Illustration curveball! Help please.
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A friend and I are working together on a small personal project. It’s a children’s book but probably board book size. It’s really only 4 or maybe 5 illustrations. It’s a story he tells his kids about a mouse he came across one day on the path by his house. It was a fat little guy and he tried to hide under a leaf and then behind a blade of grass before he found a rock. Anyway, he tells the story to his kids all the timeand we thought we’d do a little book.
A few questions...-
Does anyone have any experience with board books or short books? Especially in regards to length and number of pictures. I can’t find a pattern in the books in our house. It feels like all the rules about 4 page sets (signatures) and such are irrelevant, but I’m not sure.
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What do you do for a cover when there is so little content?
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I’m thinking square pages. Does anyone have any advice or critiques on my little idea sketches? It’s a bit unclear because of how I started with rectangle shaped boxes, but I’m thinking square. That first illustration would be a two page spread, then spot illustrations or vignettes for the next three and possibly one More illustration of the little mouse curled up safe and asleep. Thoughts?
Sorry about the bad picture quality.
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I've looked at some places like Ninja Printers to see what their requirements are for different size and style of books.
http://www.printninja.com/printing-products/childrens-book-printing
BTW, LOVED your piece for the Fearless prompt!
Marsha Ottum Owen
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@pamela-fraley Very CUTE!!!
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@marsha-kay-ottum-owen Thanks Marsha! I'm going to have to explore that link! Looks like they can do just about any size and shape, number of pages... That's helpful. I'm running out of picture ideas. If I had to stretch it out more, I don't know what I would do.
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@pamela-fraley It's hard work!
That little mouse is SO cute though....maybe you could have a page where the mouse is scurrying toward the next hiding spot and looking back anxiously. And maybe one where he is just peeping around an area. It would show a little movement between the still spots. Just a thought.Marsha Ottum Owen
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@marsha-kay-ottum-owen That's a good idea too! I dont really have any action shots at all... Its a weird challenge to do so many illustrations when the text for the book is about 5 lines long.
Thank you for your encouragement too!! I just watched a class where Will and Jake were talking about how a common mistake is not making characters cute enough for children's books. That makes me feel like I'm kinda going in the right direction.
