When Joan Wick Pelletier and Jane Wick Savage were growing up in Amherst, the two sisters were often lulled to sleep by their dad’s stories. On the rare occasion that he wasn’t available, Joan (pronounced Jo-Ann) began dreaming up her own characters, Squich and Squod — friendly beings whose warmth was felt by all the animals of Goldenrod, where they lived happily and often hosted get-togethers.

“I remember just thinking these idle thoughts about these creatures,” said Joan, who now lives in Toronto, Canada. 

She never told anyone about them, but the characters stayed with Joan through her college years at Smith and her decades of work as a math professor at York University in Toronto and New York’s University at Albany. Joan, who is also a poet who has been featured on the Cape, Coast & Islands’ NPR stations, eventually revisited Squich and Squod in a poem that her son happened to read. About a year ago, he encouraged her to publish it. 

Joan immediately thought of her sister Jane, three years her junior and an accomplished artist. Would she illustrate the children’s book?

Jane, who lived in a two-family home with two of her grandchildren, had long been retired. In the mid-1970s, she had opened her first shop, Jane’s Place, where she designed sterling and gold jewelry on Main Street. Later she moved to Green Street, where her Ultra Gallery showcased her jewelry and other local artists’ crafts. In the early ‘90s, she returned to Main Street to open Ultra Gal, where she made costumes and “hippie-type clothes.” While her experience with two-dimensional art was more limited, she agreed to pair up with Joan to bring “The Tale of Squich and Squod of Goldenrod” to life.

Driving the sisters was the recent arrival of grandchildren — Joan has one and Jane has two, all under age 5 — and the desire to publish before the kids outgrew the story. And there was something else: The two had always been polar opposites, an academic and an artist. Could they actually find common ground?

First, they had to learn Procreate, an illustration program where Jane would draw the characters and Joan would input her verse. Because so much time had passed since Joan had imagined Squich and Squod, she wasn’t married to a certain vision. But it still took a while — particularly with her in Toronto and her sister in Northampton — for the two to get on the same page.

In the book, Squich and Squod do not have children, but enjoy an extended chosen family in Goldenrod. The reader learns that though “their wandering kin have all gone astray,” they were “seldom alone.”

One day, some of their animal friends find a creature in the woods who looks uncannily like Squich and Squod and says his name is Squidgem. What happens next is a reunion of sorts, but there are many lingering questions: Where did Squidgem come from? What happened before he got to Goldenrod? How exactly are they all related? And what’s on the horizon for everyone?

Joan calls this “fodder for a future story,” and Jane agrees. The initial tale was published in June on Amazon, where it’s available for $11.99. At 32 pages, it’s an easy read for young children. The book is also for sale at Broadside Bookshop in Northampton and Book Moon Books in Easthampton. 

The grandchildren — whom the book is dedicated to — have all approved of the story. And Squich and Squod have brought Joan and Jane together.

“You just kind of lose touch a little bit when you’re so far away and life goes on,” said Jane. “After going our different ways and then coming together again, now we’re a lot closer.”

Melissa Karen Sances can be reached at melissaksances@gmail.com.