Create A Book For A Child

Create a book 'radio' interview!- tips to get you started on a personal book for you child.

2011-09-30T17:22:00.001+01:00

This week I was lucky enough to be interviewd by Alenka from Sparkling Kids.

In our interview I offer practical advice and tips to get you started. And whatever you might be thinking about your writing and drawing skills – they really don’t matter. What’s important is your message to your child. You will show him that you don’t need to be an artist to draw and it’s perfectly OK not to be perfect. You will give your child an unique gift he will admire and cherish just because you took the time and effort to create it.

Simply click on the link below to listen to the interview.

Create A Book For A Child interview with Alenka from Sprarkling Kids!

Tantrums and Creativity- releasing travel stress.

2011-08-01T13:56:00.004+01:00

Traveling to new and exciting places with children can be great fun but also extremely trying at times.

We recently went on holiday to the other side of Sweden. We hired a house and visited lots of new and interesting places. The holiday inspired this month's article.

Most kids love travel, they love the excitement of visiting new places and learning new things. However it is important to remember that children can't cope with too much new stimulus, it becomes overwhelming.

Like adults, kids need chill out time to recharge their batteries. If not given this space it is easy for them to fall into a cycle of tantrums, causing stress for everyone.

A simple way to release 'travel stress' is to make sure you schedule relaxing 'play' days into your holiday. A 'play' day is a day with no or very little travel and the chance for the children to just 'be' and play in their own way. What you will notice is they naturally gravitate to creative games, whether it be building a city in the sand, making a book or role play games.

Creative games are a way children make sense of new stimulus and work as a kind of meditation. After a 'play' day most kids will be more than ready for the next adventure.

Of course this tip is equally applicable to adults. As an adult you may choose to chill out by playing with your child or take some time for creative writing, sketching, painting or reading.

So if you have an action packed holiday on the cards, remember to schedule in some creative chill out time for everyone.

Top tip for editing the text in your picture book

2011-05-26T11:16:00.000+01:00

10 top tips for creating a book a child will love.

2011-04-21T09:58:00.001+01:00

Choose a topic both you and our child find entertaining.
Keep the sentences short.
Keep the plot simple.
Have no more than 3 main characters.
Use language your child understands.
Make your child the main character in the story (or make sure the main character is a either a child or behaves and thinks like a child).
Gather inspiration from storybooks in your home or at your local library.
'Google' art exercises for kids and try some of them out.
Write and illustrate from your heart (and let go of worrying about what anyone else may think).
Remember a child will not judge your work but will appreciate that you took the time to create something personal for them. They will proably cherish your book for many years to come.

Creativity through the ages...

2011-04-12T22:34:00.005+01:00

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.
Pablo Picasso

I teach people from a broad range of ages how to create personal, original picture books and have recently noticed a pattern emerging.

Very young children are happy to experiment with color and form, they experiment and play without worry about the outcome or what anyone else will think.

As children get older they tend to become more self conscious, they start to worry about getting things wrong. I suspect one input into this is that they are learning rules at kinder and at home, simple rules like 'wash your hands before you eat', etc... and this pattern of applying rules and a desire to please and belong spills over into when they are creating.

The group I have worked with so far who have found it most difficult to throw themselves into the creative process has been a group of 15 year olds. This I suppose should come as no surprise. There is probably no other time in life in which it feels more important to fit in, to belong to a group. So being asked to take risks, to express thoughts and feelings through art can make one feel very vulnerable.

Then there are the parents I have worked with. Many would like to be more creative, would like to experiment and experience the joy of expressing themselves through words and art but somehow feels like they have forgotten how to. My job when working with parents is to help them find their way back to that creative place they once held back in kindergarten.

And so what happens when we become grandparents and/or reach retirement age? What happens to our creativity then? I have noticed in this group of students that the desire to be creative and to tell one's story becomes much stronger. Even though many people may still feel that they need to battle some demons before allowing themselves access to their creative side, the strong desire to do just that almost always wins and an outburst of creativity is the result.

I know am making great generalizations about creativity and age groups. There are always variations and exceptions (absolutely), however to my eye there does seem to be a some kind of pattern emerging. This is a topic very close to my own heart, as I try to remind myself of what I teach and let go of my need to be right and accepted.

A book created together.

2011-01-05T22:27:00.015Z

In my last post I spoke about the simple and effective creative prompt 'I wonder what would happen if...?'.

The inspiration behind that post was my daughter. One morning she brought a piece of paper to me with a picture of ice drawn on it with a story below that she had dictated to Daddy to write down. It began with 'I wonder what would happen if the ice never melted...'and I thought it was fantastic.

She then told me to make up a story that started with 'I wonder what would happen if trees never fell down...' As soon as she made the suggestion fun ideas started to flow in without effort (the magic of 'what if..?'). Together my daughter and I wrote a short 'story' using her creative prompt. Later that day when she was at kindergarten I took a few moments to sketch out possible illustrations for this new story.

I had intended to then paint the illustrations myself, however when my daughter came home and saw my rough sketches she wanted to add color to them straight away and as we had co-authored the story I couldn't refuse. So we sat down at the kitchen table and illustrated.

My little boy also joined in with the painting, however he wasn't so interested in the story, he was more interested in creating his own art work.

Below you can read our illustrated story. Enjoy!

A simple creative prompt... what if ...?

2010-12-18T17:34:00.000Z

Creating a book with a child - tips to ensure the process is fun and creative for you both!

2010-11-19T12:39:00.011Z

Lots of people have asked me about the best way to approach creating a book with a child. They tell me they imagine it is a great way to spend quality time together. It absolutely is a great way to spend quality time together, no doubt about that, but from my own experience it can also end up in tears of frustration if you take the wrong approach. So this post is about how to ensure the process of creating a book with a child is fun and creative for you both.

The time to start creating your book together is when you have time. A rainy day or a sick day are perfect. But the basic rule is any time where you don't need to be somewhere else or being doing something else soon will work well.

The week leading up to Halloween my 5 year old wanted to do lots of crafty Halloween projects.
On one of the days she was home ill. She was too ill to go to kinder but well enough to get creative and crafty and so we decided to use the quite time we had together to create a book.

Follow your child's inspiration and allow your child to choose the theme of the book.

My daughter was really excited about Halloween and was already aksing me to make 'Halloween' things with her so a Halloween themed book was a natural choice.

Don't push it! If you are in the mood for creating a book with your child but no matter how attractive you make the activity seem they are just not interested then just let it go and present the idea another day instead.

I have noticed that many children go through phases where they are inspired by particular things. My children have been through phases where all they want to do is play mummies and daddies, phases where all they want to do are puzzles, or bake cakes, or play with cars, or draw, or make cubby houses etc... So my advice is to let your child follow their passion and if their passion at the time does not include creating a book (not even a book about their current passion) then let it be. Trying to force things usually results in tears of frustration (at least at our house).

Keep your book ambitions age appropriate. Choose an illustrating method (i.e painting or cutting and pasting) that your child already enjoys and has expressed an interest in and then gently encourage them to develop their skills a little further. Doing this will ensure they don't lose interest half way through the creative process and will feel great satisfaction when the book is finished.

It is also important to keep the books length age appropriate. For example a four year old may quite possibly be totally content with a book that is only2- 3 pages long. A nine year old will probably create a book considerably longer than 2 pages and enjoy challenging 'new' illustration techniques.

When looking for illustration ideas for our Halloween book I visited a few crafty 'for kids' blogs. Many of the crafty ideas were great but too complex for my 5 year old. I knew if I chose something too complex she would just get frustrated and lose interest. So I chose an illustrating technique that although a bit of a challenge was still something she was able to learn and master.

