You may have heard of Ella the Elegant Elephant, and may even have one or more of the very nice children's story books. But what you may not know is that the author and illustrator of the series started right here in West Seattle, working out of a craftsman home near West Seattle High School.

Carmela D'Amico published the first story about the life and adventures of the winsome girl elephant with the 'beautiful red hat' back in 2004, but her creative spark began in Kindergarten.

"... since I was little, writing quite a lot, and my teacher selected a story I had written and had it laminated," as a feature for the whole class to enjoy. "Then, when (daughter) Olivia was born, I remembered my love of children?s literature, and with Steve's help with the illustrations, a book seemed like a natural thing to do."

That natural thing has now resulted in book sales of aproximately 200,000 copies and became four books in four different languages, the story of 'Ella' has grown into a cottage industry for the D'Amicos that includes plush dolls, kids pajamas, an audio book version and a cute "Ella" read-along DVD.

Asked if she anticipated that the stories would go this far, Carmela D'Amico was shocked, "Oh...Gosh no! And we didn't know that writers and illustrators didn?t usually work together."

A Web site, created for the book series by Steve D'Amico, is entertaining in it's own right. Steve, as senior designer for Smashing Ideas, made the site as a clever, interactive flash animation in soft, but rich color palette, in part as homage to illustrators like H.A. Rey, which bears comparison to Babar, Curious George and to Ludwig Bemelman's "Madeline" book series.

"I used to read 'Peanuts' to Olivia and I've always loved Charles Shultz's work form the 1950's and 1960's."

Steve begins his drawings by hand, in charcoal pencil and does color rendering on his computer. He worked hard at creating a pan-European feel to the drawings, with elements of mediterranean and mission-style architecture melded together to feel culturally diverse, and, so that, in his words, readers "couldn't necessarily tell when this was made."

Daughter Olivia, a budding writer herself, shows off neat penmanship in a college binder she produced from a back room. Roughly the same age as the book's main character, Olivia says that her favorite character is "probably Ella's mom," and the correlation and bond between Olivia and her mother and the book's protagonist and her mother are undeniable.

Aimed at the 4 to 8 year old demographic, the books have found much wider appeal, judging from the number of comments on bookseller sites like Amazon.

"I love everything about this book! I love the vintage, sweet quality of the illustrations. I love the message of kindness in the story. I even love the font. As a former bookseller and elementary school teacher, I have read a lot of books and this instantly became one of my favorites."

More than just a colorful children's book, the D'Amico's worked diligently together to hone the story lines into compact, succinct life lessons that may be easily assimilated by the reader.

"Somewhere in the great, wide Indian Ocean lie the Elephant Islands, hidden by a fog so thick that no human being has ever found them." begins the first book. Along the way we learn about the issues of right and wrong, trust and encouragement, and how to listen to your heart with pure intent, laced with subtle elements of magical resolution.

Other characters in the series include Ella?s mom, Ella's friends Tiki and Frankie, and friend Belinda, who sometimes can be a bit self-centered.

The D'Amicos have additional plans that include new themes and characters, and perhaps an animated series for television.

After the first award-winning book "Ella The Elegant Elephant" came "Ella Takes The Cake" in 2005, "Ella Sets The Stage" in 2006 and the lastest, "Ella Sets Sail," published just last year. The books, which range from between $10 to $17 each can be found at booksellers Square One Books at Jefferson Square as well as online at BarnesandNoble.com, and Amazon.com.

You can learn more about Ella and her world at her website

http://www.ellatheelephant.com/