The process of making a picture book, our tree house!

The process of making a picture book, our tree house!

First storybook from Mom's playground!

​Johnny had a great idea to build a treehouse and shared it with his friends, Jack and Sara. Excited, they met in the woods behind Johnny’s house. Sara sketched a design, Jack planned to get tools, and Johnny suggested asking a new neighbor, Gabriel, for leftover wood. Gabriel eagerly joined them, and his parents even provided extra materials. Over two weeks, the four friends worked together, with occasional help from their parents. The simple project grew into an impressive treehouse. When it was completed, they celebrated their teamwork and new friendship, enjoying their special place for many seasons to come.

by Emilia Zielinksa-Bien

This year, we formed Moms Playground, a group of talented artist moms. The members write and draw and prepare books for publication. And early this year, we have good news to share that we are starting and finishing our first book.

The first book to be published is 'Our Treehouse'. In order to draw pictures to match this writing, we organized the scenes in the following steps.

1. ​Johnny waking up in bed in the morning – looking out the window and imagining a treehouse

2. Johnny calling his friends – talking to Jack and Sarah on the phone at home about his idea

3. Three friends meeting in the forest – Johnny pointing to a large tree and explaining his plan

4. Sarah sketching a treehouse – drawing a treehouse on her notebook

5. Jack borrowing his father’s toolbox – Jack asking his father for tools

6. Three friends looking at their new house – looking at the house with construction materials piled up from a distance

7. Meeting Gabriel – The four children meeting for the first time

8. Gabriel’s father giving him a plank – The father helping the children choose a plank

9. A place where tools and materials are gathered – The children gather tools and planks

10. The children begin to build the treehouse in earnest – hammering nails and putting up planks

11. Parents helping the children – Jack’s father securing the plank

12. Johnny building a ladder – tying the ladder together using bamboo sticks

13. Sarah adding a new design – drawing a new idea in her notebook Scenes

14. The treehouse is gradually being completed – the treehouse has walls and a roof

15. Children cheering in the completed treehouse – four friends high-fiving each other in joy

16. Children partying – celebrating with snacks in the treehouse

17. Scene of Johnny toasting – raising a drink while saying, “We built this together!”
​
18. Children playing in the treehouse as the seasons change – enjoying the treehouse in fall and winter

And I drew pictures for each scene and now I have 9 scenes. I am aiming for at least 11 and up to 18, and I think I am halfway there now. After the book is published, the pictures and book will be exhibited at a local library in November. I and the curator are really looking forward to this amazing project.

The painting was painted with watercolors and was painted with a soft touch using a combination of yellow and light green. In fact, in the age of artificial intelligence, we could have created the painting artificially, but we decided to pursue sincerity and analog as much as possible. And we hope that children will read and see this warm story.