Take a back seat. Let your child dictate the text and decide on the overall look and design of the book. You may find yourself inspired and full of ideas for the book but make sure you don't simply take over.

This is possibly the most difficult tip to follow. I know when I start on a book with one of my kids I find it very easy to get carried away with my own ideas. The problem is that if I don't keep myself in check my child realizes the project is more about me than her and she simply gets frustrated and loses interest. So if you do find yourself flowing with new creative ideas, by all means gently make suggestions to your child allow her own ideas to take centre stage. (You can make use of all your new ideas by creating your own book once the kids have gone to bed.)

Lead by example. Create your own books for your kids and share your work with them. Your kids are sure to get inspired and want to create a book too.

My children have seen me create many books for them and I am pretty sure that is why my daughter is so keen on creating her own books (with or without me).

Please let me know how you get on creating a book with a child and feel free to share your work and any of your own tips. Just send me an email at nina@createabookforachild.com

If you would like to take a look at the Halloween book I refer to in this article simply scroll down and take a look at the blog post below.

The Ghost Book- a Halloween special!

2010-10-29T15:07:00.011+01:00

Today my 5 year old was home ill with a fever. She wanted to pass the time by doing something for Halloween. So we had a look on the internet for some crafty Halloween ideas and adapted a beautiful idea and turned it into a book (we found the original idea at a website called Journey into Unschooling )

Here is the result!

Once upon a time there was a ghost house. Lots of ghosts lived in the ghost house.

The ghosts decided to go out and scare everyone.

They said BOOO to us!

Children's book illustration ideas in abundance!

2010-10-04T23:01:00.006+01:00

A simple way to tap into new, effective inspirational ideas.

Today I want to introduce you to an abundant resource of creative ideas. This resource will not only inspire you but also prove to be very useful.

This resource is BLOGS... but not just any blogs. The blogs I recommend are blogs written by creative parents and teachers who document artwork they create with children.

Art exercises designed for children are incredibly useful for amateur artists creating ilustrations for children. There are several reasons for this:

The exercises are designed to be simple (you don't need to be a trained artist to achieve great results).

The materials used are usually materials you are likely to already have in your home.

The exercises are designed for children's tastes so you get a good idea of the kind of pictures and themes children enjoy.

People working with children and art are fantastic at thinking 'outside of the box' which in turn is a wonderful way to inspire you to think 'outside of the box'.

Once you have read a few different creative blog posts for kids art you will very quickly find yourself synthesizing new creative solutions to your own illustration challenges.

The information they provide is free!

I was inspired to write this article after interviewing the artist Maggy Woodley for this month's 'Inviting Creativity' interview. Maggy is not only an artist in her own right but she enjoys exploring stories and art together with her 2 young children. She documents the many creative exercises they do together in her blog so that we too can replicate them.

There are many creative mummy blogs to visit but to keep things simple I recommend you start by visiting Maggy's blog www.redtedart.com . Then once you dive in you will find yourself introduced to other creative mummy bloggers and to the abundant world of creative blogs.

I encourage you to listen to this month's creative interview where you will have the chance to 'meet' Maggy. (This months interview I kept to only 30 minutes as I had the feeling 1 hour interviews were too long- let me know what you think).

To listen just click here! Red Ted Art creative interview

Below is photo of Maggy and her inspiration!

Warmly,

Nina

A tip for creating illustrations for babies!

2010-10-02T20:38:00.000+01:00

Creating a paper bag book! The video

2010-09-06T10:41:00.002+01:00

Here are 3 great videos showing you how to create a paper bag book. Sounds a bit odd but the results are wonderful.

Take a look and I hope you get inspired!

http://www.ilovescrapbooking.org/?p=2290

http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=352192129036680749&postID=7842475864171419141

http://www.ilovescrapbooking.org/?p=2247

Hugs,
Nina

Illustration warm up for everyone!

2010-08-07T12:05:00.014+01:00

The two paintings below were created using an exercise that works as a great creative warm up or as just a bit of fun and relaxation. Today I am going to share this exercise with you (this exercise was one 'Tam Veilleux explained during our Inviting Creativity interview.)

The first painting above was created by me and the second was created by my 5 year old daughter. So you can see this exercise works whatever your age!

(I created the top painting one evening when the children were asleep. When my little girl woke up in the morning she quickly found it and wanted me to show her how to create a painting like that too. And so I did.)

The reason I suggest you use this a 'warm up' exercise as is because it is a gentle and fun way to play with colors and shapes without feeling any kind of 'presentation' pressure.

Before you get started you need a few simple tools: paper (preferably paper that doesn't wrinkle when you use watercolor paints on it), a pencil, a crayon or a color pen, watercolor paints (as cheap or expensive as you like) and a paint brush.

Step 1: Using a pencil draw whatever you see in front of you without looking at your paper or taking the pencil off the paper.

Step 2: Go over the pencil lines on your paper using a crayon or color pen.

Step 3: Paint whatever colors you choose onto the shapes on your paper.

Step 4: Enjoy your creation!

Intviting Creativity! A creative interview series with talented artists and authors.

2010-08-04T08:17:00.004+01:00

Inviting Creativity!

I recently began conducting an interview series with wonderful artists and authors, designed to inspire you at home, provide practical tips and tools plus get your creative juices flowing!

Have you ever wondered how professional artists work?

Have you ever wondered how professional artists access their creativity?

In this, the first interview of the series the talented artist Pia Walker from www.piafwalker.com shares:

Her sources of inspiration.

Her creative processes.

Why she thinks everyone can create great art!

How we can all invite creativity in!

How she unblocks her creative blocks.

The role children play in her creative processes.

and much more....

To listen to this inspired, creative interview simply
click here!

Have a great time!

Love,
Nina

A quick, fun, easy way everyone can create a book- in a back to front kind of a way.

2010-07-07T12:24:00.006+01:00

I've discovered a really fun, stress free and fast way to write and illustrate a storybook. The secrets are creating it in a back to front kind of way and splashing watercolours haphazardly on a page.

Before I explain the 'back to front' book creation process here is a photo of a 'back to front' illustraion.

I'll explain...

I love water colours and decided to play around just putting them on the page, creating miscellaneous shapes and colours with no thought to creating a 'real' picture. This was really fun and quick to do. It took me less than 10 minutes to create 5 images. The hardest part of doing this was avoiding painting familiar concrete objects. This exercise is great antidote for someone like me who has a habit of wanting to 'get things right'.

My next step was to (a day or two later) ask myself 'what do I see?' when looking at the images and then to draw a sketch onto the picture outlining what I saw. I knew I wanted to make a children's picture book out of the images so when I looked at the second image I started to wonder a little bit about what kind of story could evolve and once again asked myself 'what do I see?'. I tried to keep a story idea very loose, but wanted something to guide me, and something my children could relate to and enjoy. So, I simply decided this story would be about a monster (both my children love monster stories) and then let whatever happen happen.

Looking at my interpretation of the images now, it is clear to me the pictures that came to mind are a reflection of what is in my life right now. The green circle in blue became a swimming ring in a lake, which makes sense to me as it is summer in Sweden and much of our time is spent swimming in lakes with swimming rings. Fish also feature in this story, which is not surprising considering we recently gave my daughter an aquarium with three fish for her 4th birthday. So, you are probably starting to get an impression of how this works. The great thing about this is that the images that naturally came to mind are everyday things my children can relate to and enjoy.

Once I'd finished sketching the things I imagined over the watercolour images, I scribbled down a story. As the pictures are kind of nonsensical I thought a silly kind of story would fit perfectly. I know the story and the images could do with some work to make a storybook with a clear totality etc... but for now I am very happy with the results.

If creating a book like this appeals to you why not have a go and share your work with us at Create A Book For A Child's free membership site?

