Why You Should Animate Your Children's Picture Book
My Word Publishing
Guiding authors in the production, publication, and distribution of their professionally self-published books.
In 2020, while in lockdown for the pandemic, I discovered an amazing self-published children’s book about educating very young children about climate change, without being alarming, called Cool For You. I read it to my then 2-, 5-, and 8-year old children. They all loved it! Each for different age-appropriate reasons.?
I thought this book was so beautiful and its story so compelling, it could go beyond the pages, and be turned into a short film. So that’s what I did!
After getting in touch with both the author and the illustrator, they gave me permission and the legal rights to take the text and the illustrations and breathe new life into it - and make it move! Here I was feeling very stuck while the whole world had come to a standstill from COVID, but this book had movement and life and so much energy in all the beautiful drawings on each page.??
With professional experience as a film composer, sound engineer/editor, illustrator and animator, I had all the skills, software and hardware needed to turn the book into a full-fledged short film. The illustrator provided me with all of her illustrations in a digital format, so it was a good starting point to then separate all the artwork to make each of the different layers move.
After setting all the artwork into motion, I then went about recording the voiceover which ended up being voiced by my family members, since recording studios were closed during the pandemic. I added sound effects and music to create a story not just visually but aurally as well.?
It might seem strange to turn a book into a movie. After all, don’t we want our children reading more and not less? Don’t we want our kids off screens and engaging with words and drawings? Yes, absolutely. But, this film can act as a supplement to the book. It can be a way of reaching a wider audience. It can be shown at film festivals around the world, or on online digital platforms, like YouTube and Vimeo.
The film can have subtitles in multiple languages so that kids who don’t speak English can enjoy the story too. So far, I have gotten subtitles for my film in French, Spanish, and Portuguese. And in addition to playing all over the United States at film festivals, it’s also been shown in French in Geneva, Switzerland and at the Museum of Natural History in Oxford, England.?
Additionally, by having the story available to children in a different medium, it provides access to children who aren’t reading themselves yet, or who are blind, so they can’t see the illustrations, but can enjoy hearing the sound effects, music and voiceover.
It can be a great tool for children to actually listen to the film while following along in the book much like an audiobook.??
Sections of the film could be edited so they can be used as small clips for social media marketing or on a website to promote the book.
Book trailers have been commonly used in book promotion, but turning your entire children’s book into a film gives it a more expressive way to share the entire story while staying true to the book’s narrative.?
The first time I read Cool For You to my two-year old, afterward she said, “Again, again!”. A year later, after I turned the book into a film, and played it for her preschool class, all the children yelled, “Again, again!”
The same joy an author gets from requests to read their book again and again, I also feel when people want me to play the movie multiple times. With a 32-page children’s book turning into a movie lasting only three-minutes long, I’m happy to oblige playing it over and over and over again!?
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Award-winning filmmaker/animator?Sherene Strausberg, founder and creative director of 87th Street Creative, is passionate about helping businesses achieve their branding and marketing goals through powerful, effective animated videos. Understanding the value of communication and collaboration, she ensures clients are informed about the creative process and are thrilled with the final deliverable. Her latest project, the animated, short film for children, Cool For You, is screening at film festivals around the world. She lives in New York with her husband and three children.?
Follow Sherene:
Website:?https://www.87thstreetcreative.com
Film info:?https://coolforyoumovie.com