Two Seward residents have joined forces to create “Phillip’s Fiddling Fingers.”
Susanne Taylor is the book’s author, and Seward High sophomore Mackenna Wollenburg is the illustrator.
Taylor said the young character in the book came from a young man who was “folded into our family.” Phillip had to have his hands busy all the time, she said.
But the impetus for the book came from even further back in her life. Her dad told her stories at bedtime, creating a series that continued from night to night.
“I found ideas for kids’ books,” she said. “I thought maybe I should just do it.”
“Phillip’s Fiddling Fingers” is for children ages 3-9 and uses alliteration – the F sound, Taylor said.
The story is useful for educators, moms and other readers to teach the different spellings of F.
“It makes it fun to read,” she said.
The story is designed to read aloud, and the F sound helps create the cadence and rhythm of the story.
Taylor said the book took years to develop and was created in chunks. She put together a storyboard to focus the story. Once that was done, she added the words and then honed and polished the story.
She joined writing groups and attended a lot of workshops, including sessions at the Plum Creek Children’s Literacy Festival. She also joined a publishing group, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
Group members critiqued each other’s work during Covid19 via Zoom. She also got feedback from family and friends.
The next step was finding an illustrator. Through a series of friends, Taylor found Wollenburg, who said she was interested in trying her hand at illustrating.
They started working on the illustrations in 2025. Wollenburg had done some work for a mutual friend.
“I thought it would be a cool opportunity. I’m excited to grow my skills,” she said.
Her previous art was stand-alone pieces, so this was a chance “to tell a story with art.”
She said the playful, colorful approach to Phillip is not like her typical style.
Taylor and Wollenburg worked together to design the pages – where the words would go and how the pictures would look with them.
Wollenburg said Taylor is good at making the work cohesive so it didn’t feel choppy. Taylor said she tried to set the mood with color.
Wollenburg used a combination of the computer and hand-drawings to create the illustrations. The work was done on an iPad, but she drew the pictures by hand.
She said she likes sketching and leaving pictures unfinished, so this project was more of a challenge because it required her to finish the pictures.
“It was hard to figure out some illustrations,” she said. “We had to think of other ways to tell stories.”
Formatting the pages was an adventure, Wollenburg said. The page with the different hands took a lot of time to figure out, for example.
“There were a lot of retries and redoes,” Wollenburg said.
SHS art teacher Nate Knott reviewed her work, as well, and let her use his computer to finalize the pages.
Wollenburg said she learned how to take feedback and tweak her work.
“We had to figure out solutions so everybody wins,” she said.
Taylor said Wollenburg was mature in her approach and was willing to work with her, leading to a positive experience for both.
Once the book was finished, Taylor shopped the book to editors and agents, but in the end, she chose to self-publish.
“I decided to control my own content,” she said.
The book is available at Chapters Books and Gifts in Seward, Main Street Market in Milford, Gunny Sac Designs in Washington, Iowa, and through Kindle Digital Publishing on Amazon.
“I’m thrilled for Phillip. He loved it,” Taylor said.
“I never thought I would illustrate a whole book,” Wollenburg said.
Taylor said people can interact with her on her social media accounts through Facebook, Instagram and TikTok at susannetaylorauthor. To schedule events with Taylor, contact her via email at susannetaylorauthor@gmail.com.
The two are already working on a second book. The text is completed with illustrations to come. Taylor said she would probably self-publish this one, too.
Taylor will read “Phillip’s Fiddling Fingers” to first graders at Seward Elementary Thursday, April 30. She has other readings in the works, as well, including Saturday, May 9, at the library in Ulysses and Tuesday, June 2, at Webermeier Library in Milford.
A time for questions will be available at Ulysses, and Wollenburg plans to attend, as well.
