upon which there are little doors and whimsical, castle-like structures. Fluffy clouds float throughout the city and moths fly in and out of the frame. On the left page, just above a cloudy nest with eggs in it, typed text reads “Dear baby faerie, Congratulations on Hatching! Welcome to the Faerie Realm.” On the right page, in the distance next to the tree, a tall billboard peaks out of a cloud. It reads “Welcome to Acornopolis: City of Flights & Heights” with an arrow pointing toward the city.
Sketches Two & Three
In the first version, this sketch appears smaller, because it is rotated vertically, and the second version shows a closeup of each page. There is some typed text to the side explaining that this page depicts the inciting incident — in which the faerie discovers that she can't fly, and the book is arranged such that the reader will rotate the page vertically to make it appear as though the faerie has fallen from a great height. The top page, lighter in color, shows the faerie very tiny and very high up, falling among the clouds, with typed text below her that reads “You can’t fly.” The page below, gradually darker in color, shows our faerie landed on the dark earth, surrounded by mushrooms and fallen leaves. She looks frustrated and confused, belly to the earth with one eye open and the other closed, looking out at the reader. On the right edge of the frame, Snail pokes their head in, looking attentively down at the fallen faerie with some curiosity and perhaps a little concern.
Sketch four
At the top of the left page of this spread is typed text that reads “But I also know that with time, you will come to find that you can see things from the ground you would never have seen from the sky.” The pencil sketch shows the baby faerie having just placed her face underwater in a creek. We can see her eyes opened wide, excited, as though she is seeing this part of her world for the first time and is amazed! Underwater with her there are also a few fish and a mysterious orb. The faerie is swimming, one hand is reaching forward eagerly and the other behind her. Below her, there is typed text that reads “We will call you a Ground Faerie.” On the right page, a pencil sketch showing a tiny waterfall flowing into a little creek, under a night sky. Behind the creek is a log with mushrooms growing out of it, some foliage, and snail (who is tucked inside their shell). Typed text in the top left corner reads “And one day, little faerie, you will look at the moon and wonder:”
Sketch Five
In this pencil sketch, the faerie— who wears her hair in two buns— peeks over a giant snail and tenderly pats the snail’s head. The snail has their eyes closed and looks trusting and happy. Around them are various plants, flowers, and crystals. Text below reads ‘if I could fly, would I still know how to slow with snails’