First draft

 Here is a first draft (without the very end..) of what I intend to be a picture book. I need to break up the text into something like 22 pages and see if the words on each page are strong enough to be backed up by a picture. If not....to the drawing board!

Please take the time to read it. Thanks!


Taller than Smaller




Bop Tobble was sad.
so sad, that he wasn't not sad.
He felt that everything was looking down at him.
Then he said to no-one there
"why am I not taller than I am smaller?"


He asked the GIANT sunflower in the very BIG garden


"why am I not taller than I am smaller?"


But the sunflower said nothing, so he thought that it was because
he was so far down to the ground that it probably thought his voice
was just a tiny ant snoring.


Next, he asked the Great, great, great Grandfather's clock


"why am I not taller than I am smaller?"


But the Great, great, great Grandfather's clock was rather deaf
and just chimed and said " Half-past Tuesday, and apple pudding for seconds"


He asked the lion at the zoo,


"why am I not taller than I am smaller?"


The lion roared a funny roar that sounded like it said " I like you being smaller because
that means that I am taller"


Bop Tobble thought a thought that made him think, " I will make myself taller than I am smaller!"


So he borrowed some stilts from his good friend Dumpty Humpty, who was busy testing a trampoline at the bottom of his wall.


After some wibbly-wobbly walking, Bop was walking tall! With just fifteen giant steps he walked to the Everything shop and said, " At last I will see to the very tallest top shelf and see all of the interesting things that my smaller cannot!"
On his way, he imagined what would be on the top shelf. " Perhaps some yellow oranges that turn blue when they are sad? Or armbands for golfish that can't swim? 


He took a taller step into the shop and the top shelf was up to his nose.He could see a sign on the top shelf that said ' Boring Things'. " Boring things?" he thought. " What a boring thing to put in such an interesting place like the top shelf!" Then he began to explore the top shelf.


He then saw a sign that said "things that are boring to children". "Oh dear" he thought.
The next thing he saw was a book about bricks.
 Then there was a tin that read 'boring brown paint'.
 Then there was something that looked like a robot's dinner.But he had never seen any robots in Puggy town.
 Next was a small bag of useless glue.


Oh dear.The shelf was indeed full of boring things.


 Bop Tobble was sad.
So sad that he wasn't not sad.
He was sad that being taller wasn't really better than being smaller after all.
As he looked at  a pair of grey gloves, he began to yawn. he was so bored!
"Z-z-z-z-z-z.." Bop Tobble had fallen asleep. He was so asleep that he fell over and landed on
a really soft beach ball and bounced until he landed in a toy car. He woke up, now staring at the bottom shelf. The bottom shelf was was full of not boring toys!Lots of colours danced for his eyes. yellows, greens, sparkling------- a toy cat that never ran off, a square ball that never rolled away, a skateboard that was allowed
Bop Tobble then thought a thought that made him think
" Being taller is not better than being smaller"
He couldn't imagine himself being taller and having to bend all of the way down to the bottom shelf to see all of the exciting toys on the bottom shelf....

'sites' for sore eyes

Today I began researching children's book publishing companies and authors, with some very interesting sites grabbing my attention. I love the site of Laurence Anholt. I have no idea what his books are like, but it's a fun-filled site worthy of a look :http://www.anholt.co.uk/
So having seen many styles of illustration, I believe that my own style, have I been put off from pursuing my dream?
Not on your life!
Come along Bop, let's continue....

This is the Bop I've decided on.

This is how Bop Tobble looks.
I've gone for 'quirky cute'.
Kidney bean shape, gap in his teeth
and perhaps the dickie bow?

the look fits with his innocence, especially the question-mark hair suiting
his curiosity.

tests

A new sculpted face. Too 'cutie'? too furry?  hmmm......

Character designs..

I am experimenting with the look of Bop Tobble. Does he have large, human type ears? Any ears? Small eyes, big eyes?

Will he be drawn with simplistic lines, or 3-D looking with shadows etc?

How will his environment look? Full colour? stylised? 

 Ponder ponder, sketch sketch.

who?

For the longest time I've had it in mind to create a children's character that I can bring to life in books, toys, cartoons etc.
A bit of an inquisitive, laid back character that is neither human nor...anything other than what he is!
Bop Tobble has a family, a dog named Barky (who never barks, of course) as well as friends such as Turny, who likes nothing better than to walk around corners, even if it takes him longer to get nowhere.

I am currently sculpting a prototype of Bop Tobble to bring the little chap to life.
Below are some concept designs and an early stage sculpture.

More on Bop's character traits, what he will bring to the children'sentertainment world etc very soon.

Thanks for looking!