Find more photos like this on Piggy Publishing Adventures

“But I'm not a trained artist!” (How intuition can come to the rescue!)

2010-06-21T11:06:00.008+01:00

I have come across quite a few people who would love to create an original book for a child but are afraid they won't be able to because they are not trained artists.

I understand this fear but I am very happy to say it is unfounded. There are a few reasons for this but today I am going to focus on one reason, our intuition. What we often do not realize is that we can draw upon our intuition to create beautiful books, and one doesn't need to have attended a single art class to do this.

So, how do intuition, creativity and creating books for children link up?

And what is intuition anyway?

I often tell my students to allow themselves to follow their intuition when creating their storybooks, to let go of the need to analyze everything and to 'go with the flow' (at least in the early stages of the book creation process). But what is intuition really? And in concrete terms how does it help us to create entertaining and beautiful books for children we love?

Recently I was surprised and delighted when a particular student of mine presented the class with her finished storybook. Each page was fun, original, colorful, clear and simple, yet I knew she had no formal art or design training. How did she do this? What was her creative process?

This student had used, without knowing it, colors to emote certain feelings in the reader, she had used invisible lines on the page to direct the eye and tell the story she wanted to tell. She had done so much 'right', almost as if she had spent time studying picture composition and how to effectively use colors. But when I asked her how she had come to the design of each page she said she had simply started and then just done what felt right (i.e. she had followed her intuition).

So, why had following her intuition (or her hunch, or her feelings) worked? What had happened? Well, the artist Pia Walker described to me what had happened. My student had drawn from her own 'internal library' of of images. This 'library' she had gathered (just as we all have) as a result of all she had seen and sees around her in everyday life, in books, magazines and in films. Without knowing it she had applied the principles of color and form that she found in her 'internal library' to her illustrations.

And so when I think of this wonderful student of mine and her beautiful book I now understand a little more clearly why following your intuition when creating your book can be so effective, and why you don't need to be a trained artist to create a beautiful book a child will love.

My recommendation to you is to allow yourself to trust your intuition when creating your book, and remember you can always analyze and revise once you have completed your first draft. But at least start by relaxing and allowing yourself to follow your intuition. I think you will be pleasantly surprised by the results.

NB: Edward De Bono, an expert on creativity describes intuition as “a gradual build-up of background patterns which often cannot be verbalized or even made conscious”.

If you would like to hear more about creativity and intuition the artist Pia Walker (www.piafwalker.com) and I discuss intuition and creativity in the very first interview from Create A Book For A Child's brand new 'Inviting Creativity' series. To listen to the interview simply click here!

How to clear a creative block!

2010-06-16T22:23:00.002+01:00

Do you ever experience creative blocks? If so I have a great little tip from you.

Watch this short video to find out what it is! :)

How to draw people you know- a creative cafe tip!

2010-05-31T19:42:00.001+01:00

A book about things that make a child angry- will make your child laugh!

2010-05-07T09:45:00.001+01:00

I created a book a while ago about all the things that made my daughter angry. She loves this book, it makes her laugh!

Find more photos like this on Create A Book For A Child!

A children's storybook for Granny.

2010-05-05T11:10:00.004+01:00

As I mentioned in my previous post, very sadly my 89 year old granny passed away about 10 days ago. She became ill very quickly. I was lucky enough to manage to catch an emergency flight to the England to see her. She died one hour after I arrived by her bedside. As you can imagine this week has been very sad.The reason I am telling you about Granny is it has inspired me to create a book celebrating her, a book I can share with my own children. I have written the the book from my perspective as a 6 year old as I want to capture all the impressions I had of Granny when I was a child.

It occurred to me, that I should also create books for Mum, Dad and my brother, as a way of letting them know how much they mean to me, a way of documenting our relationships and also a way of sharing these these thoughts and feelings with my own children.

I hope you become inspired to do the same.

Below is the text to my, yet to be illustrated, book.

My Granny Sounds Like the Queen.

My granny lives in England, she is very proper and sounds like the Queen.

My granny has spidery handwriting, when she visits I like to sit on her bed in the morning and try to copy it.

My granny drinks half a cup of coffee at 11am, she also drinks one finger of whiskey when the bar opens at 6.

My granny sings with a wobbly old fashioned voice, this makes my brother and I laugh.

My granny is scared of frogs, this also makes us laugh.

My granny wears peachy lipstick and creamy foundation, she smells like England.

My granny has a tennis court and likes to play tennis with her friends. She also likes to play bridge and go to writing classes.

My granny grew up in a big house with servants, she wore white dresses and rode ponies.

My granny has lots of friends who like to meet my brother and I when possible. We try to be well behaved, but sometimes we get the giggles.

My granny has 2 grandchildren, my brother Ben and I.

We know we mean the world to her, and she means the world to us.

Warmly,
Nina

Celebrate a grandparent- create a book for them!

2010-04-30T12:12:00.003+01:00

Sadly on Sunday my beautiful grandmother passed away. I was lucky enough to be with her.

I realized I wanted to write and illustrate a storybook to celebrate her and our relationship. I speak about this in the short video below.

Intuition and creativity- a creative cafe tip!

2010-04-12T09:51:00.002+01:00

Have you ever wondered about the connection between intuition and creativity?

Here I have a quick tip to help you tap into your intuition and release your creativity.

Simply write a book about what your child loves.

2010-04-07T10:48:00.002+01:00

A simple way to write a storybook your small child is bound to cherish is to write a book about all the things they love.

For an example of what I mean, take a look at my own 'Sofia Loves... ' storybook below.

Enjoy!

Find more photos like this on Create A Book For A Child!

Creative cafe tip for families

2010-04-04T12:32:00.002+01:00

The other day I made a quick video blast from a cafe I was in. I am so blown away by technology!

Anyway, this video blast is a quick tip to help you and your family pass the time while waiting for food in a cafe. A tip to keep you creative and having fun!

Beginning- why does it sometimes feel like the hardest thing to do?

2010-03-29T09:49:00.004+01:00

During my last course my students and I talked about the feelings that arose in the very beginning of the course. We also talked in general about the feelings that arise when one is about to embark on something new and especially on something creative and heartfelt. The discussion was really interesting and so I thought you may find it useful if I share a few of the thoughts that arose from the discussion.

To be quite honest, whenever I begin something new I almost always feel some degree of fear. Fear of failure, fear of making mistakes, fear of humiliation, fear of rejection, fear of being discovered for not being capable or not being very good.

What I understand is fear at its worst can paralyze and is capable of stopping us from taking those first steps toward creating something (possibly something quite beautiful). It is crazy really, all those things so many of us don't begin and hence don't experience, express and create, all due to fear- fear that I suspect is usually unfounded.

When I began drawing to entertain my baby daughter I had no fear, she was so little I knew she wasn't going to laugh at me. I wasn't afraid she would think my drawings were no good, I wasn't afraid of making mistakes. Without realizing it I gave myself permission to draw and experiment with my drawings simply for the joy of it. And then, much to my surprise, I discovered it wasn't only my daughter who liked my drawings, but I really liked my drawings too and I didn't care about what anyone else thought. What freedom!

I felt much more fear when it was time for me to share with the adult world my first book on the internet. But I did, and no one laughed or humiliated me. In fact, people just told me I had inspired them to create a book too.

Many of my students have told me that they too feel fear when they start my course. To create something original such as an illustrated book means sharing something of ourselves and this can leave us feeling vulnerable and scared. The beginning is usually the scariest part (by the way my students are amongst the most courageous women I have come across!). But my students tell me that once they actually start creating, the fear subsides and the joy of expressing themselves creatively takes over.

So, with this in mind I encourage you to simply begin your book. Write down a sentence, an idea, sketch a stick figure, play with some cheap watercolor paints. Simply begin and play! The rest just gets easier (and if you never begin you will never know).

