H-D grad provides illustration for children’s book

A love of animals, art and a vibrant splash of creativity allowed a Hampton-Dumont graduate to illustrate her first children’s book.

Kara Hoegh, a 2011 H-D grad, provided the art for “I Call You Noodle,” a book written by Greenfield, Iowa native Rachel Wallace.

Hoegh, an employee at Lessing-Flynn in Des Moines and owner of Inspirations by Kara, had never illustrated a book before but Wallace, a co-worker of Hoegh’s, asked if she’d be interested in the opportunity.

“I don’t know how to draw very well. I know the basics but I’m not a drawer,” she said, “but I said, ‘Sure, we’ll see how it goes.’”

“I Call You Noodle” tells the story of the different nicknames parents give to their children and why those names fit their child. Hoegh and Wallace brainstormed ideas of what art could match with the book and that’s where Hoegh found an opportunity to insert her love of animals.

“We brainstormed together a few ideas and since it’s a children’s book, we knew we could go more towards animal drawings and that’s something I could easily do,” she said. “I made a simplistic design, similar to an emoji, because I figured kids could relate to a style that’s very simple.”

Hoegh designed art for each of the book’s 24 pages and made sure each one had its own unique twist. Hoegh took the words from the sentences, designed a picture of a mother animal and its child.

“Each picture has a different animal that goes with a line in the book and each picture coordinates with the animal,” she said. “Like, for the line ‘I call you noodle when you splish and splash,’ that picture is an otter and her baby splishing and splashing.”

Aside from the story, the book also contains an interactive section for parents and children to add to and personalize their own copies. The back of the book includes a scrapbook section, a family tree and a place for parents to fill out their own “I Call You” section for their children.

Hoegh said the book took nearly a year and a half to make but is now on sale on Amazon in both hard copies and for e-readers. The book will soon be available for sale at stores, including at Koerner-Whipple Pharmacy in Hampton.

Seeing the book in its finished form, Hoegh said, is surreal, as it’s the final product of a project that started from scratch and began with Hoegh having to learn a new side of design.

“It’s pretty incredible to see something you’ve been working on for over a year come to life and I’m proud I pushed myself to do a new aspect of design I never thought I’d be able to do,” she said.

Hoegh added that the book being available for purchase at local stores is also an unusual thought, as it’s brought her journey as an artist full circle.

“It’s crazy,” she said. “I first got passionate about graphic design in high school…and just to think about how much I’ve grown since then to where I’m a published illustrator now.

“You never know where you’re going to end up and the achievements you’ll get over time,” she added.