Why I wrote my first children’s picture book

Writing my first children's picture book was a labor of love. As a wildlife fine artist, I had previously created watercolour pet portraits for family and friends, as well as for my art collectors. However, when my son's first birthday was approaching, I wanted to create something truly special and personal for him. At the time, he had a fascination with our pet dog, Summer, and loved reading books at night. So, I decided to combine these two interests and wrote a simple rhyming picture book about dogs.

The process of writing and illustrating the book was both challenging and rewarding. I had never written a children's book before, but I had read a lot of picture books and knew that I was writing for a captive if not always forgiving audience. I wanted the book to be engaging and entertaining for young children, but also visually appealing for adults. Therefore, I decided to use my watercolour paintings of dogs as illustrations for the book. These doggy watercolours are quite loose and use bright unnatural colours, but still have lots of fine details.

The story was a simple one and contained descriptors of all different types of dogs. I wanted it to subtly communicate that even though there are many varied and different dogs, that all of them are ‘good doggies’. Thus I wanted the theme to be a celebration of diversity.

Once the book was complete, I printed a limited number of copies and gave them as gifts to family and friends as well as my son for his first birthday. Our copy has been well loved and has many pages that have needed a little sticky tape here and there to put them back together. The response was overwhelmingly positive, with many people suggesting I should publish it for a wider audience.

That feedback inspired me to explore the possibility of publishing the book professionally and seeking out traditional publishers.

In conclusion, writing and illustrating my first children's picture book was a personal and meaningful project for me. It allowed me to combine my love for art and writing, and create something that my son and I can cherish forever. It was also a learning experience that pushed me out of my comfort zone and inspired me to explore new avenues in my artistic career.