Joel and Daddy- my new storybook!

2010-03-18T00:07:00.003Z

For a bit of fun I would like to share with you a new storybook I created for my son Joel and my husband.

I created this book using what I call the 'doodle illustration technique'. You simply draw 2 squiggles on a piece of paper and then create a picture out of these squiggles- hence the 'rough' style of this book. I made this book in the spirit of my philosophy “it is better to have fun and get it done than to worry about things being perfect and never get it done at all”.

Find more photos like this on Create A Book For A Child!

How to bind a book at home- the simple way!

2010-03-08T09:17:00.002Z

I made a couple of short films demonstrating a very simple way to bind your children's book at home.

Anyone can do this and it requires no special equipment.

Doodle illustration technique- the video!

2010-02-22T12:35:00.002Z

I have created a video to demonstrate my 'doodle illustration technique'.

What is 'doodle illustration technique'? It is a simple fun way to create illustrations in a short time and without planning. It is a great way to kick start the creative illustrating process and to design first drafts of your illustrations.

As always, my art is fun art not 'great art'. And if I can do this I think you probably can too!

Creating an animated film with a little one!

2010-02-08T23:00:00.002Z

On Saturday I was lucky enough to attend a 'Make your own film' workshop at the World Culture Museum here in Gothenburg. The workshop was run by Gunilla Gränsbo who is a member of Create A Book For A Child.

Sofia (4.5) wanted to make a film with penguins in it (I think she was inspired by Pingu), and so she and I spent a little time making plastacine penguin figures and a little scene backdrop on a flat piece of card. When ready we then took still photos of our penguin characters (and a fish) on the card background. Using a Mac computer and some free film making program (I can't remember what it was called just now- but I will get back to you witht he name) we made this very simple film.

Find more videos like this on Create A Book For A Child!

Find more videos like this on Create A Book For A Child!

So here we created a story through film and this story was not created for my child but with my child.

I can't wait to get started animating some of the stories I have created and to watching Sofia create more of her own films.

Childrens book illustrations exhibition!

2010-02-04T12:18:00.001Z

A couple of weeks ago now we had our first Create A Book For A Child exhibition opening and it was a great success.

We held it in the beautiful location of Härlanda Kyrka here in Gothenburg. This location was perfect, it is a beautiful space with lots of space and light and candles.

6 of my students had 2 of their illustrations framed and displayed. We set up a table where people could come and read the entire books and speak to the authors.

The day was a lot of fun as you can see from the photos below.

Find more photos like this on Create A Book For A Child!

Drawing people.

2010-02-04T12:05:00.001Z

Some of my students really want to get proportion right when they are drawing, they want to draw 'realistically'. Other students are happy to play and for their pictures to be technically imperfect but full of expression.

However you want your illustrations to look is ok. In my book there is no right or wrong, just do what makes you feel happiest when creating a personal book. If you look at professionally published children's books you will see many different styles are used by many different illustrators.

I love abstract and cartoon like images as much as 'realistic' images.

Anyway, one comment I hear over and over is "I can't draw people" or "I don't know how to draw people".

If you are one of these people I have found a couple of videos that instruct you on how to draw people and 'characters' (not always a person).

To watch these videos click on the following links:

How to measure proportion for drawing people

Tips on how to draw people

Spaghetti pictures!

2009-12-11T13:10:00.008Z

I read somewhere on the internet (and I am embarrassed to say I can't for the life of me remember where I read it) about a craft exercise to do with small children and spaghetti It sounded fun so I decided to give it a try.

Very simply all the exercise involves is boiling up some spaghetti and when it is soft give it to your children to make pictures out of. You can then add paint to your creations.

I made my own spaghetti picture while the kids were making theirs. I really loved working with a different material, it led me to creating a picture in a new kind of style.

When the pictures dried the paper went all crinkly so I don't think these types of pictures would really work as illustrations in a book. However, the pictures that result from the exercise could be taken and used as inspiration for illustrations in a storybook.

The first picture you see here,of a cat, is mine. The second is by my 4 year old daughter and is a spider and different letters of the alphabet. The third picture is an artwork done by my 2 year old son who became very inspired by the whole process.

'Doodle' illustration exercise

2009-12-03T21:45:00.009Z

Today I thought I'd share with you a 'doodle' illustration exercise.

I have been having a 1:1 Create A Book For A Child class in my home. Today we played around with different creative exercises. The purpose of doing these exercises is to get the creative juices flowing and let go of needing to be right.

Here is a simple but effective doodle illustration exercise.

Step 1:
Take a piece of plain paper and put a couple of haphazard lines on it.

Step 2:
Create a picture out of the lines.

Below you can see photos of my student's (Hanna) and my doodle exercises.

This exercise is really fun and only takes a few minutes. Why not try it out yourself?

Warmly,
Nina
www.createabookforachild.com

Why not doodle your illustrations?

2009-12-01T13:01:00.001Z

Have you ever thought about doodling your illustrations into being?

If you are not sure what I am talking about check out these inspired videos below. I found them on a wonderful website called Milliande Creativity Club.

A creating a book for a toddler class at home!

2009-11-23T20:49:00.004Z

Today I held my first ever 1:1 storybook class at home. At least it was kind of 1:1, the woman I was teaching had her lovely toddler with her.

The class worked really well, we played with creating a storybook and the little boy Neo played with my children's toys. Everyone was happy.

When I teach people how to create storybooks the first lesson is always spent looking at storybooks, brainstorming storybook ideas, choosing an idea and a story structure and then we get going writing the story!

I usually recommend the book is no more than 13 pages long (other wise it is easy to feel bogged down if you are not used to illustrating) and for toddlers I recommend you simply have one sentence on each page and write the story with the child as the main character. This makes writing the story relatively easy! Maximum 13 sentences!

If you know the child you are writing for well a simple description of how they start their day or what happens when they visit Grandma are examples of easy and effective topics. Your child will love being the main character of the story and having his or her own experiences celebrated.

Here is a peek at our 'work space'.

Collage illustrations experiments

2009-11-17T12:27:00.014Z

Today I want to share with you my collage illustrating tips and to offer you the chance to take part in my online Create A Book For A Child course for a very tiny amount of the usual cost. I need some guinea-pigs so you would be helping me out.

But first I'm going to chat about making collage illustrations...

The other day I went with my family to the City Museum here in Gothenburg. The museum was holding a creative day for children and provided the children and their parents with pens, paper, glitter, glue etc... to use our imaginations and get creative.

I jumped at the opportunity to do something I have been meaning to do for ages, play with making collage illustrations.

Below you can see what I came up with.

Here I simply drew the shape of a car on some patterned wrapping paper I liked and then cut out the car shape. I wanted to have different colored wheels so I drew two circles about the right size on some yellow paper and cut them out. I then simply glued the shapes to a piece of blue paper!

I used the same technique with the image of this boy (my son Joel by the way). I drew a very simple boy shape first on some yellow paper, I then cut out the head, then the body, the legs, the feet and the hand shapes. I wanted this boy to be colorful so I took the cut out body shape and traced around it onto the patterned wrapping paper I liked and proceeded to cut out the body shape from the patterned paper. I repeated this with all the different shapes using different colored pieces of paper. When I was done I glued them onto my page to make up the shape of the complete boy once more.

I had a flash of inspiration with the fish in water collage. I simply cut out strips of silver paper and stuck them in a messy fashion to my page. I then drew very simple fish shapes (with the help of my daughter), colored them in, cut them out and then stuck them to the page so they 'swam' between the silver strips. I really like this one and so does my daughter!

Halloween fairy princess!

2009-10-30T12:34:00.011Z

Boooo!!!!

