Stevensville resident and professional artist Cherie Okonski has ambitious plans following the release of her first children’s book, The Secret of Gumper the Rabbit.
From a mascot in the Blossomtime Parade to a continuing series of Gumper books, Okonski wants to make her character a household name. But, it’s not for her own sake – she sees Gumper as a symbol of love that can mend people’s hearts both figuratively and literally.
For Grayson
Gumper is the story of a fictional rabbit who born with short, stumpy ears and a heart-shaped nose. Before sending him off to the pet store, his mother – concerned about his differences – reminds him of how special and loved he is. While his differences initially are a source of sadness for Gumper, with the help of a friend he eventually learns his differences are what make him special, and comes to realize firsthand what love feels like when he risks his own life to save his friends.
“It may be a little altruistic, but my hope is that Gumper brings people together,” said Okonski, a mother of two and former bus driver in the Lakeshore School District. “Our world right now is so compartmentalized into putting people into certain spots, and that’s universal. … There’s an innocence with animals. They’re different from us. They’re not judgmental. They don’t put people in boxes. They just are there for us, and so that’s a vehicle to share love, I think.”
Proceeds from the book will be used to support children and families impacted by congenital heart conditions at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids.
“Gumper was created to make a difference in people’s lives, but as it’s evolved, it has taken on more layers than I thought,” Okonski said. “He has a heart nose and that symbolizes who he is. My hope is that Gumper reaches into children’s lives and families’ lives and brings love. That’s what he’s designed to do.”
Okonski said she wrote the Gumper about 25 years ago, but it wasn’t until a few years ago she decided to sit down and illustrate the story.
“Three years ago, my mom was diagnosed with cancer and I was driving the bus for Lakeshore Public Schools,” she said. “I was around kids at that time, driving them to school, and it was kind of a challenging time for me. And so I decided to pick the creativity back up illustrate the book.”
The book is dedicated to a young adopted boy named Grayson, who was also born a little different – he only had half a heart at birth. Okonski said the boy’s grandmother worked for her husband, and she was moved by his story. Inside her book, a letter written from Gumper to Grayson reads “To Grayson, Who was born with a congenital heart condition, you have inspired me to love more. XO, Gumper.”
“Grayson is six now, and he’s had three surgeries and he’s doing great,” Okonski said. “In fact, we were at Zeeland schools, um, a few weeks ago and, and, um, we were able to see Grayson and, and meet his class and to read to them and everything. So, it just seems natural that that the proceeds of the book should help kids that are going through something similar to Grayson.”
Expanding the universe
While Okonski is a trained artist who previously was known for her fine art portraits during her time spent in southern California, Okonski said she is now dedicating most of her time to developing the Gumper series.
She is in the process of creating a real-life mascot of Gumper to be featured in the Blossomtime Parade May 13, and possibly at hospitals and other events. Plans are in the works for merchandise, including a stuffed Gumper toy, a t-shirt with Gumper’s face on it, stickers, word searches and more.
There is a new website, gumpertherabbit.com, and The Secret of Gumper the Rabbit will be translated into Spanish. Okonski also said she has written the second book in the series, and hopes to release it later this year.
“The second book is going to involve a boy with disabilities,” Okonski said. “My hope is to take his heart nose too and have that be an identifier so people just say ‘oh yeah, that’s Gumper. He shows love. He brings love.'”
Gumper can be found in the Lincoln Township Library, and Okonski has already brought the story into multiple area schools to read to kids from young ones up to 8th graders. This Saturday, April 8, Okonski will be hosting a book signing at Forever Books in St. Joseph from 1 to 3 p.m. Later this month, she will take Gumper to Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at the University of Southern California.
Just as all the other mother rabbits shared the story of Gumper’s heroism with all the new generations of baby bunnies, Okonski is spreading the word anywhere she can. As the last page of the book reads:
“It doesn’t matter the size of your ears or the color of your fur, it doesn’t matter if you are picked first or last to go to a new home. … All you have to do is give love to your new family and friends.
Knowing this … all the little rabbits will know they are very special and very loved, and they will have been told The Secret of Gumper the Rabbit.”
