Local author Diane Lane pens new children’s book

Inspired by true events following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, local author Diane Lane has published, “Marmalade: The Rain, The Flood, The Rescue.”

“This book is about giving children a softer place to land after a trauma,” said Lane, who went on to explain the events that led to the book.

Many families were displaced after Hurricane Katrina. One of those families ended up in Maryland, and they had a young girl who lost her teddy bear while being rescued. That girl went to school where her sister worked and was distraught for months, worried her teddy bear had been left behind.

Finally, after trying many things to cheer her up, Lane said they wrote a letter in the voice of the teddy bear to the young girl, telling her the teddy bear had been found, cleaned and was now helping other young kids in a shelter.

“That letter made her feel better almost instantly,” said Lane.

Taking the success from that experience, Lane said she began plotting out her children’s book, which was recently published. 

“[Children] tend to be OK with understanding that they’re not going to get all their toys back after an event like a hurricane, but sometimes it’s the unknown of how their favorite toys turned out that’s the hard part,” said Lane. “This book gives them an alternative way of thinking that’s not so bleak.”

The images in the book are photos of dioramas Lane created by hand. She said there are more than a dozen in all.

Lane started making the dioramas for the book years ago, but she said life happens, and the book never quite made it to fruition.

“In life, there are projects that you start that you just know you have to finish,” said Lane, on why she finished the book after all these years.

“Marmalade: The Rain, The Flood, The Rescue,” is available in the local interest section at Browseabout Books in Rehoboth Beach and also online.