Category: Picture Books

Posts in this aws Studios.art category describe picture books written and illustrated by Alis Wintle Sefick.

Celebrate Grandparents Day with a Story and a Pocket Full of Memories

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Grandparents Day: September 7th

Grandparents Day is definitely more than a date on the calendar—it’s a chance to slow down, share family stories, and strengthen the bonds between generations. Besides what better way to celebrate than with a heartfelt picture book and activities that spark connection?

That’s exactly what a new aws Studios picture book Lucy’s Pocket offers.

This is a picture of the cover of the children's picture book "Lucy's Pocket." A great book to help celebrate Grandparents' Day.
See a trailer of the “Lucy’s Pocket” picture book!
Get the “Lucy’s Pocket” ebook and Activity guide bundle!
or get the book in paperback also with the guide!

About the Book

Fia never met her great-grandmother, Lucy. Nevertheless, thanks to her grandmother Alis’ stories, she learns about a woman who followed her creativity, adapted when life changed course, and always carried a spark of joy.

A picture of a page from the picture book "Lucy's Pocket" showing a woman getting her hair done at a salon.
Page from “Lucy’s Pocket”

In the beginning, Lucy dreamed of art school, but when that wasn’t possible, she attended beauty school instead, becoming the most beloved hairdresser at the Vanity Salon. One day, she treated herself to a beautiful fur coat—a coat that would quietly witness decades of family history.

A picture of a page of text from the picture book "Lucy's Pocket." A great Grandparents' Day book or gift.
Excerpt from “Lucy’s Pocket”

Through marriages, children, and years tucked away in closets, the coat became a treasure trove of memories. Eventually, it was transformed into pillows for Lucy’s children and granddaughter Fia—who received the pillow with the coat’s pocket. Now Fia carries her own mementos everywhere, adding her chapter to the family story.

Perfect for Grandparents Day

This story celebrates family legacy, creativity, and the power of shared memories—themes that feel especially meaningful on Grandparents Day.

  • As a gift: Grandchildren can give the book to their grandparents as a shared reading experience.
  • As a memory-spark: The coat’s journey inspires families to talk about their own heirlooms, traditions, and special keepsakes.
  • As an activity: The companion Reading Guide helps parents, homeschoolers, and teachers bring the story to life with creative, hands-on projects.

About the Reading Guide

The Reading Guide for “Lucy’s Pocket” includes:

  • Discussion prompts to spark conversation about family history, keepsakes, and creativity.
  • Hands-on activities like making a “memory pocket” pillow, drawing family memories, and creating Grandparents Day cards.
  • Games like “What’s in the Pocket?” to make the concept of mementos interactive and fun.
  • Craft extensions such as “Yarn Curls” inspired by Lucy’s salon days.

These activities are simple to set up, work well for ages 4–6, and can be adapted for classrooms, homeschool settings, or family gatherings.

Get the “Lucy’s Pocket” book and reading guide bundle!

For Parents & Homeschoolers

  • Encourage your child to ask their grandparents about the objects in their home—every heirloom has a story.
  • Use the “memory pocket” activity to help children understand the importance of preserving special moments.
  • Read the story together over video call if grandparents live far away, then share the completed crafts by mail.

For Teachers

  • Incorporate the book and guide into a Grandparents Day celebration at school.
  • Invite grandparents or older relatives to visit and share their own family stories.
  • Display children’s “memory pocket” projects in the classroom to spark conversations about heritage.

A Gift That Connects Generations

Whether it’s wrapped with a handmade card or paired with a craft from the reading guide, “Lucy’s Pocket” isn’t just a gift—it’s a way to create and share lasting memories.

This Grandparents Day let’s celebrate the stories that live in the objects we pass down, the memories we keep in our pockets, and the love that ties generations together.

This is a picture of the cover of the children's picture book "Lucy's Pocket." A great book to help celebrate Grandparents' Day.
“Lucy’s Pocket” © 2020
Get the “Lucy’s Pocket” Paperback book and reading guide!

What about you? We would love to hear about your stories of your grandparents or great grandparents

Read about how I used clip-art for the book’s illustrations!

New Picture Book about Apple-Picking!

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New Picture Book Included in National Ag Curriculum

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Lack of Rural Teaching Resources

Parents, homeschoolers, and preschool teachers often struggle to find picture books about rural agricultural areas where their students live. Because of this, educators must change what is available or go without. This causes extra work and leaves children missing out on important information about their home.

