'A Perfect fit' - Little Hat Company hosts book signing

'A perfect fit' - Little Hat Company hosts book signing

By JOEY CRESTA jcrestafosters.com jcresta@fosters.com

Article Date: Monday, December 1, 2008

SOUTH BERWICK, Maine — Local children's book author and illustrator Jane Cowen-Fletcher appeared for a book signing at The Little Hat Company downtown Saturday, an event that coincided with the appearance of the shop's float in the Holiday Parade.

Cowen-Fletcher has written and illustrated such children's stories as "Baby Angels" and "Mama Zooms."

"Baby Elf's Christmas" is her latest book and her first to focus on Christmas. The elf on the book's cover sports a red hat with polka dots, and in a cross-promotion with The Little Hat Company, the shop designed the same hat to be sold in the store.

"I'm really excited about the connection," she said. "It's really fun."

She said when she drew the hat for her story, she wanted to come up with something original, unlike the pointed hats typically depicted on elves.

Cowen-Fletcher, who has lived in South Berwick since 1989, said the collaboration between her and the shop was "a perfect fit."

"Elves wear hats, and we have The Little Hat Company right here in downtown South Berwick," she said.

She specializes in books for young children, a decision she said she made because she'd rather draw pictures than write a lot of words.

She spent much of the 1980s in Benin, Africa, with the Peace Corps and currently is a librarian in town.

Cowen-Fletcher said she's been drawing through it all, but only began doing picture books in 1993.

She describes her work as having a retro style that hearkens back to the 1930s and 40s, and says her books arise because "sometimes it's just what I want to draw."

For instance, when her family got a dog, she just wanted to draw dogs, she said.

She has used her family members for inspiration as well. Her children and her sister, who she says is in a wheelchair, also have inspired her illustrations.