Joad - Where it all Started - Part 2

The idea of writing a children's illustrated book seemed like a confluence of life goals, an exercise in creativity and a souvenir for this wonderful phase of life that we were experiencing with our daughter. You can read about it here.

The question was what do I write about. More specifically, the question was not of what to put in the book but what not to. The best children's books I had read kept the story simple but the message deep. I had to think of a theme.

The best reference I could think of was my own childhood. With some internal reflection, I felt the best message I could give to my daughter, and other kids, was to not be too self critical and keep working hard on your passion.

Hence, the central character would be someone who was talented and passionate but unsure of how she fit in. Joad then just "jumped" into my conscience. Why a toad and not a human? I had seen kids responding very well to animals and nature in books and a toad just happened to be someone that appealed to me. With their jumps and warts, they could be distinctive but at the same time playful.

The next step was to bring the character of Joad to paper. For someone who couldn't draw a straight line, I needed help. So I looked out for an illustrator to tease out Joad from the words I could describe her with.

Joad emerges from words into tangible shape

After many iterations, I finally got the character that looked curious, innocent and a little mischievous as well.

The story of Joad also started to form in my mind and I penned down many versions of it. One thing I was clear about was that Joad could not magically become the best singer, sports star, dancer etc. during the story. That would defeat the purpose of telling kids to pursue their passion. I wanted to make sure that even the other characters in the story, however talented, were so because they were passionate about their own thing.

The other main concept I needed to incorporate was who would be the guiding lights for Joad. For kids, there are no better guides than parents and teachers. They are their safe haven but also the ones that can give them the tough talks in a empathetic way. Hence, these characters needed to be incorporated.

Next, I needed to bring these characters to the page....