A Very Strange Day

A Very Strange Day is a children’s book I wrote and illustrated for my Thesis project at West Chester University. A Very Strange Day is the story of a little boy named Billie, who is searching for his lost dog, Fuzz. In order to find him, he must go on an adventure, and along the way, he meets strange and scary creatures. Billie is terrified of these creatures because they look different from him, but in the end, these monsters end up helping Billie find his lost dog. The moral of the story is to never judge those around us, even if they may be different from us or what we are used to. I wrote these monsters to be a metaphor for people around us who may break from our norm. I think this story teaches an important lesson: it teaches children to treat everyone around them with the same amount of kindness and respect.

For my style, I wanted to make the monsters seem inviting and non-threatening. My target age group is 5-7 year olds who are beginning to learn how to read; I could envision this being a story parents read to their children before bed. I drew everything in Procreate, and played around a lot with True Grit Texture supply brushes, and grain effects. I also challenged myself to stick to a limited color palette: just green, blue, pink, and brown, to give everything a whimsical feeling.

Also pictured below are the stuffed animals I sewed as a companion to this book. I wanted to think about branded materials I could make to supplement my story, and I thought that cute and cuddly plush monsters would really make sense for the target audience I’m aiming the story at.