Kadri Hinrikus in her book "With FatherThese are the feelings I had to face"

Writer Kadri Hinrikus has published a new book "With Father," illustrated by artist Jaan Rõõmus. Hinrikus discusses how her personal experiences with grief found their way into the book and how the title came about through a conversation with colleague Ilona Kivirähi.

Kadri Hinrikus's new book "With Father" carries personal experience within it-the author's own feelings that she has had to confront.

The illustrator who fit the story

The book was illustrated by artist Jaan Rõõmus, and his selection was no accident. "I've admired Jaan's work for a long time. It seemed that his artistic hand suited this story's world well. There's something direct and boyish about it," explains Hinrikus. Moreover, Rõõmus himself had similar experiences with summers, hiking, and time spent in nature, which helped him understand the book's world.

The hiking world depicted in the book was also personally familiar to the illustrator-his childhood was likewise connected to nature, long car rides, and time spent at his grandmother's place.

A surprising coincidence hidden in the cover

Something unexpected happened with the book's cover. When Hinrikus saw the finished cover, she was struck by surprise: a large stone on the cover reminded her precisely of a stone at her family home, her father's birthplace. She had not told Rõõmus about it nor sent him any photograph. Later, it turned out that Rõõmus too had a very similar stone in his childhood memories. "Such coincidences always bring joy to the process of making a book," says Hinrikus.

The title emerged through collaboration

One of the hardest parts of creating the book was finding the right title. Hinrikus admits that for a long time she could not come up with the right one. Eventually "With Father" emerged from a conversation with her colleague and first reader Ilona Kivirähi. "So the title idea actually belongs to her," says the author.