Making it BIG

“Librarians require big books to be used for storytelling!” Ferdie, the Marketing guru of OMF Lit, messaged me. He ended every sentence with an exclamation point, as though we were talking face-to-face. 

Ferdie is always, as I am, excited over book projects. Grace empowers us to see the bright side, forgetting the sales slump during the pandemic. 

He mentioned two “Oh, Mateo! series” books: All Aboard with Five Lolas and Half and Half. He also specified the new BIG size, but numbers never resonate with me. I asked him instead what I needed to do. “The editor will get in touch with you,” he replied. 

Joshene, the editor, did and said the text should be reduced to half, without losing the flavor of the original. 

BIG job!  

It took weeks before I could finish the abridged versions. I read them to a kid to make sure I got them right. The kid laughed, drooled, and squealed excitedly that I thought I was a genius—for a second or two. 

But other fears quashed that arrogance. Will the images still be as clear and as sharp as Beth Parrocha, the artist, originally created them? Joshene never lost her cool. Back and forth, forth and back, we did revisions, exhanged ideas, as best as we could.  

Two months later, I messaged Ferdie. “When can I see the two BIG books?”  

“At the Manila International Book Fair, in September!”

I rushed to the OMF Lit booth that one day in September to finally caress my BIG books. I was beyond stunned.  

I knew they were going to be big, but not THAT BIG! Everything suddenly grew BIG in and around me after that first shock. Exactly like grace, I thought. It is always bigger than what I ask for.  

I sent copies to my BFF Lucy’s grandchildren—one of whom is Zach, born with Down Syndrome, but who “is now learning to read,” said Lucy. 

Their photo is another BIG moment of grace.  

“When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you set in place—what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?”  (Psalm 8:3-4 NLT)