Characters: Next up, Ariel

Another critical issue with which I wrestled was the kids’ ethnicity. I’m Asian, and this symbol is Asian, so it should follow that the kids should be Asian, right? The sad reality is that picture books featuring minority kids DO NOT SELL. So my initial intent was to keep their ethnicity ambiguous.

Our librarian friend in our children’s book group was the first to push for this continuity. I’m so glad I listened, even if it did take a year's convincing.

Though I was aiming to make them Asian, one friend thought the kids looked Latino, while another thought they looked Arabic! While I feel the look is decidedly ethnic, it does not seem to favor one over another. HOORAY for ambiguity!
Ariel was inspired by my niece. Unlike her brother, she was all for the character being named after her. But it felt a little unbalanced to blatantly take her identity (can’t I get arrested for that?). So, she became Ariel, which happens to be her middle name—So clever, if only to me!



At first Ariel was the younger kid. To make her more like her namesake I made her older than Ben, as little kids tend to look up to older kids. Unless said kids are siblings. Then they are just annoying as they are always telling you what to do.
Ariel gets the job done no matter what. Give her a task, she’ll complete it in record time. Give her many tasks and she will sassily reply “…you want fries with that?” She’s normally calm in any situation but like any kid, she is prone to worrying about things out of her control. She can see the big picture, and uses her moral compass to guide her through decision-making. In short, Ariel ROCKS.