I think every illustrator has their favourite part of the process when making a book. Mine is always character design. I could spend days drawing little characters running about on paper, hopping, skipping, and falling over. Different hairstyles, different noses - I like to draw them all before settling on the look that works best.

For the picture book, All I Hope For You, the main character needed to be shown at a few ages throughout the book. It was so much fun imagining the child from baby to young child, and drawing all the different expressions and personality quirks that little kids go through. None of these illustrations ended up in the final book, but they were an essential step towards figuring out how the main character would react to a cloud of dandelion clocks, a lightning storm, or an imaginary rocket flight.

Doing this initial step with a character design, drawing mannerisms, attitude, and quirks is just one more way to make sure the characters feel fully fleshed out and alive on the page. I think when a child closes the book on Mog, Alfie and Annie Rose, Elmer or Max, they want to be sure that those characters are still safe and real in that world, merely sleeping.