Chris and The Secret

Inspiration

I didn't really have a source of inspiration. I knew I wanted to write something that was educational and lots of fun. I also wanted deeper meanings for older audiences who might read the story. With my key messages in mind, I created a plan for the story.

How I built it

I used Word for the text, and I used a program called Janvas for the illustrations.

Challenges I ran into

I struggled to make the book age-appropriate. I don't spend much time with kids, and I had no idea what was appropriate for ages 6-9. I worried that my story was too long and complex. I wasn't sure how to format the text and what level of sensory description to use. For help, I Googled one of my favorite childhood series, The Magic Tree House. It's for kids age 6-9, and I saw that these chapter books are often over 60 pages long, though the font size is large and the chapters are short. I listened to a 5-minute audio sample to get a sense of appropriate vocabulary and so on.

I also don't draw, nor have I ever illustrated with a computer! I used Google to find an online illustration program and picked one called Janvas. At first, it was hard to use and very slow, but then it became more intuitive.

I wasn't thrilled with all my illustrations, though. I really felt the time crunch in the end and wish I had more time to keep revising and adding illustrations.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

The final product. I worked really, really hard and gave it my all! Though my illustrations weren't where I wanted them to be, I was happy with my Bird.

What I learned

Writing children's books is fun. I should do this more often.

What's next for Chris and The Secret

I'm excited to find out!

Built With

• and
• janvas
• word