'Love Monsters'

Hello! My name is Summer and I am from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I am currently finishing up my last quarter at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale for it is closing and I am lucky enough to be able to graduate at the same time. Considering I am close to graduation, I am building up my portfolio to start my job search as a full-time illustrator.

Something I am trying to accomplish before graduation on my own is putting together a children's book. This book I came up with a few months back and have been working on it since. The book is called Love Monsters. When coming up with Love Monsters, I wanted the book to not only be fun with color and cute characters but to also be a learning experience for children. I want this book to teach children that the monsters under your bed actually love you and you shouldn't be afraid of them. This fictional book will show the everyday life of the monsters under your bed and will show their world throughout this short story. Love Monsters shows that there are monsters of different styles to show diversity. The book will consist of kindness that will express gratitude through the generosity between the monsters. Although the monsters are not human, the monsters will show that everyone and everything has its perks no matter how different they are. My book is going to an audience between the ages of 2-7.

The illustrations I created with gouache paint for bright colors but also it gives the book a childish look so the pages feel playful. I wanted the characters to be as gender neutral as possible. So the two characters that start the book is an older sister being awoken in the middle of the night by her younger sister. She is afraid of the monsters that are under her bed keeping her up at night. The older sister Lori comforts and explains to the younger sister Sarah that they are really “Love Monsters” and they are here to protect you from bad dreams. Then it will jump into the life of the “Love Monsters” with the main character being a green fuzzy monster who will be shown to be a boy. All of the characters are different in color and shape. This will be a picture book striving with color that will consist of about 14-16 pages.

If this first book goes well then I would love to make a series and maybe even chapter books for younger children who grow older but still want to be involved in the storyline and characters. I have done much research on the process and what I need to do in order to make this possible by December. I have a team of helpers that have made this possible so far yet publication has been shown to be a little tougher. With the right fans and support I believe I can get my loving book out into the hands of children who would love to have it. I have very high hopes about my first book and I am extremely excited about the process so far. As this is my first book that I have written and illustrated, I am videotaping the process for others to learn how simple and fun it could be if you have the inspiration to create a book in the future. I am coming towards the end of the book and now have to start searching for publication companies, submissions, and the funds for creation. Contributions are certainly appreciated for the start of the process! :)

The process of designing a page for Love Monsters children's book. I hope you find this helpful for a better understanding!