More About Just Like You

As promised last week, here is another post about the making of Just Like You which was published last week by Otter-Barry Books.

Originally, the story was about a little boy. It was perhaps a little more bleak than the published version. Below are a couple of roughs from the initial versions. The wording in the 'dummy' book read as "I can curl up small, make no sound and not move at all." and showed the child hiding. In this further version, which is in water colours, the girl is on a boat. We decided to exclude the spread altogether.

This spread was later omitted from the book.

The final spread showed a night-time version of the camp (not shown). A subsequent colour version showed the outline of the house under the tents. Again, it was felt that this design was a bit too hard-hitting and there needed to be an element of hope as the book concluded. We made the image less sombre and gave it a more optimistic message by adding trees with Spring blossom, a sense of community, a bright sunset and a pathway out of the camp. It is now one of my favourite spreads.

Thanks for visiting. There will be more on Just Like You at a later date. If you would like to buy the book you can do just that here.

Jo x

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