January/February - Hello Florence - First Children's Book Illustrated!

On 22nd of January, I was 'commissioned' to illustrate a children's book written by my Aunt for her first grandchild (Florence). My Aunt had knitted 5 teddy bears (4 seasons plus Christmas/Santa) and written prayer-type stories to go with them. The idea was to have a book that could be read to her as well as one she could use when she starts reading for herself.

This book ended up being 24 pages including the outside cover, etc. and had 17 original illustrations. The final version was sent to my Aunt about 4 weeks after she 'commissioned' me.

For each section, there were 3 illustrations - a picture with the relevant teddy bear; a "cute" animal; and a seasonally appropriate scene or image. In the book itself, I used an oval, soft edge 'frame' to give all of the illustrations a neat edge.

Middle page from Summer section

Here is a selection of the illustrations (without the 'frames'):

All images Copyright Catherine Bird 2019.

Spring - Snowdrops & Daffodils

Summer - Seaside

Autumn - Plums

Winter - Red Squirrel

Christmas - "Love is everywhere"/ Watchnight Service

Overall, I'm really happy with this book. I thoroughly enjoyed illustrating it and look forward to trying my hand at more children's books in the future - maybe even some of my own stories too someday!

We're trying to work out a way to make this more sellable (by not using the name Florence) but need something between "Hello Friend" and "Hello Lifeform"(!) Please leave a comment below if you have any ideas...