Life in our household was very exciting this morning as my children got to wear dress up clothes to their kindergarten today! A Halloween treat. My daughter wanted to go as a fairy princess (a little bit of a surprise because she usually prefers monsters) however my 2 year old son wasn't interested in dressing up at all!

I thought I'd share with you photos of the fairy princess who left the house this morning plus an illustration to accompany it. (I also thought I share with you a picture of the same little person being a monster!)

Happy Halloween!!!!

And if you like the sound of creating a book for your little one don't forget to check out my new website!

www.createabookforachild.com

A handmade birthday card for my son!

2009-10-23T10:47:00.011+01:00

My son Joel turned 2 on the weekend!

I love it when my kids have birthdays, they always provide such a great excuse for celebrations and the children are always so excited.

On the eve of Joel's birthday I realized in all the preparations (we had 2 parties to prepare for, both on the same day! What was I thinking?) I had forgotten to buy him a birthday card.

Of course, the obvious solution was to make one myself (infact making him a card is something I would like to have planned to do anyway). So, at around midnight, I sat down with my paints and paper and created a personal birthday card. I was quite tired and didn't have loads of time to plan the card but I thought it would be fun to have an illustration of him surrounded by some of the presents he was going to recieve and by a couple of his favourite things. The chair (if you are wondering) was included because it was one of his presents. Joel recieved a big grown up 'high' chair to sit on at the kitchen table. This chair was to replace his baby high chair, as he had made very clear to us that the baby chair was not for him any more as he is no longer a baby!

I plan to always make personal birthday cards from now on. They are so much fun to make and mean so much more than a card from a shop.

Meanwhile my husband was busy cutting out number 2s from coloured paper and hanging them from the ceiling.

Finally we fell into bed and I am glad to say Joel had a great birthday and both parties were a success- although we were all complete zombies come Sunday!

Anyway, here are photos of the handmade card.

Enjoy!

Oh, and another very exciting bit of news I almost forgot to share with you... I have literally just launced a new website. Create A Book For A Child This is a Create A Book For A Child courses website. So, if you are interested in taking a 5 week online course to learn how to create a personal storybook for your little one, please check out my new website. And please check it out anyway, just for fun and let me know what you think! I appreciate honest feedback.

To visit simply click on the following words... Create A Book For A Child and of course tell all your family and friends ;)

Warmly,
Nina
Create A Book For A Child

Creating storybooks for children- a slide show!

2009-10-16T12:01:00.004+01:00

Over the past few weeks I have been teaching a group of amazing women how to create children's storybooks.

I thought you may enjoy some photos of them at work and of their works in progress.

Find more photos like this on Create A Book For A Child!

Somestimes it is the imperfections in an illustration that make it perfect!

2009-10-06T11:50:00.002+01:00

When I illustrate it is more important for me to have fun and actually do it than to produce a perfect storybook.

If I were to be writing and illustrating storybooks to be professionally published there is no doubt I would spend a lot more time writing, rewriting and perfecting my illustrations. However, for the purpose of writing a personal storybook for a child I think the perfecting and getting it right element isn't at all important.

I also think that very often it is the imperfections in the illustrations that can make them feel alive, fresh and unique. So often when I am illustrating I make a lot of mistakes and so often I find that the mistakes work as a blessing in disguise. The 'mistakes' often push me me to find perhaps more unusual and creative solutions than I would otherwise.

An example is in my storybook "Sometimes Sofia Gets Angry When..." I was just finishing off the second last illustration when I realized I hadn't left any room for the text. To solve this I just added the text in a slightly different way. I'm not sure how successful my solution was here but it was fun to do. Below is the illustration so you can see what I mean....

I was reading the other day about the illustrator Quentin Blake. You may know him because he illustrated a lot of Rhoal Dahl's book among other things. Anyway, his illustrations are so fresh and inspired and they don't look at all 'touched up' or perfected and that is the charm of them. Ofcourse he is a genius but he is also an inspiration. I really suggest you stop by his website and have a look http://www.quentinblake.com/index.html

So, what I am saying is you can't ever get it wrong! And, as you probably have guessed my philosophy is 'just have fun!'.

On a slightly different note, I did finish the illustrations for my books "Sometimes Sofia Gets Angry When...". I invite you to take a look.

Find more photos like this on Create A Book For A Child!

Painting an illustration- a video

2009-09-30T20:58:00.004+01:00

I have just made a video of myself painting an illustration for "Sometimes Sofia Gets Angry When..." for those of you who may be curious about my painting process (or perhaps just a laugh at my expense!;)). This is really for those of you who are not trained artists but would like to see a simple way anyone can create illustrations using watercolor.

I suggest 'fast forwarding' every now and then if you just want to get a quick glimpse of how I work.

By the way, I thought I was looking at the camera lense... it didn't turn out quite that way....

An one story with an added illustration, another with added text.

2009-09-25T09:36:00.004+01:00

I have added a new illustration this week.

Nearly finished!

Find more photos like this on Create A Book For A Child!

I also added the text to my "Monster Splash" story.

Find more photos like this on Create A Book For A Child!

A new story, "Joel is so grown up..."

2009-09-24T16:20:00.001+01:00

Hello,

As you may have noticed most of my stories are about my daughter Sofia. I have been meaning for a long time to add to Joel's collection of stories. Over the next few weeks I am teaching a 'How to write and illustrate a storybook' course and thought I would take the opportunity to do the homework I set my students and create a new storybook- this time for Joel.

The first week's homework was to write the story.

Here is my first draft.

Joel is so grown up...

This is Joel.
Joel lives with his mummy, his daddy, his big sister Sofia...
and his cars.
Joel is very grown up.
Infact, Joel is so grown up he can drink from a cup without a lid.
Joel is so grown up he can wash his hands all by himself.
Joel is so grown up he can put his shoes on all by himself.
Joel is so grown up he can go down the stairs all by himself.
Joel is so grown up he can put things in the bin all by himself.
Joel is so grown up he can choose his own bedtime stories.
Joel is so grown up he hardly needs any help from Mummy, Daddy or big sister Sofia at all.
But sometimes, when he decides, it is quite nice not to be so grown up...
And have a big cuddle with Mummy.

I have allocated one sentence for each page for this particular book. It looks like the book will be 13 pages in all. This is a good number of pages as it is few enough for me to realistically complete the illustrations within a few weeks.

The next step I need to complete in order to finish my homework is to draw a rough sketch, an idea of the illustration I would like to have on each page. I'll show you my work in a blog post in the next few days.

Using leaves and flowers to create illustrations!

2009-09-17T20:51:00.004+01:00

This week I have to admit I haven't added a new illustration to “Sometimes Sofia Gets Angry When...”, however, I have something else to share with you which I think you may enjoy.

The other morning I went for a walk in the forest after leaving the little ones at nursery and was getting inspired by the nature around me. I collected some leaves and flowers with the idea I could somehow use them to make some paintings with the kids.

When the little ones got home I got out a big piece of paper, the water colours and told Sofia and Joel about my plan.

The plan was to:

Put the different leaves and flowers on the paper.

Paint around them with different colours.

Make pictures out of the resulting shapes.

This was really fun for all of us. We couldn't find the paint brushes so used cotton bud sticks instead. I have taken photos so you can see, I took them with my mobile phone camera so appologies for the quality.

I thought this would be a really fun way to create illustrations for a storybook. Create shapes by painting outlines around things and then making the shapes into pictures to illustrate your story.

Find more photos like this on Create A Book For A Child!

A new illustration every week and "Create A Book For A Child"

2009-09-11T09:04:00.006+01:00

A couple of bits of news today.

Every week I am adding a new illustration to a book for my little girl. This book is called "Sometimes Sofia Gets Angry When...", a little further down in this post you will find the illustrations including this week's addition.

