This cartoonist worked with his daughter to bring her sketches to a wider audience by creating and publishing an ebook.
How it began
In 2013 I illustrated a children’s book for B&H Publishing which was initially released as an ebook before moving onto hard copy.
After putting off creating my own children’s books for so long, I decided to start off with an ebook and searched for a user friendly software that could produce what I wanted to do. Book Creator seemed to do everything I needed.
Give A Hoot
My 8 year old daughter Katelyn had originally written, illustrated and book bound ‘Give A Hoot’ for a school project. Her class learned all the aspects of creating an illustrated book and then had the opportunity to participate in something called “Young Author’s Night” at her school. It was a fun event where parents served as the audience and each child presented and read their stories aloud.
After hearing her story, I thought it would be a neat way for us to collaborate on a project together and it gave me an excuse to test out Book Creator. We then edited the story and I illustrated the artwork (all with my daughter’s approval of course!).
Here's her original drawing alongside my interpretation:
Book Creator was very user-friendly and if I ever needed further instruction or was unsure about something, Book Creator’s Support pages pretty much answered any question I had.
Believe it or not, one of the selling points of Book Creator (and I know it’s silly) was how the pages turned once a book was published. I wanted that little function of seeing the corner of the page curl back like when you read a physical book instead of having pages simply slide.
Other projects
I have two other books I’m working on in which I intend to publish using Book Creator. One follows the imaginative adventures of Cole and his cardboard box collection.
The other is simply called “Afro Pig” which will be a free ebook. It follows the story of an average pig who happens to find a red afro wig. My favourite children’s illustrator is Jack Kent and I wanted to do something with minimal colour and with traditional ink, much in the style that he did. Very mid-century and retro.
Final thoughts
Ease of use. That’s how I would describe Book Creator. I was surprised how quickly I could create a few pages, add interactive functions, view it in iBooks and then share it.
As a result, The Principal of my daughter’s school wants to add Book Creator as a part of the Young Author’s Night by taking the hard work the kids did in making their books and giving them that extra ability to create a digital book.
Download
You can download 'Give A Hoot' from the iBooks Store for $4.99.
Michael K. Foster is the owner of Foster Animation, a cartoon and animation studio located in upstate New York.
With over twenty years experience in design, illustration and animation Michael provides quality design for many leading Christian and family-oriented companies such as B&H Publishing, The Go Fish Guys, Phil Vischer’s ‘What’s In The Bible’ DVD series, Hasbro Toys & Anagram International.
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4 Comments on “Illustrator brings his daughter’s book to life”
I am about to conduct a training session with teachers in my school on Book Creator so I have been trawling to find great examples to stimulate and excite their interest. A book written by a child would be the perfect introductory activity.
I love book creator, my favourite app. I use it at home and in my special school setting.
Give a hoot looks great, congratulations to Michael and Katelyn.
What a wonderful way to encourage children not only to read but also to use their imagination to write their own stories. Your daughter is very talented and is so lucky to have a dad and a school that is nurturing that talent. I have a grandson that is not keen on reading and I have suggested he try making his own books, hoping that this will be the encouragement he needs.
Thank you for the great comments and thanks to Book Creator. The three winners were chosen and an email was sent with instructions on how to get a copy of Give A Hoot.