Efforts are being made to ensure citizens are agriculturally literate. This is necessary to have a society that values agriculture, makes informed decisions about the food they eat, and advocates for agriculture among other initiatives.

Picking up apples from Apples for Cider

More Resources About Agriculture Needed

Parents and teachers want books for kids living in non-urban areas. They seek books related to local happenings. These educators want resources that speak specifically to the farming happening around their community. For example, kids living in rural areas see apple farming happening all around them. Their parents and teachers want picture books that cover life about orchards.

A New Picture Book with an Ag Theme

picture books about rural agricultural areas

To tackle this issue, my picture book, Apples for Cider, is an agricultural resource for parents and teachers. It helps them bring their rural agriculture community into their homes. They can also integrate it into their classrooms. Apples… is one of many needed picture books about rural agricultural areas. Plus, the book is now part of the National Agriculture in the Classroom Curriculum Matrix. The Apples for Cider picture book is now a Companion Resource attached to three Matrix apple lessons:

Additionally…

The Apples for Cider Parent/Teacher Reading Guide will also be available for download. The Guide is another way to help educators when using a picture book to extend learning. The Reading Guide includes various prompts for discussion and activities including a:

  • Social-emotional learning activity
  • Collage-making activity
  • Apple cider guide and
  • Pastiche discussion and activity
Get a free Apples for Cider Reading Guide here

Find Out More!

What has been your experience with finding picture books with agricultural themes? tell us in Comments below

Create a Picture Book Fast with Pastiche!

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Picture book pastiche

I spent the entire summer working on my newest book Apples for Cider. Apples… is a pastiche of one of my favorite picture books, Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey and a fast way to create a picture book. A pastiche is a type of intertextuality in literature. Intertextuality is either deliberate or latent. Deliberate intertextuality purposely borrows from the text. Some are exact lines while others are vaguely referenced. Latent intertextuality is incidental – “when references occur incidentally—the connection or influence isn’t deliberate” (masterclass.com). Forms of intertextuality include parody, pastiche, retellings and allegory. Some examples include the main plotline of Disney’s The Lion King as a take on Shakespeare’s Hamlet and the structure of James Joyce’s Ulysses modeled after Homer’s Odyssey.

Parody vs pastiche

I was familiar with parody – a humorous take on a classic piece of literature such as in the picture books Goodnight iPad (a parody of Goodnight Moon) and The Taking Tree (a parody of The Giving Tree). And I wondered if there was a way to take a classic and not make fun of it, as in a parody, but use the classic text as a foundation to pay tribute to it. That’s when I came across pastiche. The following is a description from literarydevices.net:

Shows how the illustration is a pastiche of the original picture book
Illustration pastiche, a fast way to create a picture book!

Pastiche is a literary piece that imitates a famous literary work by another writer. Unlike parody, its purpose is not to mock, but to honor the literary piece it imitates. In pastiche, the writers imitate the style and content of a literary piece to highlight their work, as the original piece is accepted by the vast majority of readers as landmarks of their age. So, imitation in such works celebrates the works of the great writers of the past.

Fia finds Papa Deer

A pastiche of Blueberries for Sal, a fast way to create a book

I was thrilled to find this was “a thing.” I wanted to do a book about how my granddaughter helps her grandfather (my husband) make cider from the apples in our neighbor’s farm. I think the title Apples for Cider came to me first which immediately made me think of Blueberries for Sal. Blueberries… was the perfect foundation to tell the story of gathering apples to make cider. As an early-career illustrator, creating the pastiche gave me the opportunity to make a picture book fast, getting an entire book done in five months – over the summer and into the fall (by November so I can give it to my granddaughter for her birthday). It allowed me to get right to my book making – I didn’t have to wait to have a new manuscript written, edited and ready to go.

Self-publishing opportunity

Unless a publisher desires the rights to Apples…, my plan is to learn about self-publishing and use this book as my first attempt into that realm. I’ll keep you posted on my foray into self-publishing and when it’s ready for sale, I’ll let you know. Then you can tell me if you think my book Apples for Cider honors McCloskey’s Blueberries for Sal! Wish me luck! And let me know in the Comments if you have ever written or read a pastiche!

Picture Book Boosts Disabled Children’s Mental Health

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From art to mental health and back

When I first started this blog, I mainly wrote about my art – how I made it and why. Then, as I tried to find a publisher for my picture book Adventures with phearnik!™, I learned the importance of building a platform to help launch my books and curricula into the market. That’s when I started to post more about how most of my work is about boosting mental health skills. Today’s post has a little of both –art and mental health skills.

