Press Release

New Book!

Let’s Go North

A children’s book

Available at rebeccadeneau.com

Let’s Go North is a sweet and gentle rhyming poem about children enjoying summer vacation written by Daniel Hoye and illustrated by Rebecca Deneau.

It’s about fostering inquisitiveness and experiencing the beautiful things life has to offer. The book features the stunning late-summer setting of the northern Midwest. Dunes, lazy beach days, and lighthouses are just a few of the experiences waiting for you in Let’s Go North. The inspiration is taken from Daniel and Rebecca’s own childhood memories of vacationing in northern Wisconsin with their grandparents and family.

Daniel and Rebecca are a brother and sister team who grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. The book derives its inspiration from their memories of summer vacations up north with their grandparents and family. The paintings are inspired by their present lives up north in Michigan and Wisconsin with their own children.

The time we spent working on this book was pure joy. Creatively speaking, it didn’t take long for the words and illustrations to click into place. And it’s no wonder, looking back at our childhood summer vacations through the lens of our own kids, and what kind of memories we want them to have, how could it not?

We only mention that as a personal win, something that worked in our favor, because writing a book is a lot of work! We had to dig deep and muster every ounce of creative know-how to get this book to print. And quite frankly, we’re pretty proud of it. We adored bringing the world of Let’s Go North to life, and we hope you and your family enjoy it too.

Meet the Team

dANIEL hOYE- wRITER

Daniel Hoye holds a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and MFA in creative writing from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. He is a former Hospital Corpsman and OEF Navy Veteran. Daniel resides with his wife and young son up north, in the lakeside town of Port Washington, WI.

rEBECCA dENEAU- iLLUSTRATOR

Rebecca began painting at the age of fourteen, taking her first class at a community center in Glen Ellyn, IL. She has been a professional landscape oil painter since 2015. She lives and works in Traverse City, MI with her husband, three boys, and Penny, their pup. She derives her inspiration from local hiking trails and the Lake Michigan shoreline.

Creating the Book

“This project stretched me in new ways. I have been painting landscapes almost exclusively for many years (which I love to do). It was exciting to return to painting the human form. It was so fun looking through family photos and using them as reference material for the illustrations. I wanted the illustrations to be hand-painted, to feel timeless; impressions of children enjoying nature, like Helen Oxenbury’s We’re Going on a Bear Hunt created over 30 years ago.

-Rebecca Deneau

“This project gave me the opportunity to do a lot of things for the first time, and that was exciting. Making sure that the writing was up to the high standard set by the illustrations was the most challenging for me. Putting the world of Let’s Go North together page by page was easily the most satisfying artistic endeavor I’ve had to date, one that I am eager to repeat.”

-Daniel Hoye