SWAMPSCOTT — Mother-son duo Nata and Danny Ellis, 7, have taken it upon themselves to write and illustrate and their own series of children’s books, which are now stocked on the shelves of the Swampscott Public Library and also available for sale on Amazon.
Nata Ellis explained how the story for her and her son’s first novel, “Danny The Mighty Diver” — which spawned a series of books based on the titular character — was inspired by a story she used to tell him before bed.
“It’s a story that came up one day to encourage him to continue learning how to swim. At that time, he had large tonsils and was feeling very lethargic, so everything was difficult for him… So, it was really a story to encourage him to keep trying,” Nata Ellis said.
She continued, saying that Danny also started playing around with using artificial intelligence to conjure up images that ultimately fit the kind of tone that they were considering for their books.
“One day, he was playing with my phone using an app, and he wrote a prompt that created an image of a boy, a shark, and a whale (which ultimately became the inspiration for the cover of ‘Danny the Mighty Diver’),” she said. “And when I saw it, I was like, ‘Wow, that’s the story that I tell him.”
After asking Danny if he’d like to turn the image — and the story behind it — into a piece of writing, they recruited an illustrator and began the process of typing up the story to make it relatable for other kids. The pair decided to do both writing and illustrations on their own, though, after their first book.
“After we published the first book, Danny was like, ‘We should learn how to do it (illustrations) ourselves,’ and that’s how it started,” Nata Ellis said.
She added that the story which inspired the first book also acted as inspiration for the pair’s second literary work, “Danny the Mighty Diver and the Secret of the Ocean Letter.”
“When we were talking about the inspiration for the next story (the third book in the series), he said, ‘I want to write about Mimi,’ his grandmother,” Nata Ellis said. “That was our next goal, to design the cover and write the text before her birthday in July.”
She continued, saying that when they sit down to hammer down the details for a story, they always ask, “What’s next for Danny?” Then, once an idea is pinpointed, they start determining if the story will involve new characters and settings in order to make something new and fresh.
She said the process of conjuring up ideas and illustrations as well as sitting down to type the story up continues to get easier with each book. Their latest book, “Danny the Mighty Diver: Journey Through the Holidays,” took just two and a half months to complete, as they often dedicated their weekends to the work.
Nata Ellis said a major part of the book series is to help spread a sense of curiosity for kids, coupled with the inspiring idea that they can do whatever they set their minds to.
“I want the kids to know that if you want something and work for it, you can achieve anything and everything,” she said. “A big takeaway is that you can bring your ideas to life; with a little bit of patience, you can have a tangible product.”
She added that the pair will also gift the books to his friends and family members during the holiday season.
