The Ultimate Kids Christmas Book

Illustration, Publication Design
2023

The Ultimate Kids Christmas Book is a kid-approved big book of super fun holiday projects and ideas! Three chapters highlight holiday essentials with hundreds of ways to ring in the season: “Celebrate” showcases Christmas celebrations around the world and the origins of seasonal traditions; “Craft” is full of creative activities and artsy experiments; “Bake” features tons of tasty recipes to try out.

I illustrated and designed this 192-page Christmas compendium. Over a hundred full-color, hand-drawn illustrations embellish each page using a warm, seasonal color palette and showcasing cheerful scenes filled with characters enjoying holiday activities. Doodles and hand-lettered titles adorn the rich photography surrounding each craft project or recipe. It was an absolute blast to work on this project with the publishing team.

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A colorful christmas-themed book cover shows the subttitle "crafts, recipes & fun!" opened on a wooden table, featuring illustrations of snowy landscapes, trees, and houses.

Cover Design

The cover features a full-color “Christmas village” scene complete with a dog and child sledding down the hill beside a river of peppermint candies, characters making snow angels or ice skating, and gumdrop mountains in the background.

On the back cover, the scene continues to wrap around the spine, and you can even spot a wintery yeti waving from the forest.

The back cover of a christmas-themed book lying on a wooden surface, featuring an illustrated snowy landscape with trees, mountains, and a gingerbread house with elves skiing and a yeti hiding in the forest.

Open book with a red end sheet page on the left featuring a white christmas tree pattern and a right page displaying the cover of "the ultimate kids christmas book" by good housekeeping inside a hand drawn wreath.

Open book on a wooden table featuring a winter night scene on the left and the cover of "the ultimate kids christmas book" with crafts, recipes, and fun ideas on the right.

An illustrated table of contents shows a Christmas elf workshop along a wooden table, featuring elves engaged in crafting, baking, and celebrating, each labeled with chapter titles and page numbers.

Open book on a wooden table displaying the introduction page with a night scene illustration of a small gingerbread house and text with a colorful vine of Christmas lights creating a border on the right side.

When I think of visuals associated with the holiday season, the rich patterns of presents and tapestries come to mind.

The book’s endsheets have a variety hand-drawn patterns across them, and the half-title page opens with a looping and swirling Christmas wreath. The full-title has a full-color, full-spread illustration of a dog and a child on sleds surveying the Christmas village (from the cover) at a distance.

Inside, the table of contents was reimagined as a “Workshop of Contents” where elves assemble toys and crafts related to each chapter.

And the introduction spread features a winding string of Christmas lights leading up to a gingerbread house in the snow.

A child and a small dog happily sled down a snowy hill at night, both on colorful sleds shaped like candy canes, under a starry sky near silhouetted pine trees.

Three elves of diverse backgrounds, one wearing a santa hat, are sitting at a table crafting holiday decorations, surrounded by ribbons and cookies.

A cozy, festively decorated gingerbread-like cottage under a starry winter sky, surrounded by snow with a pathway leading to the front door marked by footprints.

An open book displays an illustrated scene of an elf decorating a large christmas tree with a star on top, on a snowy landscape, titled "chapter one celebrate.”

An open book on a wooden surface with a colorful illustration of a whimsical snow-covered landscape made of gumdrop mountains. the left page shows a scene with a ski lift going up a cliff, ridden by an elf in candy cane skis, and the right page read

An open book with a colorful illustration of a snowy scene featuring a gingerbread house under construction by gingerbread men placing the roof on top of it with a red vine crane, titled "chapter three - bake”.

Chapter Title Spreads

Each chapter of the book — “Celebrate,” “Craft,” and “Bake” — has a full-spread section divider that features an illustrated scene to tee up the contents of the chapter.

“Celebrate” shows elves adorning a giant tree with a star.

“Craft” shows an elf on a gondola, coming down from a mountain of gumdrops, wearing skis made of candy canes.

“Bake” shows gingerbread construction workers using a red candy crane to place a roof on a gingerbread house.

An elf in a green sweater and white pants is placing a star on top of a christmas tree while standing on a ladder, against a dark starry night background.

