Starting April 3, 2023, I’ve embarked on a 120 day challenge to write and illustrate a children’s book. This will be my second children’s book I’ve illustrated. My first book was published by The Wright Group. This will be the first book that I have both illustrated and written. Whether I find a publisher or self-publish, the most important part of this creative project is to see it to it’s completion. Below are some of the black and white sketches and a portion of the manuscript. Creating a children’s book is a large commitment of time toward something you can’t predict the financial compensation. If you like what you see, please consider supporting me on Patreon, or through Venmo by contacting me.
1 Santiago was a mouse who lived in a woodpile. He loved his home…a little too much. He almost never left it. He was afraid to.
2 Santiago had two good friends who always visited him. Joni brought him food from the forest.
3 Miles brought him materials to decorate his home.
4 Santiago built a stove out of pebbles to make fires for cooking. He used a pizza box triangle for a table, and a soda bottle cap for a chair. He called this area his kitchen.
5 Santiago had another room with a twig lamp for reading. He used a child’s wood block for a table. He used a walnut shell to make a chair. He called this area his living room.
6 Santiago had a soft bed made from cattail fluff. Santiago was cozy in his bedroom and had no worries as long as he did not have to face the dangers of the outside world.
7 Fall was getting chilly. Joni came over to give Santiago’s favorite food, nuts and seeds. Joni and Santiago heard music coming from inside the humans’ house that held up Santiago’s Woodpile. “Let’s dance to celebrate your harvest Joni,” said Santiago. They danced to the music as if they were at a party.
8 But, something unfortunate ruined the dance party. The woodpile began to shake and the ceiling of his living room lifted. Through the hole in the roof, they saw a human carry Santiago’s roof away!
9 Santiago and Joni came out of hiding after the human left. The living room and all the logs around it were gone. “I really don’t think your woodpile is very safe anymore Santiago. I’m going home.”
10 After several days of Santiago being alone, Miles brought Santiago a cattail from a nearby pond and used the fluff to make Santiago’s home warm for the winter.
11 Miles liked to play, and work was finished. He said to Santiago, “This woodpile looks like it would be a great place to play chase. Let’s play tag Santiago!” “Ready, set, go!” Through the hallways they went. Up, down, over, around, and through—Santiago and Miles ran through the woodpile corridors imagining that they were in a giant maze when something put the game to a sudden stop.
12 While Santiago was chasing Miles, the woodpile shook and logs started to raise in front of them. Miles went flying out the side of the woodpile. Another human was collecting the logs of his home in their arms and saw a small blur fly in front of his feet. Miles looked up at the human and kept on running without saying goodbye to Santiago.
13 Santiago sat in his shrinking home surrounded by broken possessions asking himself, “Maybe I should go find out why the humans are taking my home? No. that would be too scary, thought Santiago.
14 Now, Winter had come, and frost was on the ground. For the third time, a human came to what was now a small woodpile. Picking up the last remaining logs, they did not see Santiago and his cattail fluff bed roll off one of the logs.
15 Santiago had to think quick after being woken up. He watched the human walk toward their house with a part of his home. Santiago followed. He wanted his house back.
Support me on Patreon to follow Santiago’s entire journey.