A CARING Pershore artist has created illustrations for a new children’s book on hair loss to raise money for charity.
Hayley Reynolds, 41, was recently contacted by Rebecca Dawe, a woman suffering from alopecia, who needed illustrations for her new children’s book, entitled ‘Hairless Harri’.
And when Mrs Reynolds heard all the book’s proceeds would be given to children’s cancer charities she offered her services for free.
The book follows the story of a seven-year-old girl who’s shunned by her new classmates because she doesn’t have any hair.
It has a happy ending though, as when everyone realises what an amazing girl Harri is, they all want to be her friend.
“Rebecca had seen some of my drawings and got in touch to ask if I’d be interested in creating the illustrations for her book,” Mrs Reynolds said.
“After she explained about the subject and that she was giving the book’s proceeds to charity I really wanted to be involved.
“When I started creating the main character Harri, I definitely had my friend’s 11-year-old daughter Ella, who has unexplained hair loss, in mind.
“She’s completely embraced her hair loss and, like Harri, she doesn’t wear a wig. She’s such a kind, strong, confident girl and I wanted that to come out in Harri.
“It took around four hours to draw each illustration in the book, with Ella on standby to oversee things. Because of the sensitive subject I really wanted to make sure I got Harri right and I knew Ella would be honest with me.
“She loved the book and she thinks Harri is gorgeous. Now I just hope people will buy the it and help support children’s cancer charities,” she added.
Alopecia, which affects around one in 100 people nationwide, is a type of hair loss that occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks hair follicles.
Hairless Harri is available as a Kindle edition on Amazon costing £2.99.
Visit www.hairnecessity.co.uk to follow Mrs Dawe’s blog ‘Hair Necessity’ for more information on hair loss.
Alternatively, visit www.facebook.com/babymarbledesigns to view Mrs Reynolds work.
