#children's book inspiration

[larissa-the-scribe]

guys I had this realization the other day that Redwall works really well for reading aloud, and kinda half-remembered something about the author reading to kids? So I looked it up to see if I had made a connection.

And it turns out, yes, actually, because he read aloud to kids at a school for the blind. But all the books they gave him to read were depressing. So he wrote Redwall, a story about heroism and courage and making it through struggles, and filled it with so many sensory, visual details so he could give them something better and I just-- that's so wholesome-- help

#my theory is that all good childrens books are written with LOVE #and he clearly loved these kids #anyway I got kind of emotional at that #as someone who read Redwall as a kid and was inspired to be brave #also I left this in my drafts for a while oops #but yeah I have feelings #redwall #brian jacques #reading #scribe rambles

[emmbrr]

blackbird for avian august!

#my art #artists on tumblr #kidlit #children’s books illustrators #avian august 2022 #blackbird #pattern design #inspired by a bunch of vidya games #and otgw and other cozy stuff

[beybuniki]

How do you pick your colors? Your art style is so cohesive and i love the palettes you use!!

thank you! im a very intuitive artist, i think i draw frequently enough to know my preferences pretty well lol, but recently I’ve been enjoying working with somehow complementary colors?

like these don't look that similar but i did use the same 4 colors or so! i like to complement yellow/orange (skin) with teal (most of the clothes lol), I think they make each other pop rlly well

i also keep my palettes very minimal, i used the same blue hues for bokuto's hair, outfit, and the pigeons, too! same with deku’s outfits and hair, it’s the same color in different hues :)

i keep my palettes very minimal in general, i think its easier to create a somehow cohesive/harmonious palette and illustrations if you limit yourself :) as you can see, the colors I predominantly use are all hues of green and yellow, I let the overlay balance it all out and make it look less harsh I guess

also i don’t limit myself to fixed color palettes, i just use the same base color and overlay layer for most illustrations, I think those bring everything together even if I dont really know what I’m doing, i hope this helpssss

#A big part of art is just observing tbh #observe what you like and dislike. figure out your own patterns and why you gravitate towards certain art styles or mediums #or what kind of packaging or posters or fashion choices liik good to you #imo it’s easier to figure out what you want to create if you move through the world appreciating colors and shapes everywhere :) #I like children’s book illustrations a lot and kind of let those inspire me #but it can be anything #some products have rlly nice packaging you can also look at those for palette inspo! #asks

[zippocreed501]

AUTHOR EXTRAORDINAIRE

'Fantasy for me as a kid was real, and I had a fantasy about what life was, whether it was sort of wicked and dire, or wholly normal, or whatever. Anything really close to home is not, it seems to me, what a good book should be about.'

'If you take myth and folklore, and these things that speak in symbols, they can be interpreted in so many ways that although the actual image is clear enough, the interpretation is infinitely blurred, a sort of enormous rainbow of every possible colour you could imagine.'

'Things we are accustomed to regard as myth or fairy story are very much present in people’s lives. Nice people behave like wicked stepmothers. Every day.'

'It does seem that a fantasy, working out in its own terms, stretching you beyond the normal concerns of your own life, gains you a peculiar charge of energy which inexplicably enriches you. At least, this is my ideal of a fantasy, and I am always trying to write it.'

Author Extraordinaire Diane Wynne Jones

#diana wynne jones #author extraordinaire #fantasy #writing advice #writing inspiration #children's fiction #writblr #books #literature

[arttsuka]

I don't know if they'd be best friends or if they'd hate each other.

If you like lupin iii you should definitely check out the movie 'the bad guys'. Like, Wolf is literally Lupin.

#also snake is jigen and that police lady (forgot her name) is zenigata #the bad guys is furry lupin iii fanfilm change my mind #i know it's based on a children's book but i havent read that #also I'm pretty sure they actually took inspiration from some lupin media #lupin iii #lupin the third #arsene lupin iii #the bad guys #wolf #fanart #art #traditional art #mr wolf

[writingwithfolklore]

Hii, I've been wondering, well having troubles actually, writing children interactions with other children, for example I have this scene in which my MC has 7 years old and meets another one of 6, so I have no idea how to write the scene where they "become friends" you know introduce each other.

Hi! Sorry this took me soo long to get to. It is in part because of a vacation + moving house combo, but also because I wasn't quite sure on the best advice to give here. I am not super experienced writing children, though writing for children is something I'm very passionate about, so here's what I'll say:

I would start with a basic understanding of child development, specifically for the age of the children you're writing. Piaget's four stages of cognitive development puts children 2-7 at the Preoperational stage. Some key things about this stage is:

Children still think in concretes (things they can see or touch)

They struggle with logic or abstract concepts, but they are beginning to form reasoning skills

They think very egocentrically--they don't understand yet that their experiences may not be universal to everyone (have you ever had a kid ask if you needed help putting on your shoes? Because they have trouble putting on shoes without help, they assume everyone else, even adults, may struggle with this too.)