Most of my picture books so far, I wrote for my granddaughter, Fia.  One Christmas, I made her a pillow out of a coat that had been her great-grandmother’s, my mother, Lucy. I wrote Lucy’s Pocket to tell the coat story and how it became a pillow. The following year Fia wanted a rag doll like the one I had made for myself. I made her a matching doll and wrote Adventures with phearnik!™ to explain the meaning of the doll and gave it to her for her birthday. The book giving is now a tradition where I try to make one a year for her birthday.

JP character sketch for a book about children with disabilities

Picture books in the making

This year I had two book ideas – one a pastiche of the book Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey (more about this later) and a book about her Uncle Peyton. She doesn’t see him often, so I wanted to tell her more about why he drives a power wheelchair and how he’s a power soccer athlete.

When I started writing about “Uncle Peyton,” I couldn’t stop! I wrote pages and pages – many more words than a picture book. So, I thought I had started a chapter book. But after getting feedback from my critique group, I got the manuscript back to picture book size. This week, I sent the “Uncle Peyton” story, JP Wants to Play Sports, out to a publisher looking for stories about disability, diversity, and inclusion!

JP Wants… is a somewhat fictionalized story of how Peyton (“JP” in the story) looks for sports to play as a power wheelchair user. I hope the book is published so that non-disabled children like Fia learn about their disabled peers and see how, in many ways, they share the same desires. Plus, the book provides a way for disabled children to see characters like themselves in picture books, an essential mental health booster for their social and emotional health!

New character sketch

I submitted the manuscript without illustrations but told the publisher that, if interested, I would be happy to do the pictures. I did do a character sketch of JP, though. I like how it came out. I think he looks a lot like the young Peyton – happy, confident, and full of life!

So, fingers crossed that I get a positive response from the publisher. In the meantime, I’m working on the illustrations for the pastiche (I’ll tell you more about that later)!

If you know a publisher who is looking for picture books about children with disabilities, contact me here!

An Easy Way for Picture Book Authors to Illustrate their Books

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Lucy’s silhouette

In a recent meeting of the Florida SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators), I heard writers expressing their desire (and frustration?) for ways to illustrate their picture books.  Two years ago,  I came up with an idea to make my granddaughter a picture book about my mother (her great grandmother) for Christmas.  Since the idea sprang up late in the year, I didn’t have time to do full color illustrations.  The method I finally chose is one writers (who are not illustrators) could use for their picture books.  

While spending a weekend at my sister’s and thinking of ways to illustrate my book, I spied a small, black paper silhouette cutout of my mother in her twenties that she had made of herself while visiting the boardwalk in Atlantic City.  Silhouette is one of the oldest forms of expression that advertising and other print media have used for decades. 

In “Printers’ Ink”, an old journal for advertisers, a commercial art manager said of the art of silhouette that, “History refers to it, and the French have always been fond of [the] simplified art”; adding, “[t]he silhouette is more than apt to print under any and all circumstances… generally speaking, it is accident proof”.  Along with black and white “clipart,” the profile portrait of my mother became the perfect foundation for my story’s illustrations.

Fia’s silhouette

As a collage artist, I enjoy the hands-on cutting, manipulating and laying out of paper on paper and did not use a computer.   Finding boarders and frames to use with the black and white pictures and laying out the pages was, for me, a lot of fun.  Some frames I found I collaged or printed in the text I needed to illustrate from the story.  To mirror the boardwalk silhouette of my mother, I made one of my granddaughter for the book.   While babysitting her one weekend, my husband and I took her to a local beach where while playing in the sand, I was able to snap a picture of her in profile which I then turned into a silhouette.

I printed the clipart and the frames and boarders out on my studio printer and laid out each page of the picture book on 8”x 8” card stock.  Along with some modifications, it still took me the four months working part-time to complete the book getting the text and layout just right.  Once all the pages were complete with the printed text, I took all the pages to be copied and bound to Staples.  There, I chose to have the book and it’s copy spiral bound.  The Staples print technicians* at the store in Clay, NY did a great job with the printing/copying and the binding. 

I was pleased with how my black and white picture book came out.  It’s rare for a picture book to be produced in black and white instead of color but it works for this book.  I think some of the reasons are that it’s a small book, the text moves right along with quick page turns and many of the black and white illustrations show movement i.e., the banner on the beauty school, the “sailor” on the Playbill, the shopper, the dancers and the ribbon waving behind the seamstress. 

