When I was a pup, the books I was reading looked different. This is because the world in the 70s looked different to now. When I say looked, I mean in every single sense.
In the 70s, if someone was writing/illustrating a book about a children’s party, they would be at a table, with jelly and ice cream and all sitting around with party hats on, maybe a record player in the background for music if they were playing musical chairs or a party game. That’s quite different to what children’s parties look like now. So you’d be more likely to see kids on the move, a bouncy castle, face painting, a Bluetooth speaker, phones to take photos, elaborate cakes and decorations.
This applies to everything. Unless your book is set in a historical period, use settings that children today will recognise. If it is set in a historical period, be accurate with your furniture, clothes and settings. It’s important to get these things right.
If you know where/when you want your story to take place, put together a mood board based on what life would realistically look like for them. In the Little People, Big Dreams book I illustrated, this was super-important. It felt strange to draw the first part of the book in a pretty dreary colour palette, but it was important to show Little Hans’ living conditions as they were, and not all bright and beautiful because that was more fun to draw.
It seems like a lot to remember and it’s quite disciplined, not just picking characters out of the air and going with whatever your brain comes up with. But get used to it, because the stuff that falls out of your brain is usually reserved for portfolio pieces and doodling.
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It's the same as avoiding anachronisms and writing in the right register isn't it?