‘The book has brought people together;’ Cedarville University student illustrates children’s book

CEDARVILLE, Greene County — A Cedarville University student had the opportunity to illustrate a newly released children’s book, according to a spokesperson from the university.

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Alease Brier is a senior professional writing and information design major and she always thought she would be writing books.

When the opportunity to illustrate “Kids Can’t Drink Coffee” by Emma Townsend came about, she jumped on it and landed her name on the front cover.

The book was made available for purchase in July.

She didn’t have plans to enter the illustrating world until her mother, who is a well-known artist in Indiana, asked her if she was interested in the project as he own workload was packed, the spokesperson said.

Brier was onboard and was the new illustrator for the book.

“I didn’t want to say yes because I really didn’t feel qualified at first. But God had really just plopped this into my lap and kept the door open, so I decided to take the next step and give it a whirl,” Brier said.

She was given mostly free rein on her illustrations, and she knew she wanted to use watercolors to give the book a cozy feeling, the spokesperson said.

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The book focuses on a coffee shop and all the colorful characters that would frequent it.

The shop is based on a real place and real people from both Townsend and Brier’s hometown.

“The community in our town has really come around us, which has been super sweet. We did a book reading in the coffee shop that was the inspiration for the book, and we had so many kids attend that the whole floor was taken up by kids who wanted to listen. It’s really sweet to see how the book has brought people together,” Brier said.

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