There’s a Crocodile in my Sandpit

Nov 12

A recently completed book is There’s a Crocodile in my Sandpit, written by Nicole Lubout. Nicole reached out to me to illustrate her text, and I jumped at the chance to bring such a fun text to life visually, especially after a spate of weightier book topics in 2022 and 2023.

A children's picture book illustration of a small blonde girl in a gown print onesie being flung through the air by giant teeth. Text in the illustration reads SNAP! — I always enjoy combining text and illustration. My other life as a designer has taught me to love the versatility of fonts.

There was a lot of scope to have fun with the illustrations in this book, which had lots of fun sound effects and a delightful rhyming text.

As with many self publishers, my design of the main character was inspired heavily by Nicole’s own daughter. I was instructed to make her feisty and individual.

A children's picture book character design sheet of a little girl in a pink sweater and green crocks, and a large green crocodile with a blue bucket on its head — My initial character designs for There’s a Crocodile in my Sandpit, leaning heavily into bright colours and textures. I very much enjoyed putting some crocodile-themed items into the little girl’s outfit - the green Crocs and the kerchief with crocodile fang border - even though they are hidden for much of the book.

a children's picture book illustration of a small blonde girl in a cow onesie sitting in debris from a garden shed, holding on to the tail of a giant crocodile and crying with remorse

Alison Mutton

There’s a Crocodile in my Sandpit

CBCA Book Week 2024

Alene Illustration