Wobbly Top Press Brings Illustrations to Life for Children in Rockland

BY VICTORIA TANNER

Childhood folklore combined with a passion for art leaves us with Rockland’s first independently owned digital publishing company, Wobbly Top Press.

Founded in 2014 Wobbly Top has two books on its shelf that tell compelling stories accompanied by hand-drawn illustrations.

Blue Flynn, co-founder and Art Director, brings her passion for drawing into every Wobbly Top illustration. She began the company in 2014 with writer and friend Jesse Strauch. Strauch wrote Wobbly Top’s first book, “Bradley, What Are You Doing?” and Flynn illustrated it.

“We want to be a publisher with whom artists and writers can be encouraged to flourish and produce their best work,” Flynn wrote in an email to the Rockland County Times.

She began drawing as a little girl and remembers spending time drawing with her grandmother who was an artist.

“When I was little she would sit with me and we would draw together…now that I think of it, the drawings were mostly of cats,” Flynn wrote.

Flynn had dreams of joining, and eventually running Disney’s Feature Animation Department. But when Disney replaced hand-drawn images with 3-D design, Flynn felt lost. She dabbled in writing, acting and even a music career. But when she connected with Strauch and started drawing again, Wobbly Top was born.

Flynn wrote and illustrated Wobbly Top’s newest book, “King O’ The Cats.”

Initially the story came from her sophomore storytelling class at The School of Visual Arts. She was required to find a folktale and tell the story in eight illustrations. As someone who grew up with the Disney classic tales of “Snow White,” “The Little Mermaid” and “Cinderella,” she wanted to find a new story.

“Not only had I never heard of it, which was odd for me because I’m a voracious reader and that was especially true in my childhood, but it was such a perfectly strange little tale,” Flynn wrote, describing finding “King O’ The Cats.”

Flynn found the folklore “King O’ The Cats” and adapted the story, adding in the boy who serves as the traveler for her published book. She spent about four-and-a-half months on the book. She believes this particular story is aimed at second through fifth graders, as it’s a bit more advanced than usual picture books.

Wobbly Top is focusing on a young demographic right now, mostly Pre-K through fifth grade, but Flynn explained the company intends to expand to young adult readers with graphic novels in the future. “King O’ The Cats” is available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble Booksellers. The book can also be purchased through Wobbly Top’s website, which includes a personalized and signed copy. Purchases of 2 or more books also include an 11 by 14 inch print poster.