Illustration of an elf in a winter hat enjoying riding on a ski lift, wearing candy cane skis, and going up a gumdrop mountain.

A person's hand holding open a children's book featuring a colorful illustration of a gingerbread house and gingerbread men on a snowy landscape.

An open book on a wooden table displaying a colorful illustration with the text "joy to the world" and scenes depicting holiday traditions from around the world. On the right, elves surf in Australia on Christmas.

An open children's book showcasing vibrant illustrations and text about various Christmas celebrations in Austria, Brazil, Ethiopia and France.

An open children's book with illustrations featuring christmas-themed scenes on a wooden table. the left page describes holiday customs in Germany and Greece while the right page shows a wintery night through a window in Iceland.

An open children’s book on a wooden table displaying colorful illustrated pages about diverse Christmas traditions in Italy, Mexico, Philippines and Poland.

An open children's book on a wooden table featuring colorful illustrations of holiday themes, including a santa claus figure from Russia, a snowy shopping scene in Singapore, and a child and dog peering in at a fish in a bathtub in Slovakia.

An open children's book on a wooden table displays illustrated pages about holiday traditions from south africa, Sweden, ukraine, and the united kingdom.

“Joy to the World”

The first section of the “Celebrate” chapter highlights Christmas traditions from all around the world.

Illustration in a children's book showing animals and elves surfing in a whimsical ocean with snow-capped waves, under a decorated christmas tree island in the background.

A child wearing a blindfold swings a stick at a piñata in Mexico for Christmas, with colorful candies and streamers flying out against a white background.

Two elves in festive hats grilling sausages on a red barbecue outdoors. one is waving, and both are smiling, engaging in a cheerful holiday activity.

In Slovakia, a young child and a dog look into a bathtub at a fish swimming around as part of a holiday cultural tradition.

A hand holds open a book featuring a holiday-themed page with the phrase "choose your own advent-ure!" surrounded by christmas decorations and a calendar.

The chapter also features a section on making your own advent calendar full of activities leading up to Christmas — from learning how to say “Merry Christmas” in other languages to connecting with a loved one who is far away or donating gifts to others in need.

A child in a red jacket and blue pants is walking a small, golden dog in a snowy landscape with tall green pine trees, under a bright sun and near a simple sketch of a building.

Two circular frames connected by a line show video calls between an elderly woman waving from indoors and a young person waving back, dressed warmly outdoors, staying connected over the holiday season.

Illustration of two people, an adult and a child, carrying piles of gifts to donate, entering a door adorned with a "season of giving" sign and holiday decorations.

An open book displaying a two-page spread with images and text on how to say "merry christmas" in different languages and ideas for going out with marshmallows and making a holiday playlist.

Chapter 1

The rest of the first chapter is filled with great activities! One of my favorites was “Tinsel Town: Set the Scene,” which is an illustrated diagram of prepping your living room for the ultimate Christmas movie marathon.

A child sits on a floor cushion, viewing a diy movie screen showing a camping scene. beside her is a snack table with popcorn and drinks, all part of a cozy indoor movie-night setup.

Chapter 2

“Crafts” is filled with creative ideas and projects—from how to properly wrap a gift, to writing letters to Santa, and much more.

Open book on a wooden table displaying a festive article titled "wrap it up" with a visual guide on gift wrapping and text tips on the right page.

An open book with a holiday theme featuring letters to santa claus and a reindeer, with festive decorations like pine cones and a candy cane placed on a wooden surface.

Chapter 3

The third and final chapter, “Bake,” is filled with amazing recipes and insights on tasty creations like the annual gingerbread house competition or how to make the perfect cookie dough.

An open children's book on a wooden table displaying a page with illustrated elves wearing christmas hats and a list of cookie recipe ingredients.

Open children's book titled "gingerbread headquarters" featuring a photo of a gingerbread house on the left page with hand-lettered writing on top and text titled "the story of the gingerbread house" on the right page.

One of my personal favorite illustrated Easter eggs: earlier in the book, when learning about Christmas traditions in Slovakia, a dog and a child are peering into a bathtub with a Christmas carp in the water.

These two reappear at the end of the book, on the copyright page, where they can be seen ice-fishing for the carp.