"Anna - The Chicken Queen"

This picture book tells the story of a girl who visits her grandmother in the village and decides to become the queen of chickens. She asks for a red crown, similar to a chicken's comb, to be sewn for her and heads out to the yard to count her subjects.

The concept and text for the book came to me in one day. I recalled my childhood and my grandmother in the village. I was the queen of chickens, as well as geese, pigs, and cows, though admittedly, none of them listened to me. Children love to explore the world through friendships with domestic animals, and I thought such a book would be interesting to them.

I envisioned two versions of the character: one younger Anna and one older. I presented both versions on Facebook and my followers helped me choose the right one for the book. We selected the younger-looking girl, who fits my story better.

The book was drawn on an iPad using the Procreate program. The technique is digital watercolor illustration. To achieve the watercolor effect in Procreate, I used watercolor brushes and textures, applying various filters within the program. As a result, the watercolor layers blend beautifully on top of each other.

The book was written and illustrated within a month and will be published by the Ukrainian publishing house "Ranok" in Kharkiv.

This will be a series of books about Anna. The next story is titled "A Chicken Christmas."

“The creation story of this book is on my Patreon. Thanks to your subscription, I can afford to buy myself coffee and a croissant for breakfast.”