Chestnut Hill artist, writer and businesswoman Emily Ennulat has been awarded a Gold Independent Publisher Book Award (IPPY) in the “Children’s Picture Books (7 & under)” category for her story, “Wander Out Wonder In.”

As her first book, “Wander Out Wonder In” was created to inspire kids to explore nature and the world around them. As a lover of nature and travel, Ennulat is using her book to get kids to appreciate the vast wonders outdoors. She won the IPPY last month.

Many of her creations can be found at her business, Ennulat Art & Design, at 8433 Germantown Ave., where she showcases not only different versions of her book, but handmade prints, paintings and fabrics. Her many unique artistic techniques represent little pieces of herself in her work.

“Emily’s talents are above and beyond the norm,” said Courtney O’Neill, executive director of the Chestnut Hill Business District. “... Her books are available in the shop. We’re thrilled that she’s brought her talents to Chestnut Hill.”

Originally planned as a book made only of illustrations, “Wander Out Wonder In,” took on its own life as Ennulat experimented with short words and phrases to compliment her main message of getting children outside.

“It didn’t have words at first. So, after a little bit of testing, I learned from a lot of parents that [their children] really needed some sort of guidance, so the words came afterwards,” she said. “The words kind of flowed after I’d finished all the illustrations, and they just kind of came pretty organically.”

After holding onto a dream of creating a children’s book in the back of her mind, Ennulat explained that she was encouraged by friends and family to expand some of her premade prints into something greater. The collagraph featured on the book’s cover was a piece that she made years ago. The artwork sparked the idea in many of her friends’ and family’s minds that there was potential for a children’s book, and that’s where the idea began.

However, the process of creating collagraph plates is incredibly meticulous. For each piece, Ennulat starts by sketching the image and carving all the figures into cardboard. She then creates a collage of everything else on top and inks it onto damp paper through an etching press to pull the image. Sticking to this style, she repeated this process until all the book’s illustrations were complete.

“I would hear over and over and over again, ‘Oh my gosh, you must have done a children’s book,’ or ‘Would you do a children’s book?’” Ennulat said. “And I heard it enough and was like OK, the universe is telling me I need to do a children’s book.”

Although she didn’t originally set her sights on publishing a children’s book, it has already received high praise and recognition. Before winning the IPPY Award, “Wander Out Wonder In” received a five-star review from Reader’s Best followed by a Gold Medal from Moon Beam Children’s Book Awards in the “Best Writer/Illustrator” category.

With those successes, Ennulat is excited to share some current projects she’s working on with the Chestnut Hill community.

“I released my fabric collection, so I have some new fabric designs that are coming,” she said. “I’m [also] working on a series of encaustic paintings, called “Grounding.” It’s kind of the adult version of the children’s book; it’s people needing to get their bare feet on the ground.”

Ennulat has also started sketching out some new ideas for her next children’s book and expects to continue working on this project through this year and next.

“You remember your first children’s book. They left a big impression on us,” she said. “Like the pages that you turn and the certain imagery that sticks with us even if we can’t read the words. So that’s where this all came from.”