Longtime Marshalltown art teacher Julie Bousum is the illustrator of a new children’s book entitled “Polly the Talking Collie,” written by Denise McCormick.

Bousum’s artwork has also appeared in the books “If Picasso Went to the Sea” (2016) and “If Picasso Went on Vacation” (2017) both by Eric Gibbons, and the 2021 book “Leonard & Mildred Play Hide and Seek at the Grimes Farm” by Carrie Grimes Barr.

Most of the illustrations for these projects were created using paste paper collage.

“The papers are painted with colored paste. Then I texture this paper, I dry it, and then I use that as collage pieces,” Bousum said. “You can find tools to texture. It’s just very versatile.”

For “Polly the Talking Collie,” Bousum created the images for the front and back covers plus 20 illustrations within the book. She said it took time trying out different color combinations to ensure cornfields and the collie’s fur would look just right. The paper is then glued together in layers and affixed to matboards, measuring 11 by 14 inches each. She began the work last fall, completing it this spring.

Bousum and McCormick crossed paths in Marshalltown a few years ago thanks to a friend in common — Carrie Grimes Barr.

“I found out about Julie because she illustrated my best friend Carrie’s book. We were college sorority sisters, and we didn’t know that we were both launching our first children’s books in the same month. So when I came up to Marshalltown for Carrie’s launch at the nature center, I saw Julie’s work and actually bought two of her art pieces,” McCormick said. “I loved her work, and I said, the next time I do a children’s book, I’m going to ask her if she’s available, and she was.”

Polly is a real-life dog that resides on the McCormick family’s Iowa Century and Heritage Farm.

“We did this book a little bit backwards. Usually a text is given to the illustrator and then the illustrator works from there, knowing what each page is going to say,” Bousum said. “But in this case, Denise said she hadn’t fully written the book yet, but she shared the general plot, and she started sending me photos of Polly and her farm and her grandchildren and her husband, and I started making collages. I made a few just to show her what they would look like. She was so pleased with them…We had almost all of them done by the time her editing was finished. We had everything done early.”

McCormick, who is a success mindset coach and based in Mount Pleasant, wanted to write a book that would allow the dog to teach kids about responsibility, and to give a modern depiction of Iowa farm life. She plans to provide an educator’s guide that will be available on her website when people purchase the book.

“My husband was diagnosed with early dementia and she’s an emotional support dog for him now,” McCormick said. “The story starts with Polly coming to the farm and he teaches her everything that she needs to know to be a good farm dog, and now she’s teaching him things.”

McCormick said she’s received positive feedback so far about her book.

“It warms my heart, because it took me four years to come up with how I was going to teach this without being preachy to kids,” she added. “I was in my 50s before I started this personal growth work, but I believe it needs to start in childhood. So my goal is to eventually get it in the schools. Julie and I are going to partner up and go in and do workshops.”

The book is available on Amazon as a hardcover, paperback and ebook, with other platforms to follow.

Bousum spent 18 years teaching art in the Marshalltown School District and six years as an art instructor at Meskwaki Settlement School. She is currently a substitute teacher in Marshalltown and works with three junior high aged youth, giving them art lessons. She has also led workshops for the Amana Arts Guild. In addition to paste paper collage, she does paintings, drawings and pottery and mixed media projects.

To learn more about Bousum’s artwork, visit her Facebook page Quiet Cove Creations. She takes commissions and can be reached at: jkbousum@aol.com.