My First Board Book Project (Throwback!)

How a self-imposed Instagram project led to a four book deal

Before I dive into today’s topic, I want to take you back to where my board book journey began. In 2017, I received an unexpected email that turned into a four-book series; my very first board book project. These books completely shaped the direction of my career and my love for this format.

Today, I’m sharing a peek into that first project, including old sketches (please send 2017 Denise some love) and how my process has stayed surprisingly consistent over the years.

I received the offer from YOYO Books, a publisher in Belgium that specializes in books for babies and young children. Their books are sold worldwide and in more than 50 languages. According to their website a YOYO book is sold every four seconds! No pressure, right?

I remember how this project found me. In 2016, I did the 100 Day (self-imposed) Project and posted the images to Instagram. My idea was to learn Adobe Illustrator better and figure out how to add textures to my illustrations. A few months later, a book designer reached out and said my style was exactly what she’d been searching for. Back then, I had so much time and energy to pour into personal work… truly a great reminder to make the time to create for yourself.

Here are the images she shared:

When my agent asked if I wanted the project, my response was ‘YES! I’ve been wanting to do board books, and this style is perfect for that.” And honestly, it was another life-changing moment.

The assignment was simple and sweet: four books, five spreads each, with an animal on every page that fits within the template. The final spread in each book to show the animal with the matching ears. And that was the whole brief. I was left to choose which animals and got started sketching.

I’ve always lived somewhere between illustration and design, and that’s exactly how I approached the sketches. My process has stayed pretty much the same throughout my career: I draw and play in my sketchbook as much as possible, then narrow everything down to my strongest ideas before sharing them with the publisher.

For the covers, I received the book template and sketched six different versions of the characters and once they picked a winner, I moved on to color comps.

click on the images to see the full scale of each character sketch and color comp

After the covers were approved, I started on the interior spreads. Across the four books, I created 16 additional characters; my favorites are the cat and the monkey. Here are the two approved sketches the publisher loved, which I was asked to combine for the final art. Moments like this are why I love sketching (and over-sketching!) and sharing the process, you never know which ideas will click together in the end.

Every illustration in this project, and in most of my projects, starts as hand-drawn images in my sketchbook, then gets scanned and brought into Illustrator, where I turn them into vector art using the exact technique I taught myself during the 100 Day Project.

Looking back at this project always reminds me why I love board books so much: their simplicity, playfulness, and the joy of making art for babies! It also reminds me how important personal work can be. If I hadn’t shown up for that little self-imposed project, this opportunity may never have found me.

Whether you’re looking to create your own board book or just looking for a personal project, I hope this behind-the-scenes look encourages you to keep drawing, sharing, and making time for your own ideas!

If you are new here, welcome to my newsletter! I’ve been spending time talking all about baby board books and my love for them. Past newsletters can be found in my archives, but in case you don’t want to go searching you can read all about:

• A Short History on Board Books

• Common Board Book Themes

• An Interview with Lizzy Dee

I’ll be back in your inbox in December!