Children's BookIllustrations

Problem

Both of these books started the same way: with a kid who didn't want to get out of the bathtub. One became a whimsical bedtime story about imagination and stubbornness. The other became something more unexpected — a children's book about Cold War geopolitics, escape routes, and the people brave enough to use them. The challenge in both cases was the same: take something real and emotionally true and make it accessible and genuinely fun for a child between the ages of three and ten.

Decision

Both books were written and illustrated entirely by hand — no AI, no stock assets, no shortcuts. The Bathtub book uses flat vector illustration with bold, expressive character design and a color palette that shifts deliberately with the story's mood: warm and bright during bathtime adventures, deep teal and near-black as night falls and Myron's resolve starts to wobble. The Berlin Wall book required a completely different visual approach — Cold War era clothing, period machinery, and the physical architecture of the wall itself all required research to get right. The tone had to be adventurous and hopeful without being dishonest about the danger. The full title says it best: Great Escapes Over the Berlin Wall: True stories of cold war, geopolitical struggles, and the people who overcame them...FOR KIDS!

Outcome

The Bathtub book remains a family artifact — made with love, not for sale. The Berlin Wall book found its own audience through self-publishing on Amazon, where it continues to sell steadily at around 100 copies per year — entirely through word of mouth, with no marketing budget behind it. For a self-published children's book on a niche historical subject, that's a quiet but meaningful vote of confidence from parents and educators who keep finding it and deciding it's worth sharing.