This gives you a kind of base-line of what children would even talk about, though it doesn't help much with how they would say it. While you could delve deeper into the rabbit hole of psychology and language development, there are a lot of different theories and I couldn't really find anything that was very practical for writing purposes when I tried to do a bit of research.

Instead, I would suggest watching shows made for or featuring children. Off the top of my head, Bluey (available on Disney+) has 4 years to 6 year old main characters, or Arthur has 6-8 year old characters, or otherwise there's tons on streaming platforms--even Youtube Kids if you don't own any streamers.

While media can be a bit inconsistent for how they portray children's language, it's a good starting point. The one thing I would say for certain is: don't underestimate children. They have much more complex and interesting thoughts than a lot of media gives them credit for.

(Here's more on Piaget's stages)

Piaget’s Preoperational Stage of Cognitive Development | Lifespan Development (lumenlearning.com)

Good luck!

#writing #writers #writing tips #writing advice #writing inspiration #creative writing #writing community #books #film #filmmaking #screenwriting #novel writing #fanfiction #writeblr #writing children

[inestheunicorn]

Satin Bowerbird trying to seduce his lady 💙 To join our super secret club and get these, just check my Patreon here 🌹

#illustration #bower bird #satin bower bird #birb #bird #kawaii doodles #children's book illustration #kidlitart #cottagecore #cottagecoreart #cottagecore illustration #cozycore #valentine art #retro valentine #vintage inspired #happy valentine's day #february patreon #artists on tumblr #illustrators on tumblr

[smute]

honestly the problem with booktok (and bookstagram) is not YA lit. it's not about people enjoying books that some might consider "low-brow" or whatever.

imo booktok is the culmination of several problems:

firstly, there's the homogeneity of algorithmic recommendations and the enormous influence those recommendations have on the publishing market. booktok recs tend to be of a very similar style and subject matter. they're easily digestible, easily bingeable titles that arent overly complex. booktok favors stories written by white women, often featuring characters with traumatic backstories and focusing on themes like overcoming adversity and the pursuit of romantic love. they are also usually very anglo-/americentric. none of this is necessarily bad, and none of it is by design, but it's not a coincidence either. it's the result of the constraints of short-form content on the one hand, and on the other, of an algorithm that amplifies, in broad strokes, the preferences of the core demographic of any given group of users.

secondly, it's about the commodification, not of reading, but of being Someone Who Reads Books (TM), which i think is just a particularly obvious symptom of online peer pressure and social-media-driven self-presentation. booktok doesn't encourage you to read, for example, sally rooney. it encourages the cultivation of one's own identity as someone who reads sally rooney. the problem here is not that sally rooney is a shit writer whose work has nothing of note to say. quite the opposite. sally rooney's work is relevant and interesting. in fact, it's being studied by scholars, and even if it wasn't, people can and should be allowed to enjoy some light reading, and yes, even Problematic (TM) fictional characters.

the real problem is the fact that the very nature of how booktok works actively discourages the critical discussion of the stories that it circulates. the problem is not millions of teenagers reading colleen hoover's slop (i love me some slop) – it's millions of teenagers encouraging each other to read and internalize – UNCRITICALLY – hoover's particularly romanticized depiction of abuse. tiktok's algorithm does not foster diversity of opinion. it doesn't foster diversity PERIOD. it doesn't foster slow, in-depth discussion. its only function is *make line go up* – line go up = clicks, views, engagement, money.

due to tiktok's popularity, booktok also has an enormous influence on marketing-related and (apparently, to some extent) editorial decision-making in the publishing industry. this is not just the fault of booktok, goodreads is part of the same problem. i mean, booktok has managed to turn colleen hoover's 'it ends with us' into a bestseller FIVE YEARS after it was originally published. it has also led to publishers dropping authors or DELAYING THE RELEASE of new titles after booktokers flooded the goodreads pages of unpublished books with one star reviews.

as i said, the underlying issue here is not unique to booktok. it's the same homogenization that plagues the movie industry, the tv industry, streaming services, etc. the publishing industry is just particularly vulnerable to such manipulations of public opinion. in the end, tiktok is not a social media app. it's an entertainment app and its content is focused on brevity. the biggest booktokers aren't simply avid readers. they don't post actual reviews of books they enjoyed. they're influencers who receive boxes of books from publishing houses to show off in haul videos like "have you guys heard of squarespace?" and that's it. the level of engagement with the texts themselves is like reading a blurb on the dustjacket, and unfortunately that is reflected in the selection of titles that become popular. if it can't be sold to you in 3 sentences, the algorithm will bury it.

