Kai's Reef Rescue
Overview
An illustrated children's book that covers multiple topics related to coral reef endangerment. This project was made for our capstone semester, to bring awareness to our oceans now and for years to come. Kai's Reef Rescue is published and available on amazon.com.
Project Type
Story Writing Illustration Publishing
Year
2023
Process
Sketching the vision
Children are unaware of the human driven stressors on coral reefs that are leading to their extinction because of lack of exposure of this topic in school. Kai's Reef Rescue is a children's book and guide that brings relevant facts and details to the forefront about human driven stressors on coral reefs for 2nd-3rd graders.
Refining the concept
Writing and illustrating Kai's Reef Rescue was quite enjoyable but also a learning experience. Crafting a narrative specifically for young readers required me to blend creativity with simplicity, ensuring that the story was both engaging and accessible for certain age groups. It was a challenge to create the characters and a plot-line that could captivate young minds while also imparting meaningful lessons.
The reward of creation
Simultaneously, illustrating the book involved translating the written words into vibrant visuals that would bring the story to life. This meant envisioning each scene and emotion in a way that complemented and enhanced the text. The illustrations had to capture the essence of the story and resonate with children. It was a joyful challenge to find the right colors, styles, and details that would make the book visually appealing and engaging.
Takeaways
Overall, the journey of writing and illustrating a children’s book was both challenging and rewarding. It was a pleasure to create a story that could entertain, educate, and inspire young readers, while also allowing me to explore and expand my own creative skills in both writing and illustration. I'm happy to share that my book lives in multiple elementary school classrooms.