My other news is that I am in the process of changing the name of my social network from Piggy Publishing Adventures to Create A Book For A Child. Even though I love the name Piggy Publishing Adventures (and I am still keeping the name to use later) I realized it doesn't really describe what my social network is about. It is not really about becoming a published author but about creating something unique for your child for the pure joy of it.

I am still in the process of sorting out changing all the URL details etc... But I thought I'd let you know of the change and if you have any feedback would love to hear it.

Anyway, here are the illustrations... enjoy...

Find more photos like this on Create A Book For A Child!

Have a great day.

Nina

A picture from my daughter

2009-09-04T10:38:00.003+01:00

This morning when I left Sofia and Joel at their nursery there was a piece of paper on Sofia's shelf. Sofia had drawn a picture for me.

I have never seen Sofia draw with such attention to detail before and I just really loved the image and couldn't resist sharing it here.

Another new illustration add to the book!

2009-09-04T09:35:00.002+01:00

I am very proud to say I have completed another illustration this week. Would love you to have a look!

Find more photos like this on Piggy Publishing Adventures

A new illustration for my storybook

2009-08-27T10:10:00.001+01:00

As I mentioned in my last post I have given myself a challenge to complete an illustration each week for a picture book I have written for my little girl.

Here is a slide show of the illustations so far...

Find more photos like this on Piggy Publishing Adventures

Finishing the illustrations for a storybook- my challenge

2009-08-20T13:29:00.003+01:00

I wrote a book for Sofia called ‘Sofia gets angry when’ about 18 months ago (this is a great theme for a storybook for a toddler, they think it is hysterical). I started illustrating the book about 12 months ago and I am disappointed to say it is sill lying unfinished.

So, I have given myself a challenge to finish illustrating this book and I have decided the best way of ensuring I get it done is to make a promise to you that I’ll add a new illustration each week whatever happens.

Today I have put photos of the illustrations I have already completed little further down in this blog post.

Next week I will be adding my next completed illustration for the book and inviting you to have a look.

If you would like to join me in this challenge and each week write or illustrating something for a book idea you have let me know by popping by my page and we can help hold each other accountable and inspire each other.

A picture book guide to writing an illustrating your first storybook for your kids.

2009-08-18T13:36:00.002+01:00

I have just added my first ever video to YouTube.

Here is my picture book guide to writing and illustrating your first storybook for your kids.

Some of you may have seen this before.

A fun, easy way anyone can illustrate and write a storybook in a back to front kind of way.

2009-08-13T09:06:00.004+01:00

I've discovered a really fun, stress free and fast way to write and illustrate a storybook. The secrets are creating it in a back to front kind of way and splashing watercolours haphazardly on a page.

Here is the result (I have put images in pairs, the first is the result of me splashing colours on paper and the second is what I did next...).

Find more photos like this on Piggy Publishing Adventures

I had great fun playing around with text to make the images into a story. Below is what I have come up with so far.

I'll explain how this book came to be. If you find the method appeals to you I urge you to give it a go and share the results with me on Piggy Publishing Adventures.

I love water colours and decided to play around just putting them on the page, creating miscellaneous shapes and colours with no thought to creating a 'real' picture. This was really fun and quick to do. It took me less than 10 minutes to create 5 images. The hardest part of doing this was avoiding painting familiar concrete objects. This exercise is great antidote for someone like me who has a habit of wanting to 'get things right'.

My next step was to (a day or two later) ask myself 'what do I see?' when looking at the images and then to draw a sketch onto the picture outlining what I saw. I knew I wanted to make a children's picture book out of the images so when I looked at the second image I started to wonder a little bit about what kind of story could evolve and once again asked myself 'what do I see?'. I tried to keep a story idea very loose, but wanted something to guide me, and something my children could relate to and enjoy. So, I simply decided this story would be about a monster (both my children love monster stories) and then let whatever happen happen.

Looking at my interpretation of the images now, it is clear to me the pictures that came to mind are a reflection of what is in my life right now. The green circle in blue became a swimming ring in a lake, which makes sense to me as it is summer in Sweden and much of our time is spent swimming in lakes with swimming rings. Fish also feature in this story, which is not surprising considering we recently gave my daughter an aquarium with three fish for her 4th birthday. So, you are probably starting to get an impression of how this works. The great thing about this is that the images that naturally came to mind are everyday things my children can relate to and enjoy.

Once I'd finished sketching the things I imagined over the watercolour images, I scribbled down a story. As the pictures are kind of nonsensical I thought a silly kind of story would fit perfectly. I know the story and the images could do with some work to make a storybook with a clear totality etc... but for now I am very happy with the results.

Playing around painting words on a page.

2009-08-12T10:47:00.003+01:00

I have been playing around with painting words on pages. I ended up writing/painting what I thought may work as a headline for my website Piggy Publishing Aventures. To be honest the style of presentation didn't really work for that purpose but I did have fun painting the words and I have a feeling I am on the edge of something... you know, a kind of feeling this style will lead to something... but I'm not sure what...

Maybe you have some ideas...

Find more photos like this on Piggy Publishing Adventures

The first time I thought I could write and illustrate my own children's picture book.

2009-08-03T22:20:00.008+01:00

I never considered writing and illustrating storybooks for children until I started reading picture books to my own child. I found it so refreshing to see how simple, beautiful and completely effective they can be.

The books that first ignited the thought that I could write and illustrate personalized books for my little girl were the Sam series of books written by Barbro Lindgren and illustrated by Eva Eriksson. This series of books are about a little boy called Sam (or Max if you are reading them in their original language, Swedish) who has very every day adventures.

The books are written with so much humour and love I couldn’t help but fall in love with them. My daughter, who was a toddler when I first read them to her, also fell in love with them. She loved to read about someone who had the same challenges as she did and that was when the idea came to me that I should write and illustrate a picture book just about her, one in which she could recognise her own life and experiences.

And so I did.

And of course I can’t recommend enough the process of writing and illustrating a book and then the absolute joy of sharing it with your little one. Yes, this is where I get all gushy so I’d better stop here.

Oh, and by the way, my little boy who is 20 months has also just discovered the joy of the Sam books and it is just as much fun reading them the second time around.

For those of you visiting my blog for the first time, if you would like to read a couple of the books I have written and illustrated for my children please click on the title of this blog post and you will be taken to my free Create A Book For A Child membership site for inspired mums, dads, grandparents and teachers who like to create books for their children.

A video introduction to me, Nina Aksell. A bit about my life.

2009-07-16T22:59:00.003+01:00

The other day I made my first video for the internet. I made it to publish on my website Piggy Publishing Adventures as an introduction to me, a bit about my life so far. I thought you may like to have a look too.

Find more videos like this on Piggy Publishing Adventures

Me and my kids.

2009-07-13T21:50:00.003+01:00

Hi,

I realized my blog was looking a little dull and that you may like to see a couple of photos of me and my kids to get a bit more of a glimpse of who I am.

These photos were taken a few weeks ago here in Gothenburg, Sweden.

How to find your illustrating style when writing and illustrating your first picture book.

2009-07-13T20:41:00.007+01:00

For those of you visiting this blog for the first time this post is part of a series here about how to write and illustrate your first children's picture book. This is really meant to be a little course for amateurs who would love to write and illustrate a picture book for the children in their lives. I reccommend you have a look at my earlier posts here if this sounds like something for you.

In previous posts you can also read some of the books I have written and illustrated for my little ones.

So, here goes...

How to find your illustrating style when writing and illustrating your first picture book.

a) Now it is time to really have fun. This is where you get to go back to nursery and play. If you can remember just drawing/painting without any worry about the outcome, just to have fun, then that is the state of mind if would be great for you to have while you play with discovering your illustrating style!

b) You can start with having a look at drawings and paintings you and your child may have done together. When you look there you will see you already have a style! And your child probably thinks your illustrations are great!? If not great at least fun or funny.

