As of: March 9, 2024, 10:00 a.m
By: Miriam Kohr
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The muses with the artist: (from left) Matthias Heydecke and Bettina Lohmaier with their son Michael (soon to be 3 years old) in their midst and mother, grandmother and children's book author Tanja Lohmaier.
© private
Her grandson Michael provided the impetus: At the age of 52, Tanja Lohmaier turned a long-standing idea into a children's book.
The Hague native even learned to draw again.
Hague
- The toilet is clogged with too much toilet paper, there are cornflakes on the floor in the kitchen, and the cupboards and ceramics in the bathroom are smeared with shaving foam.
Scenes that Tanja Lohmaier from Haag an der Amper has already faced.
Of course, none of her four children wanted to do it.
“It wasn’t me!” was always the answer.
Out of these situations he was born, the troll “Ichnicht”, who was apparently responsible for all the small and large messes at the Lohmaiers’ home.
Many years later, the single mother turned this idea into a children's book.
“Michael and the Troll Ichnicht” is the name of the small, square book by Tanja Lohmaier, which has been available to buy in bookstores and on the Internet since this year.
But why now, many years after the troll Ichnicht first raged at the Lohmaiers?
“I was a single parent, so there was never enough time or money for me to be able to take care of publishing a book.
I've been on disability pension since 2020, and since then I've had a little more time.
And in 2021 my grandson Michael was born, which was the impetus,” says the 52-year-old.
Success and financial gain are not important to Tanja Lohmaier.
“I thought it would be great for my children and grandchildren to have a book as a reminder of me.”
Not just a storyteller, also an illustrator
Her daughter Bettina and her son-in-law Matthias Heydecke in particular helped with the implementation by selecting photos of themselves and grandson Michael.
In addition to the story, Tanja Lohmaier is also responsible for the illustrations that can be found in the book.
And the photos were the templates for the images in the book.
(By the way: Everything from the region is now also available in our regular Freising newsletter.)
For example, mom and dad are sitting in front of their house or Michael is sitting in his children's room in front of a Lego tower.
In another picture, Michael goes for a walk with the troll Ichnicht and the dog Tami.
The mother of four taught herself how to draw digitally with a special pen on her tablet through online tutorials.
“That wasn't easy and was actually the most difficult part of the whole book because digital drawing was new to me.
“It’s different than normal drawing,” she says.
While painting, Lohmaier also came up with the idea of putting some pictures in the book as black and white templates, like in a coloring book.
“So that children can participate interactively and color the troll or other things in their favorite colors.” Again, grandson Michael seemed to be the muse.
“My grandson really enjoys painting himself.”
Not only the story but also the pictures are by Tanja Lohmaier.
© mik
The scenes in the book all happened that way, “I only invented the scene with the window pane,” admits Lohmaier.
She didn't dare to include every personal experience in the book.
“I was a bit afraid that children would come up with bad ideas and imitate it,” she says.
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After a lot of Googling for publishers and “a lot of bureaucracy,” she found Epuli as a partner for the professional printing and publication of the book.
It is distributed as print on demand, which means that the book will only be printed after the order has been ordered.
“It took me about a year to do all of this,” says Lohmeier, remembering the process from the idea to the finished book.
She already has the next idea in her head
All the children are proud of their mother as an author.
And she liked it.
“As my next project, I would like to publish the book in English,” says Tanja Lohmaier.
But a completely new idea for another children's book is already ready to be unleashed in her head.
“My daughter and I both found out we were autistic about a year ago.
I would like to publish a book that explains in a child-friendly way what autism means - and why some children are just different.
Good to know:
Tanja Lohmaier's book “Michael and the Troll 'Ichnicht'” is available in bookstores and online.
ISBN: 978-3-7584-5851-4.
You can find even more current news from the Freising district at Merkur.de/Freising.