#and that dear children is why we hate booktok #and before you respond: THINK! #is it TRUE? is it HELPFUL? is it INSPIRING? is it HELPFUL? is it KIND? #<- that spells thihk but you know what i mean lmfkxkdkg #again: NOT about young adult fiction #im a staunch defender of the YA genre #a lot of hate towards YA books is just thinly veiled misogyny #this is not about that #this is about tiktok in particular and how it encourages superficial engagement with simple stories #how it *prohibits* deeper engagement with more complex texts #and about the chokehold it has on the book industry #& #oh also #booktok single-handedly destroyed z-lib

[lackadaisycal-art]

Tea party in the bog innit

#art #illustration #oc #character design #character art #kids lit #children's book #picturebookillustration #magic #fantasy #fairy tale #shrek inspired

[problem-of-ros]

it’s really important to have an awareness of how personally and directly engaging with a work of art in the solitude of your own mind is functionally different from participating in a community centered around creating, sharing and enjoying fanworks of said work of art. both are precious and important but they are different. im not saying one is more valuable or more intellectual! you should do both and you should understand how each affects your mind

#my ​enraged grandma posting spree #this used to be the raised by books loner website #this is something new to me that people would “consume” “media” exclusively and entirely through ‘’fandom content” #inspired but not directly related to the other rant on the other blogge #it just hasn’t occurred to me until now that children and teens today might meet social media fan content before #experienceing what an exclusive relationship between you and a piece of art is like

[doppelneer]

An experiment with color pencils because I have never drawn something partially submerged in water traditionally before.

Could be better, but I am happy with it.

#they came from the deep au #doppelneer #cannondoppel #doppelganger au #cackling cannoneer #season of abyss #sky children of the light fanart #sky cotl fanart #sky cotl #sky children of the light #treasure reef #this is loosely inspired off of a goosebumps book cover #I believe it's The Curse Of Camp Cold Lake if you are curious about which one #this probably won't be the last time I reference other horror media for an au related drawing lol

[vasopv-blog]

The world is under the fire of War,

drowned in Blood

with our Children's Future.

And Peace is watching from Afar.

#poetry #poem #literature #writers #creative writing #quotes #books #inspiring quotes #inspiring words #life quotes #war #peace #children #humanity #writers community #writing community #writers and readers

[novlr]

#writers #creative writing #writing #writing community #writers of tumblr #creative writers #writing inspiration #dr seuss #green eggs and ham #writing for children #children's books #children's illustration #children's literature #books #fun facts about books #did you know

[bisexualseraphim]

Bigots who burst a vessel over gay and trans people existing because it’s “not natural” are the funniest people on the planet because like. Babygirl the car you drive isn’t natural. The house you live in didn’t magically appear, it’s not natural. The phone you’re using to call people slurs on Twitter isn’t natural. If you need glasses to see, they’re not natural. If you have a job standing on your feet all day at Target, that’s not natural. This whole ✨marriage✨ thing you’re obsessed with protecting isn’t natural. 99% of things human beings have done for the last 5000 years or more aren’t “natural” so unless you want to go back to completely living like homo habilis I don’t want to hear shit about “natural”

#Inspired by MAP Walsh who is 100% a Darwinism denier anyway #Like he doesn’t even annoy me it just amuses me how fuming he gets by me just existing #To the point that his entire 🤭 ‘career’ 🤣 is built off of it #Feel bad for his wife and kids though jeez #Bro genuinely has a full The Handmaid’s Tale view on women and children it’s grim #Hope they escape this hell and write a tell-all book in 20 years #Oh and JKR is cuddly with him so. Some feminist she is #They all have one brain cell between them and it’s never whole #homophobia #queerphobia #transphobia #bigots #bigotry #conservatives #anti conservative #misogyny #lgbtq #queer #gay #trans

[marywoodartdept]

Sobek, The Kane Chronicles

Nicola, our Animation blogger, shares with us a beautiful illustration that she has been working on in one of her courses. Based off of a page in a children’s book, Nicola shares her process, along with some sketches as well. #MarywoodArt #Animation

Our current project in my Illustration II class is to illustrate a page from a random book. The professor had us pull the page from a bag, so we didn’t get to see what we were picking. Coincidentally, the page I pulled was from a series I read as a kid, called The Kane Chronicles. The author is Rick Riordan, the same author who wrote Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I don’t think I ever finished…

View On WordPress

#animal #Animation #Art #Children’s book #Crocodile #design #GIF #Illustration #illustrator #inspiration #Marywood Art #Marywood Art Department #Marywood University #marywood university art #Marywood University Art Department #Painting #Rick Riordan #sketchbook #Sobek #The Kane Chronicles #watercolor #Where Creativity Works

[artist-ellen]

Belladonna

One of the Witch contestants is Belladonna, an unpopular member of the Todcaster Coven... but technically a Witch all the same. See, Belladonna is a "Good Witch" and isn't capable of classic Witch-y-ness (something she desperately wants). Her accidental magic is the sort of magic that attracts baby rabbits and she always has critters in her hair.

I am the artist!!! Don’t repost without permission & credit! Thank you! Come visit me over on: https://instagram.com/ellen.artistic

#belladonna #which witch #eva ibbotson #book redesign #redesigning villains #lnart #character design #costume design #historically inspired #digital illustration #historical fashion #historical costuming #witches #children's literature #nostalgic #good witch bad witch