Hint: The quality of the illustrations is not important, what is important is that you have fun. You can also go through this process while your child doing their art at the same time.

c) Now get out some of your children’s art supplies (whatever is close at hand), clear a space at your kitchen table and play around with drawing/painting/ cutting and pasting. Have fun, go for it. Don’t worry about end results, right now you are just playing to find the illustrating style that works the best for you!

Here is a list of examples of materials you may think about using to illustrate your book.
- Children’s water colour paints
- Children’s coloured pencils.
- Crayons.
- Paper (white and coloured) to draw, paint on.
- Plain copy paper to do sketches on.
- Pencils and erasers
- Newspapers and magazines for cutting out.
- Old wrapping paper for cutting out and sticking.
- Fabric
- Printed out photos of you and your kids.

Hint: If you find yourself stuck have a look at styles of illustrations in your children’s picture books for ideas- some of the illustrations you may be surprised to find are incredibly simple. And once again, if stuck the simpler the better! You can even draw in the style your child draws if you find it all too much.

d) Have a look at your artwork and decide which style you will use for your first book. In my opinion it should be the style you enjoy the most.

e) Now that you have decided on a way of illustrating it is time to play around with the look of your main character (if you have one). This character’s qualities will need to be relatively consistent so that the child recognises him or her in each picture. Once again, play around for a while. No need to rush a decision.

My favourite childhood storybooks

2009-07-09T20:46:00.003+01:00

For a while now I’ve been meaning to write a post listing my favourite childhood picture books. Until today I could only come up with two, The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle and The Cat in the Hat by Dr Seuss (both of which I read to my children today).

I remember nursery rhymes and songs (I loved and still love singing).

Nothing else really sprang to mind and I wondered if it was because my parents didn’t read to me often (but I do have an impression they read to me and my brother every night) so I didn’t think that was the reason. Maybe I was just to young to remember? Maybe I just needed something to jog my memory?

So, today I decided to see if my memory would be jogged and looked at a list someone had made up of popular picture books from the 1970s and 1980s and suddenly some memories started to flow in.

Here are the picture books I loved,

The Flower Fairies Series by Cicely Mary Barker.

I was so in love with these books. The idea of a fairy world and the beautiful illustrations completely hooked me. I remember daydreaming for hours about how wonderful it would be to be a fairy.

The Tale of Jemima Puddle Duck by Beatrix Potter (and the whole Beatrix Potter series).

I was also in love with these books. The illustrations were completely magical to me and the idea of the animals living like humans was very appealing. I had guinea pigs, cats and a dog myself and I used to imagine us having conversations together.

The Cat in the Hat by Dr Seuss.

I remember I loved the rhymes and repetition. I remember The Cat in the Hat was the first book from which I could proudly read each word by myself without an adult even present. I was never too keen on the illustrations, they were a bit too wacky for my taste but non-the-less I loved the rhyme.

Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne, illustrations by E.H. Shepard.

I loved the characters and the beautiful simple sketches. The Disney version the kids see today feels like a betrayal to me after those lovely illustrations by E.H. Shepard.

When We Were Very Young by A.A. Milne, illustrations by E.H.Shepard

I loved the poems and illustrations and the feeling that I was so close to the characters.

Lastly I must not forget The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. This book was wonderful to me, to watch the journey of the caterpillar, to be able to repeat the words myself, the colours, the originality yet simplicity of the illustrations… a truly wonderful book in my opinion.

So, thank you, thank you, to the authors and illustrators of these books! You added a lot of joy to my childhood!

I also remember vividly being fascinated and frightened by classic fairytales,

Little Red Riding Hood (although I don’t remember which version)
Hansel and Gretel (probably the Brother’s Grimm version)
Cinderella
Snow White
The Three Little Pigs
The Ugly Duckling y Hans Christian Andersen

I haven’t introduced my children to these fairytales, not by any conscious choice but now I am looking at them I am not sure I am in any rush to do so. I remember the stories vividly and the pictures that accompanied them but I also remember feeling frightened of adults and the world after hearing these stories. I won’t do too deep a psychological analysis of myself (who knows where I may end up!) but for now I think my kids are doing ok without these stories.

I would love you to tell me about your favourite childhood books. I wonder if you share with me?

Ramblings, children, stories, storybooks and being a mother

2009-07-06T21:22:00.003+01:00

Today’s blog post is going to be different. My mind is ‘rambling’, so I thought I’d test out a rambling stream of consciousness post today...

My two greatest passions are children and stories. What I would love is, for everyone who wishes, to have the chance and support to express their creativity and tell their stories. As I love the simplicity of children’s storybooks and their way of usually looking at the bright side of life (as children do) it is through children’s storybooks I have found a way to mix my two passions.

By mixing the elements of children and stories into children’s storybooks written by the everyday person so many huge bonuses appear. In writing a children’s storybook you get to create something for your child that they will probably cherish forever; you allow yourself to slow down and give a little nourishment to your soul, your child has a story in which her life/fantasies are recognised as important. The process of writing and illustrating a children’s book is very creative and takes one away from the commercial world where so many are trying to sell you their ideas of happiness. The readers of the stories have the chance to learn about other people and cultures from the non-threatening perspective of childhood.

My background is as an actress and theatre director. Now that I am mother to two small children I don’t want to go away and work many hours as an actress and director but I still want to be creative and create stories. Writing and illustrating storybooks for my children allows me to use my craft when I want, it allows me to be creative without external pressures, it allows me to revel in the joys of being a mother, it allows me some time for myself, it allows me the chance to connect with my children in a unique way. It also allows me to be an unashamed amateur.

So, today I am rambling.

The other part of the ramble in my head is about the environment and this financial crisis. How can I set up a business and run it in a way that I feel is ethical? I want to run a business that focuses on the human spirit rather than on consuming things. I think a business in which people are encouraged to explore their creativity through creating children’s storybooks is a good solution... I hope....

How to write the story for your picture book

2009-07-02T21:30:00.003+01:00

It is really hot in Gothenburg! I grew up in Australia so you would think a Swedish summer would be a walk in the park. Unfortunately my English skin is still very English and pale (and full of freckles) and so I am fading... But saying that, I have a new blog post here (so I musn't be suffering too much).

For those of you visiting my blog for the first time this blog post is a continuation of a series I have posted here on 'How to write and illustrate a picture book for your kids' A guide for beginners. If it sounds like something fun for you I encourage you to take a look at the other blog posts.

I’ll start with a little disclaimer. You may have realized already my advice on how to write a children’s story is not particularly technical or academic. What I am describing is just the most fun and practical way I have found for a beginner to write and illustrate a story.

a. You have chosen a theme and a story structure you and your child will enjoy and now is time to put some words to paper (if your book has words that is…). This is where the real fun starts. In a notebook or on a spare piece of paper write down your story. Watch and take note of the images that flow into your head. If what you are writing makes you smile you are on the right track.

Hint: Don’t worry about getting it right you can rewrite later (and there is no right or wrong for the purpose of this exercise). Just have fun and whatever happens.

b. Ok now it is time to break up your story into sentences on pages and to do a little sketch of the image you would like to have on each page. Your little sketch need only be of matchstick men. Play around, write, re-write, draw and re-draw. Have fun.

Hint: Try to keep your book to fewer than 13 pages! If it is too long you may loose interest in illustrating it and your child may loose interest in reading it!

How to write and illustrate a picture book for your kids (a picture book guide for beginners)

2009-06-30T15:19:00.003+01:00

Last night I thought I'd do what I've been meaning to do for ages, write and illustrate a picture book outlining the simple steps you can take to write and illustrate a story book for your kids.