 Also, the silhouette is a unique communication tool that has been used by print media for their concise and immediate recognition.  Their simplicity engages readers by leaving something to the imagination, which, I think,  especially works with children.  My book must “work” because my four-year-old granddaughter says she loves it and it has often been her number one choice when choosing a book to read!

If you are not an artist or illustrator and if you are looking for a way to add illustrations to your picture book, clipart could work for you too. 

How about you?  Have you ever seen clipart used for a picture book?  Have you ever tried using clipart to make illustrations?  Let me know.  I’d love to hear from you.  Use the “Comments” section below.

*I found out with my next picture book that all Staples print services are not the same.  You are not guaranteed the same services even from your preferred store as it can depend on the specific technician.  If you are pleased with the results from a certain technician, I recommend that you get their name so you can request their services in the future.

A different kind of “self-publishing”- a DIY hardcover picture book (with How-To freebie)!

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“Adventures with phearnik!™” hardcover
Trimming the edges
Covers folded and glued to inside
Applying white glue with a brush
End pages hold the stitched pages in the book
The overnight pressing
Completed hardcover book!

A couple of posts ago, I “debuted”, “Lucy’s Pocket” © 2020, a black and white picture book I created last year for my granddaughter for her Christmas present.  In my last post, I unveiled another picture book, “Adventures with phearnik!™” © 2021, that I wrote and illustrated, again, for the same granddaughter, this time for her birthday. (Hopefully, it will be a less chaotic time than Christmas to present her with a special book!)  So, I needed a copy of the book for the gift (soon!) and another for myself to have on hand to show and shop around.  Since I’m looking for an  agent to help me shop the book to publishers,  I’m not travelling the “conventional” self-publishing route. If I were, having just finished all the illustrations this past month, there would not be enough time to get the books printed by mid-November.   I also costed  “photo books” made by online photo book printers but the cost was a bit beyond my budget – around $50 per book for a 32 page 8” x 9” picture book.    So, I decided to travel a different “self-publishing” route and made built the books by hand.

I have been through the process of putting my own picture books together before with “Lucy’s Pocket” and another book I made for a nutrition unit for a family daycare provider training I developed. For both of those books, I took the original pages of text and illustrations I had laid out, one on card stock and the other on paper printed from my home printer and laminated, to Staples for copying and binding. With “Lucy’s Pocket,” Staples Print Services made a copy of the original  8” x 8” pages and spiral bound both the original and the copy into two books for less than $20 each. (More like two-for-one compared to a 32-page photo book from an online printer!)  Because many of the illustrations in “Adventures …” are full page spreads (occupying the whole of two facing pages), I did not want the book to be spiral bound (the full page spread illustrations would have a gap between the two facing pages) and  I wanted to try my hand at making my own hardcover book.

I started by using my personal home scanner and scanning my illustrations to the computer, saving them as jpeg photos. Then, I used Microsoft Publisher to layout the pages of the book. Publisher does not have book or booklet templates for custom sizes, so I had to create my own.  I made an 8” x 9” “Custom” “Blank” page and used this to lay out all 32 pages of the book.  I then imported my scanned illustrations onto the pages and copied and pasted my text from Word into text boxes in Publisher.

At first, my pages were presenting with a white border around each page.  Although it looked nice, I couldn’t have a border where the two pages came together in the center to make the full-page spread.  I finally figured out how to remove the borders and was able to layout the spreads.  Once the layout was complete, I used Staples again to print out the pages, but this time, I did it myself on one of their “self-copiers” using a pdf of the Publisher file saved on a thumb/jump drive. 

Because the “Adventures…” book pages are 8” x 9” and they were printed on 8 ½” x 11” paper, I had to cut each page down to size.  I unfortunately made the mistake of printing each page one sided instead of two-sided!  I can’t believe I did that!  (Even my husband said, “All book pages are two-sided”.  Like, “Duh”!)  I had to glue all the pages together to make them two sided, making sure each “front” page was glued to its corresponding “back” page.  Next time, I will be sure to print the pages two-sided!    After that, I laid out the pages, taped them together with Magic Tape, added the “end pages” (the ones that get glued to the inside of the cover) and stitched them together with my trusty, old metal Kenmore sewing machine and pressed them folded overnight. 

I then made the hard cover for the book.  I used an old, stained piece of 4 ply (1/16”) mat board (it was getting covered so the stains wouldn’t matter) cutting two pieces to the size of the finished book – 8” x 9” and a thin, ¼” x 8” piece for the spine.  I  covered the board with the front and back cover pictures.  This was tricky because the pictures only measured 8.5” x 11” so there was not enough “cover” to fold around to the inside of the board.  Because of this, I glued more paper onto the cover pictures so they could fold into the inside nicely.  Once the front and back covers were glued down, I glued down the end pages covering up the folded parts of the covers.  And after another overnight pressing, the book was complete!  I’m really pleased with how it came out. 

