"Children see themselves in the words, deeds, and attitudes directed toward their parents."
A word about the illustrators...
My Daddy Does GOOD Things, Too! was illustrated by Nickalas Goettling and Undra Dabney at the Stafford Creek Corrections Center in Aberdeen, Washington. How they worked together to make these drawings is a remarkable story of cooperation and persistence in the face of challenges.
When the project was outlined to Dabney and Goettling as a book for children of incarcerated parents, they were told that the project also aimed to provide funding support for "Read-to-Me" programs in Washington state prisons, and that no compensation would be given for their help. They not only agreed to these terms, but began to talk about the potential this story might have to bring families closer, and to help children face the loneliness or anger that parental incarceration could bring. They frequently talked about the project as a means of "giving back to the community" that which they had taken from it through crime.
The process of creating images for the book was never simple. Undra lived in one housing unit, and Nick lived across the institution in another. They were allowed to meet once a week for two hours, under the supervision of Doug Raines, or Christie Goodenough, employees of the corrections center. Respectful discussion and keen observation marked these hours. It was decided that Undra would draw outlines, and backgrounds and would charge the images with motion and intention, and then Nick would pick up the drawing and create faces, emotion and detail. By working in this way, their images appeared to have been drawn by one hand.
Over the course of about ten months, Goettling and Dabney drew images every spare moment on their own. Together, they talked about their own childhoods, and grandparents, and experiences before coming to prison. One African-American, one white; one from the South, and one from the Pacific Northwest; one middle aged, and the other just out of his teens, they were able to find common ground in bringing this story to life.
The title My Daddy Does GOOD Things, Too! comes from events in the imagined lives of Matt and Marcie, but, for me, Nick and Undra made it real.
Undra Dabney, age 40
Creator of outlines, backgrounds and relational images
Born and raised in Montgomery, Alabama, by the time I entered the second grade, my instructors were encouraging me to pursue some sort of artistic career, so when I became eligible, I enrolled in the Atlanta School for the Arts. There, I studied Visual Communication and learned the basic components of art and design. However, when I left school due to financial concerns I developed my own business with some degree of success. As a result, my work-under the heading of "Last Chance Illustrations"-can be found throughout my hometown and the various places I have traveled.
Being given the opportunity to participate in this a project for children has been an enlightening experience. As part of my own effort to recover from the mistakes of the past, I know this work was well worth illustrating.
Nickalas Goettling, age 23
Artistic coordinator, detail artist and creator of cover images
As a child, before I could write, I spent many rainy Washington afternoons illustrating dinosaurs and robots from the stories I dictated to my parents. Now, sitting at my little desk, I am still struggling to articulate my reasons for participating in this newest story.
I want to look back on this incarceration experience as time well spent, engaged in a constructive, beneficial project. The positive power of a good children's book is admirable, and I thought that it was a strong medium to demonstrate that though people make mistakes, the error ought not ultimately define the person. I feel that an individual can best correct his or her mistake when given the opportunity to give back to the community. Unfortunately, these concepts are often absent in popular media. I hope my involvement can show these ideas in action, and that the book is both useful and entertaining for its audience.
I intend to finish a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Chicago as soon as I am able.