Milagro de Monterrey

Above: Interior art for the picture book "Milagro de Monterrey"published by Raining Popcorn Media. Copyright Raining Popcorn Media 2008.

Life is full of surprises and sometimes they can be of the nice variety. Such was the case when I got the offer to illustrate my first children's book for Raining Popcorn Media titled "Milagro de Monterrey". It tells the true story of these boys from Monterrey, Mexico, who in 1957, were the first foreign team to win the Little League World Series and pitching a perfect game in the last game of the championship. That's a record that to this very day has not been matched. The children on the team came from the poorest of families in the factory town where they lived. It's a great David and Goliath story.

My art director got the job to produce the book as result of knowing somebody who knew somebody. Isn't that always the case. This was about two years ago. I forgot to mention that there's also a movie version of the story that was released earlier this month written by William Winouker, who also wrote the children's book. Producing the art work for the book began in earnest late spring of 2008 and completed in August of that year with dozens of sketches being accepted or rejected that would later become the finished paintings .

The movie itself was completed three years ago but not released until this year because the original financial backers to the film ... well... backed out and the producers spent the next three years searching for a new studio to finance the release of the film. The movie had a sneak preview in San Antonio this month. I'll post some photos of that later. All in all it was a great experience playing a small part keeping the story of the kids going for a new generation to enjoy and perhaps be inspired to accomplish what sometimes seems impossible.