BOOK author and illustrator Joan Aspinall has high hopes for her new book which is set to hit the international marketplace in late January.

Tentatively titled A Tale of the Bermuda Banana Leaf Faeries, Mrs. Aspinall is hoping her new book's connection to one of the most famous families in the world will help spark interest in the American retail market. The 44-page children's book ties together Bermudian culture, a well-known banana leaf doll artist, and US President-elect Barack Obama's family.

The idea for the full-colour work came out of an illustration that was originally in her The Tree Frog & the Poinsettia publication published earlier this year.

"There was a small black faerie in one of the watercolour pictures that caught the eye of my friend, artist Ronnie Chameau who is well known for her banana leaf dolls," explained Mrs. Aspinall.

"And when she saw the faerie, she became really excited and said 'oh you have a lady of colour, how wonderful – we need more women of colour in our books' so I devised two pages especially for Ronnie and called it the banana leaf faerie elves."

Mrs. Aspinall, who purposely uses the old English spelling of faerie to evoke a sense of antiquity, was going to wrap a story around the two pages for the annual Royal Gazette Christmas essay competition but quickly realised that she had something very special on her hands.

"I thought my goodness, I have the story, it's all right there in front of me," she said.

"I remember clearly, I woke up on November 11 at 5 a.m. and had the whole story in my head. It came to me in my sleep. I went to my computer and started writing. By 8 a.m., I sent Ronnie the first copy. We knew immediately that this had more potential than just an entry into the annual competition and would apply to a larger market than just Bermuda."

The author features her friend Mrs. Chameau as a main character in the fully illustrated book; the Angel Maker who makes Christmas tree toppers with the help of the banana leaf faeries.

She also helps little faerie BooBoo find his ultimate path in life – to "light fires of happiness forever and spread the news of peace on Earth and good will to men". BooBoo ends up spreading Christmas cheer to a very special and presidential American family.

While the original story did not include the Obama family, with the recent US election, Mrs. Aspinall thought it fitted in very well. Especially since one of Mrs. Chameau's famous banana leaf dolls has adorned President George W. Bush's Christmas tree and one is currently displayed in the Smithsonian Archives in Washington, DC.

"I wanted to catch the euphoria that surrounds President-elect Obama at the moment," Mrs. Aspinall explained.

Since Mrs. Aspinall only finished the writing of the book last month, traditional printing was out of the question as it takes nine months to a year to print.

To make sure the book was available in a timely fashion, the author is utilising the print-on-demand publisher BookSurge, which is now owned by Amazon.com.

The fully illustrated book will also feature a glossary detailing the vast and long history of the banana leaf doll which has roots stemming from the southern part of the United States and was brought to Bermuda via the slave trade.

And while the book won't be out in time for Christmas, it will be available via Amazon.com and other online book retail outlets by the end of January.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Aspinall's Christmas book The Tree Frog & the Pointsettia along with her Shoo Cat Shoo and Road Toad is available in local bookstores. For more information on her books, e-mail pinaibl.bm.