by Susan Dickson
Staff Writer

The Paris of the Piedmont now has its very own children’s book.

A Weekend in the Paris of the Piedmont, written by Irma Tejada and illustrated by Chris Kanoy, recounts the adventures of young Lizzie and her mother, as they spend a weekend touring Carrboro. The pair travels to several Carrboro hot spots – including the Farmers’ Market, Elmo’s and Cliff’s Meat Market – as Lizzie’s mother explains to her daughter why Carrboro is called the Paris of the Piedmont.

“It’s a great guide for visitors to Carrboro, and in a sweet way,” Kanoy said.

Tejada and Kanoy officially launched the book at Carrboro Elementary School in April, after working on the project for nearly two years. Tejada had always loved children’s books, and Carrboro, and decided to write a story about the town.

“[Carrboro] is, to me, the quintessential village,” Tejada said, adding that she has spent a great deal of time touring the villages of France.

Tejada had worked with Kanoy at UNC Hospitals and had seen some of her pastel work, so she approached her about illustrating the book.

“My pastel paintings were of Carrboro places,” Kanoy said. “[Tejada] knew I loved these places in Carrboro.”
Tejada said she felt the illustrations would be extremely important for the book, adding that she always first notices the illustrations in children’s books.

“We really collaborated both on illustrations and text,” Tejada said. “I think the book came out so much better because we did that.”

The illustrations throughout the book are black and white, so children can use the book also as a coloring book, Tejada said.

Both Tejada and Kanoy said they knew they would be hard pressed to find a local publisher to back the project, so they looked for assistance from other sources.

The Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors’ Bureau supported the project, donating seed money and offering feedback to Tejada and Kanoy. In addition, Alamance Community College helped out with graphic design.
“It was a community effort,” Tejada said.

Tejada and Kanoy plan to work together on other books in the future, including books centered around Chapel Hill and Hillsborough.

However, Tejada emphasized that the stories will be different, because the towns are all so different.