Now that I have “built” a hard cover picture book from start to finish, I am no longer intimidated by the process.  I recommend it as a good experience for any picture book illustrator.   (You may gain a new appreciation for publishers and printers! I certainly did.)   Plus, I may have started an annual tradition – giving a very special granddaughter a Nana book for her birthday (or maybe even Christmas)!

Have you ever put a hardcover book together from scratch?  Did you run into any issues?  Were you pleased with the results?  I’d love to hear about it in Comments!

This is a picture of the inside spread of the Beyond the Gate at Casey Key See and Say booklet by aws Studios

“Beyond the Gate on Casey Key” © 2020, A children’s “See and Say ™ ” booklet

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In the winter, my husband and I leave our cherished cottage on “The Great Sodus Bay” (as it’s termed in Google Maps) off Lake Ontario for the warmer climes of the Gulf of Mexico.  My favorite bike ride there is to leave my home in Venice, Florida, hop on the wonderful “Legacy Trail” and make my way over to Casey Key.  Casey Key is one of the many unique Keys running along the intercostal waterway on Florida’s “Gulf” side.  Casey Key in Nokomis, Florida is known for its narrow motorway with gorgeous views of the Gulf and its spectacular and lovely oceanside (and intercostal side) mansions (it’s also a winter home to Steven King).  On one of my biweekly rides, I finally took the time to snap some shots along the way.  The picture of the iron gate inspired me to make a “See and Say” booklet for my toddler granddaughter. 

The “Beyond the Gate on Casey Key See and Say” booklet’s front cover is the shot of the gate beckoning the reader to open the gate to “see” what’s beyond.  Once open, I collaged a fantasy view of the Gulf with, well, like the rhyme says, the sun, the waves, the sand and shells, sailboats, dolphins and seagulls.  I enjoyed making this fun booklet and made a few copies for friends’ children and grandchildren and a few of my adult friends received a copy as a greeting card.  If you are interested in a copy of the “Beyond the Gate on Casey Key See and Say” booklet, contact me here.

Have you been to Casey Key?  If so, have you ever spotted the gate there?  

Beyond the gate on Casey Key, tell me now, what do you see?

Do you see a butterfly kite? And a big yellow sun shining bright?

On the shore some seashells gather while dancing waves make a lather.

Count the starfish if you can. They are hiding in the sand!

Out on the Gulf of Mexico, where the winds begin to blow,

Sailboats chase the dolphins gray all through the blue green ocean spray.

Feathery gulls fly up high as the clouds go drifting by.

It’s a beautiful day for you and me beyond the gate on Casey Key!

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This is a picture of the cover of the children's picture book "Lucy's Pocket." A great book to help celebrate Grandparents' Day.

Debut of “Lucy’s Pocket”, a new picture book!

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  • “Lucy’s Pocket” © 2020
  • Excerpt from “Lucy’s Pocket”
  • Page from “Lucy’s Pocket”

Can a great-grandmother’s warm, furry coat transform into a fantastic surprise for an unsuspecting granddaughter?

Great grandmother Lucy had a very special coat.  And, like “The Giving Tree”, the unassuming coat obtained 80 years ago (with a secret spot to hold special memories), still to this day, keeps on giving.

From social and emotional health curriculum developer honoree Alis Wintle Sefick, “Lucy’s Pocket” is an endearing story about a treasured family heirloom – a special coat – that travels through the generations into the future and heart of its youngest family member. 

“Lucy’s Pocket” is a “book and plushie” package.  It is a 8 x 8 inch, comfortable to hold, spiral bound, “touch and feel” picture book for children ages 3 – 5.  Using bold and simple, black and white clip-art illustrations, the tastefully designed book maintains an easy page-turning cadence that keeps children – and adults – coming back to the story again and again.  The plushie “surprise” is a replica of the coat’s transformation (but we’re not giving the surprise away here)!

Sure to delight readers and plushie lovers young and old, the “Lucy’s Pocket” package is a perfect anecdote for anyone needing a little warm and fuzzy grand-mothering.  These days, who doesn’t need a little bit of that now and then!

If you are a picture book agent interested in seeing more of “Lucy’s Pocket” or if you are interested in purchasing a copy of the book or book package, contact me here .