OKLAHOMA CITY – Cherokee Nation citizen Kara Mitchell recently released her first children’s book.
She wrote and illustrated “Catching Kindness” herself. She began writing the story in 2023 and said it was a long project. The book was published by Magination Press, out of Washington D.C.
Kara Mitchell
Originally from the small town of Newkirk, Oklahoma, Mitchell writes and illustrates picture books for children, she is also a landscape designer. She received fine art and landscape architecture degrees from Oklahoma State University, and taught high school art before becoming a landscape designer.
The book follows a young boy in a grocery store showing kindness to other customers and employees, in a world that does not show a lot of kindness. The lessons to be learned is to do acts of kindness and watch it grow and spread to others.
Mitchell said she often gets cranky in grocery stores and wanted to remind herself and others that kindness is always a better idea. She added she loves drawing all kinds of people, so the setting and premise of the book was a treat for herself.
She shared what inspired the topic of the book.
“I listen to a lot of audiobooks, and I often listen to them one after another while I’m drawing or designing landscapes,” Mitchell said. “A few years ago, I had just finished listening to Malcolm Gladwell’s ‘Talking to Strangers’ when I started ‘The World According to Mister Rogers.’ The first book is about the communication with and the understanding of strangers and the second is the writings of a man who values getting to know and love others. I guess the combination of the two reminded me of the simple idea that kindness can grow and grow.”
Ten years ago, Mitchell started illustrating and writing to develop her creative voice. She said she queried many agents before she signed with her current agent who saw her idea and suggested she continue with the story.
“I wrote and rewrote, drew and redrew until we were ready to submit the story to publishers,” Mitchell said. “Once Magination Press offered to publish, I worked with the editor and the art director to fine-tune it and get it ready for printing. This was a quick turnaround. I only had about three and a half months to paint and draw the illustrations for the finals. I painted a lot of the images in pieces so that I could collage them together digitally. But the original drawings were done in gouache and colored pencil before I scanned them in.”
She comes from a long history of storytelling in her family of educators. Mitchell said this influenced her own storytelling, believing stories are a way of teaching and learning.
“My mom’s grandfather was a teacher in Kansas before coming to Oklahoma to become an attorney,” Mitchell added. “Her (Mother’s) family told stories as a way to make sense of the world. My dad’s parents traveled the region teaching at Indian schools. They moved around a lot before landing in Newkirk (Chilocco Indian School). Dad says that his mom and dad shared stories of their youth, while he and his siblings would tell stories and jokes to make my grandmother laugh when she was sad.”
Mitchell said she spent a long time being afraid to chase her dreams. She felt that the failures of the creative industry would be too hard for her but took the risk anyway.
“All the good stuff in life takes a lot of time and sweat,” Mitchell said. “But all of the struggle makes it all worth it, and it makes you stronger in the process. So, if you want to write, write! If you want to draw, draw! Do it for you and do it with honesty, and someone will see it and want to share it.”
To order “Catching Kindness,” visit www.amazon.com/Catching-Kindness-Kara-Mitchell/dp/1433847841.