Step 2: Dummy Book Variations

     Once my thumbnails are completed, I created a dummy book. This is a mini rough draft version of what my picture book will look like. I simply cut and fold 11” (width) x 4.5” (height) white pages and staple them in the middle. Using a pencil and erasure, I sketched out the compositions from my storyboard template and also printed out the text to tape into the book. This gives me lots of flexibility to move things around and make changes. This also gives me an opportunity to see how the story and images flow as I flip through my dummy book. In this project I actually made five dummy books! Although it can be time consuming, I find it is time well spent.