By Angela E. Pometto
Herald Managing Editor
(From the issue of 12/16/04)

ANGEL IN THE WATERS, By Regina Doman, Illustrated by Ben Hatke. Sophia Institute Press (Manchester, N.H., 2004). 48 pp.

Beautiful illustrations accompany the enchanting and seldom-told story of a child’s journey from conception to birth in Angel in the Waters by Regina Doman, illustrated by Ben Hatke, both parishioners at St. John the Baptist Parish in Front Royal. The book is an excellent opportunity to introduce children to the reality behind the pro-life movement, namely that an unborn baby is a person.

The book describes all the sensations of a developing baby. From the moment the baby first opens his eyes to hearing his first sounds and sucking his newly formed thumb, the story brings the silent voice of the unborn to life.

As the book describes, inside the womb, the baby knows only two things, "angel" and "mother." His angel speaks to him and comforts him as he swims in the waters of mother. When he is born, he is sad to leave the waters, but is glad that his angel and mother are still there in the bright new world.

As the oldest of 10 children and the mother of five, author Regina Doman falls back on many experiences with pregnancy. The idea for this story came from her youngest sister, who was born when Doman was 21 years old. The baby of the family was asked if she remembered anything about being in "Mommy’s tummy" and the child responded, "It was warm and dark, and there was an angel there."

"Her words sent shivers up our spines," Doman said. "No one had prompted her or put words in her mouth. The words came straight from her."

Doman remembered this story and reflected on it as she was pregnant with her first child.

"The struggle to defend the rights of unborn children is the greatest struggle of this age," Doman said. "But I didn’t write this book to send a pro-life message."

Doman concentrated on telling a compelling story. The conversation between the child and the angel illustrates the humanity of the child in a way that many people will be able to understand.

The story is a tool to "evangelize the imagination of the reader," she said.

Previous attempts of pro-lifers to humanize the unborn baby have been weak, Doman said, adding that other fictional babies seemed to know more than any baby would know. Instead, Doman focused on creating a character who had very limited information. Her character is also unique, not meant to be a stereotype of all babies. The child likes to swim and be free and dislikes being alone without his angel or mother.

"Another unborn baby might not have the same desires he has," Doman said, adding that all of her children were different in the womb.

Doman directed the creation of the book, but Hatke offered his creative input as well. She had known Hatke previously and after seeing samples of his realistic water color art, she knew he was right for the job.

"He visualized some sequences differently than I had, but that’s the joy of creative partnership," Doman said, adding that both artists bring different gifts to the work.

After Hatke read the text, he felt that the story was "crying out to be illustrated." Having worked for a year as a full-time artist, this is his first children’s book, and he was honored to be a part of the project.

"It’s just a story, not an argument," he said of the pro-life message. Stories are something that everyone, and particularly children, can understand. "It makes an argument without saying anything."

Hatke had quite a challenge to make the images from within the womb appealing to children and also somewhat realistic.

"I wanted to create the womb as its own world," he said. "It ended up a good compromise between the womb from the baby’s perspective and what you would see in reality."

Most of his inspiration came from photos that have been taken from inside the womb, as well as sketches of his sleeping daughter.

Another challenge was how to depict the angel. Doman was adamant that it not be seen as the traditional man with wings. After trying several ideas, the angel became several sparkles on the page.

For the birth scene in the book, Hatke’s first draft came out too clean. He returned to pictures of his daughters birth to capture that anxiety of those first few moments outside the womb.

The pictures were created through mixed media, beginning with pencil on paper and adding most of the colors digitally. According to Hatke, this system allowed him more flexibility. When changes had to be made, it didn’t necessarily mean starting over from square one.

With the Web site allowing people to read the book without owning a copy, Hatke has been impressed with the responses. He’s received almost daily e-mails with positive reactions.

"It touches the heart in a way that’s hard to find in the public sphere," Hatke said.

Hatke has illustrated book covers, comics, Kids for Jesus program materials and textbooks for Seton Home Study program. Links to his works are available on his Web site at www.househatke.com.

Doman has published several other books aimed at young adults. The Shadow of the Bear and Black as Night: A Fairy Tale Retold are the first two in a trilogy to be completed next year (www.snowwhiteandrosered.com). Her work with a teen audience made her first children’s picture book challenging. Her own children loved the book, though, and she hopes to continue writing in this venue.

Angel in the Waters is available online at www.angelinthewaters.com and through Sophia Institute Press at www.sophiainstitute.com or by calling 1-800-888-9344. For more information on the works of Regina Doman go to www.reginadoman.com. For more information on the works of Ben Hatke go to www.househatke.com.