I had already done one very rough draft so I didn't start from scratch but it still took a little time (especially as I had a toddler with a temperature of 39.9 degrees who still thought it was fun to run around at 12.30pm!)

I would love you to take a look and let me know what you think. It is still a draft.

Find more photos like this on Piggy Publishing Adventures

If you like what you see here don't forget to check out my social network site
http://piggypublishingadventures.ning.com/

Putting some water colour onto simple sketches

2009-06-26T13:58:00.003+01:00

Summer is finally here (we wait a long time for it here in Sweden!) and it is lovely. I am taking my little family swimming in a lake 'tonight'. Sofia wanted to go swimming in the night time as it sounds exciting. However, it is light here until 11.30pm so she probably won't notice the difference.

Anyway, back to books! I have added some colour to my sketched book ‘My Daddy’ and invite you to have a look. I literally painted some watercolour over my sketches and it took me only 20 minutes. It was fun, easy and quick.

If you like the look of this technique I would really recommend it to those who are short of time.

Find more photos like this on Piggy Publishing Adventures

A wonderful interview on the benefits of books for children.

2009-06-25T20:48:00.005+01:00

Hello!

I just read an amazing interview on a blog called Playfyl Learning. The post is called What to Read and When by Pam Allyn. In the interview Pam Allyn speaks about the positive impact books have on children and how to make the most of them in your family life.

You can find the post at http://www.playfulearning.com/Playful_Learning/Playful_Learning.html

I am so new to blogging that I don't know how to link back properly to the blog yet- so please forgive me!

Creative Mum

How to find a structure for your children's storybook

2009-06-25T19:58:00.002+01:00

a. Have a look back at your list of books your child loves to read and go to your child’s bookshelf (or to the children’s section in the library) and have a browse through the books.

b. Can you identify how the authors have structured their stories? Here are structures to look out for:

i. Repetition (i.e. Where is Molly’s Panda? Is it... is it... is it...).
ii. Rhyme (i.e.The Cat in the Hat).

iii. Plot driven stories have a clear beginning, middle and end with a hero or heroine who has an obstacle they need to overcome (i.e. books in the Winnie the Pooh series).

iv. Factual theme based books are focused on themes such as counting, the alphabet, tractors, fish etc...

v. Wordless books for the very little ones some books are simply theme based with pictures and no words (i.e. red things, blue things, green things).

c. Now choose a story structure your child enjoys and you feel comfortable and confident you can replicate yourself.

Congratulations you have chosen your story structure!

Hint: For your first couple of books keep your story structure very simple. If creating your book at any point ceases to be fun, make it more simple!

How to find an idea for your picture book.

2009-06-22T20:46:00.005+01:00

1.Write down the names that first come into your head of the storybooks your child loves reading the most.

2. Write down the things your child is most enjoys doing, playing with, learning about.

3. Now have a look at your book list. Are there any themes emerging i.e. monsters, dinosaurs, everyday stories about children just like them, stories about an animal who has the same everyday experiences they have, counting, colours, cats, fish, fantasy adventures about princesses…

4. Have a look at your second list. Are there themes that cross over between the two lists?

5. Now choose a theme from one of your lists. Choose a theme you know both you and your child really enjoy. Congratulations you have chosen your theme! (I told you it would be easy.)

Hint: If you find yourself worried about your ability to draw or paint the characters for the theme you have chosen take a moment now to think back to the times when you have sat with your child and drawn these characters together. See, you can draw! That can be your style. Your pictures need not be much more sophisticated than that (and I bet your child thought your drawings were great!) so, let go of that worry. And anyway, no one need see your artwork but you and your family if you are really shy.

Here you can read the second book I made for my little one. You can see the theme is simply the things that Sofia loves... Feel free to use this theme yourself. It makes writing your first book easy and fun to do.

Find more photos like this on Piggy Publishing Adventures

How to write and illustrate your first children's storybook

2009-06-20T00:49:00.001+01:00

How to write and illustrate your first children’s picture book

I thought over the next couple of weeks I’d give you some tips on how to get started writing and illustrating your first picture book for your kids.

There are a few simple steps to follow:

1. Find a story idea
2. Find a story structure
3. Write your story
4. Divide your story into pages and start sketching in some illustration ideas.
5. Find your illustrating style.
6. Decide on the physical look and size of your book.
7. Illustrate your story.
8. Publish your book on piggypublishingpdventures.ning.com
9. Bind your book
10. Share you book with your little one!

Tomorrow I’ll show you an easy way to find a story idea.

Storybook sketches

2009-06-18T09:16:00.003+01:00

The other day I was sitting at the table in our living room with Sofia and Joel's drawing paper and pens and pencils were front of me. My husband and the little ones were busy building a cubby house. I started to do a sketch of the cubby house they created, then an idea for a new picture book came into my head and hence the book 'My Daddy' took form.

Here are my sketches...

Find more photos like this on Piggy Publishing Adventures

Idea to finished children's storybook within an hour?

2009-06-17T08:56:00.005+01:00

Hello!

I realize that probably the number one reason many people don't finish writing and illustrating children's storybooks for their kids is because of a lack of time.

I know time is a major obstacle for me. Each page I illustrate has, up until now, taken me at least an hour to complete. So, working at that speed (with always so many other things to do on my list) I haven’t ended up creating many finished books.

Today I decided to see if I could get over this obstacle of time and actually get a picture book written and illustrated for my little boy Joel within an hour. That is from idea to finished product within an hour.

Did I succeed? Yes and no.

I succeeded in writing and illustrating a whole book within an hour and 20 minutes, which I thought was pretty good.

And the quality of the book? Well, let’s just say it was really fun to ‘turbo create’ a picture book and I am very happy with the result. I wouldn’t say it was a beautiful piece of art by any means but I did have fun and my kids thought it was really good. At least my daughter loved it, Joel was too busy playing with his cars to sit down and read it with me all the way through.

Well, you can decide for yourself. The book is called ‘Joel Loves Cars' and is here for you to read.

Maybe you will get inspired and set aside an hour and a half to write your storybook from start to finish? I’m sure you’ll have a lot of fun doing it (not to mention your kids will love having a book written just for them).

Find more photos like this on Piggy Publishing Adventures

The first book I wrote and illustrated.

2009-06-16T10:20:00.001+01:00

Find more photos like this on Piggy Publishing Adventures

Writing and illustrating storybooks for your kids.

2009-06-16T10:05:00.006+01:00

For me there are few things more enjoyable than writing and illustrating picture books about and for my kids.

I am not an illustrator or a published children’s author (at least not yet!) but I discovered the joy of writing and illustrating books for my little ones a little over a year ago. In fact, I think the impetus was an overwhelming desire to do something for myself and to have a creative output. My daughter was two and a half and my baby was six months old, so if you have children you have probably experienced the craving for something other than changing nappies and playing the games they made up.

This time I wanted to play and the way I ‘played’ was by writing and illustrating a couple of books about and for my little girl. I wanted to capture all those quirky little things that she likes and does before she grew up and I forgot them. I wanted her to be able to read a book in which she was the main character, in which she was celebrated. I wanted to create something that would not only mean something to her now but would bring her joy in many years to come, something that hopefully she will share with her own children.

And so I did.

I can’t tell you how much fun it is to write and illustrate stories for your kids. You get to be the child in kindergarten again. You get to play with the crayons and paints. Nobody is judging your work, your little ones will love it because it is for and about them. And the surprising thing is that when you write from your heart and draw from joy the books that result are fantastic. You seriously do not need to be a wonderful artist to do this. You can draw stick figures if you fancy or you can use photographs or pictures cut out from magazines. There is no right and no wrong, which is incredibly liberating.