SENIOR THESIS DESIGN STATEMENT

Growing up Grayson learned to navigate the world through television shows and books rather than the people around them. Almost everyone was an example of what not to do and what not to be, which made it hard to know what the right thing to do was and how to be a good person. Our pasts do not have to define us, and over time they have learned they are much more than the family who failed to raise them. As much as we may wish to go back in time and change what happened to us, we cannot. The only option we have is to move forward, and part of their way forward is to write and illustrate books that offer support and understanding all children need. 

Copy Cat is inspired by an afternoon several years ago when Grayson and their little brother got into a fight after spending the entire day together. Despite how many years have passed, they still regret being so upset with him. Unlike the parents in Copy Cat there was no one to help them communicate these feelings of being smothered or 

running out of a social battery, or to understand why they felt the way they did. 

No one can change our past, so through their work they aim to help someone 

else who might need a story like this. 

Through this children’s book, hopefully the first of many more, the goal is to guide 

young readers through learning about their feelings and how to communicate them. 

The characters stem from memories of Grayson's childhood, especially the activities. Playing with blocks and cars, helping water the flowers, and painting pictures are all 

things they used to do together. There were also several cats and other animals in the neighborhood they grew up in, so there’s always been a love for creatures since their youth. Using personified animals in stories is common in children’s literature and media, and as a child they remember resonating with animal characters rather than human ones. The characters in "Copy Cat" aren’t real, but their problems and feelings are because 

they share them with the reader.