The main overall topic that I wanted to cover in my children’s picture book was about mental illness, in particular, Anxiety and Loneliness. I found a few books that have already covered these issues in children’s books specifically aimed at 3-12 year olds. I wasn’t taking illustration ideas from these books, just story plots as I was quite worried that mental illness would write well in a book. Stories I looked at were:

Sweet Dreams and Monsters by Peter Mayle:

Feelings, Aliki:

Tim and the Blanket Thief, John Prater:

Aldo, John Burningham:

I think I’m definitely going to try to convey the topic about anxiety as it is a very common mental issue that kids have in todays culture and society. Its also something something personal to myself, as I know the symptoms so I feel that I could convey it well.