Tom and Geraldene

8 years

I am so thrilled to announce that I have completed my first children’s book.

Tom and Geraldene

The book is called Tom and Geraldene and tells the story of a little boy (Tom) and his toy giraffe that becomes real (Geraldene). Tom wants everyone in his family to meet Geraldene, but not everyone can see her. I have based this book on imagination, friendship, family and looking at the world a little differently (including our acceptance of people of different ages). I really hope that it will be enjoyed by children (and adults as well).

Tom and Geraldene

The book can be downloaded for free on iBooks. Printed copies of the book are currently only available in limited numbers (mainly due to the self-publishing cost), if you are interested, please contact me.

Tom and Geraldene

It has been a long time in the making (almost ten years), because I could never seem to feel confident enough with the story, or do the illustrations how I imagined them. I made the decision that I just needed to do it, because the children it had been created for and dedicated to were getting older! I also realised that it would be like a time capsule to my current abilities and that with each new book I make, I can continue to improve and grow.

Tom and Geraldene

I have used my real name on the book, because I just felt like that was the right way to go. Sorry if anyone was confused by that.

If you would like to help promote the book you could download it from iTunes/iBooks, add it to your shelf on Goodreads, view and download on Scribd or download on Leanpub All options are free.

I was also incredibly lucky to have awesome support from friends with assistance with editing. To everyone that helped me, thank you so very very much. I have not included names here, in case you don’t wish to be linked to your real name.

What I like:

  • The story
  • The characters

What I want to improve:

  • Higher quality images for ebook
  • Traditional style illustrations for next book (already started planing it)

69 Responses

  1. Wow Kya! A big CONGRATULATIONS to you. 🙂

    I haven’t downloaded the book yet- I will in a while and I’m excited, but I already love how it looks. I love the typeface, your illustrations, and colors you used. 😀 Very eye-candy.

    I’m happy to know you got to tick off one thing off of your Bucket list. And with that, you’ve inspired me to start getting to work on my dream projects too. 🙂

    1. Thank you so much. I hope that you can work on your dream projects. It is a satisfying feeling when you have done something that you have wanted too (for a long time). I didn’t make a best seller, but it was really important to me and I am glad that I was finally able to create and share it. 😀

  2. This is such a wonderful book, Kya. I think you did an amazing job with it! Thank you so much for creating this for all the young (and old!) readers out there. The illustrations are absolutely perfect for the story. I just love it to death!

  3. This is amazing Kya! As a bookseller, I hope that one day I’ll be able to sell your books in a Barnes & Noble store here in America. |) I think it’s awesome you self-published, too! Lots of advantages to that. This story looks absolutely adorable and I love the artwork. I can’t wait to see what else you come up with!

    1. Aww, thank you so much! 😀 I wanted to have full control over the story and illustrations, so I felt that self publishing, rather than submitting to a publisher was the best option. I am excited to work on more in the future and see where it leads. 🙂

  4. Wow, amazing and congrats to you!! I headed over to iTunes and downloaded it right away hoping to catch it in time for bedtime stories for my little girl. You are so talented, and to make such a wonderful gift to children, thank you for that. I hope it’s going to be a well read keep!

  5. Very cute! I can’t wait to see what kind of imagination my little boy will have one day 🙂 He has a toy giraffe (Jacque the Giraffe 😉 ) which he loves. Congrats on the book, it’s really cute!

  6. Congrats on your new book! The design and colors you used were spectacular. It make me want to buy it even though I am no kid already. Keep it up!! Looking forward to your next book.

  7. Ah! This is super exciting! I may inquire about the print books after the holidays, because I kind of want to add it to my collection? :s of children’s books. Because I have one. It comes in handy when siblings visit and want to be read something that doesn’t come in the form of a reading textbook from long ago, or at least something with… like, these books have pictures, but there are so many words on each page, and my little bro gets bored. (Aaaand I will have to sort out how to buy it for my siblings for their iPad-playing purposes?)

    I really liked the colors you used—especially the turquoise.

    I will add it to my Goodreads account soon. :3

  8. Oh my gosh!! I’m so excited for you to achieve this incredible accomplishment!! Tom and Geraldene seems like an adorable book with a positive message. Great job!! |)

  9. Congrats on your first children’s book! I just read it and loved it 😀 Both the story and illustrations were so cute, and I really liked that the story centered around imagination. The ending put a big smile on my face! Awesome job Kya!

  10. Kya!! That is so awesome! Congratulations on finishing it. For some reason I can’t get the images to load on my work computer, but I remember seeing some you posted on Twitter and they looked beautiful. What a great story line too for children! I will have to download and read it when I get home!

    1. Oh, that is really weird that they won’t load. 🙁 Maybe they were being blocked for some random reason? I hope you like it. <3

  11. Congratulations Kya!! That’s super cute! @.@ I’m always amazed by writers like you, I mean I know there’s a lot to write about in this world, but it’s still really hard to produce something new and imaginative! I also really love the illustrations! It is simple but the message is right there and how timely it is because in the past months, it felt like I’m losing my imagination bit by bit (T^T). I know it’s a children’s book but adults could use a reminder every once in a while and your book just does it! And I was also inspired with what you said, “I made the decision that I just needed to do it”. That just hit me. It might have taken you quite a while but what’s important is you did it! Congratulations again and thank you for the book! 🙂

  12. Congratulations, that is just awesome! You actually wrote and illustrated a book! 😀 I just read it and it’s adorable, both the story and the artwork. I’m sure lots of kids will like it – any many adults too for that matter.

  13. Congratulations on finishing your first (of many, I hope) children’s book :D. Your art looks so cute! I like the story behind the book. This is to help kids expand their minds beyond what they see in every day life. This is also a good way to measure your performance when it comes down to making the graphics and content quality. Keep it up!

  14. Congrats Kya on your first children’s book! It looks great and very adorable!! I also like the color scheme 🙂

  15. AHH such a cute book! I think I saw this on Facebook because I’m friends with Liz from 6birds and she posted it! I took a glance but when I have a chance I want to read it. Congratulations on publishing a book and I hope you publish more because your illustrations are so amazing!

  16. I think this is really wonderful! I can’t wait to share it with my son, and I like the message. It’s true too, you can always improve. I think it’s truly beautiful though, and a wonderful accomplishment. 🙂

  17. The book looks amazing! I hope i can publish a book someday as well since i love writing novels but i never get to publish them online though since i have second thoughts as well if the story is good. I hope i get the chance to read your book! 😀 Will add this to my goodreads shelf. 🙂

    x

    1. Thank you! I really hope that you are able to publish your work online. I know how scary it can be. You should find people who might be interested and ask them to read them. Or publish little bits on different communities to see how they feel. 😀

  18. Oh my! This is honestly so exciting!! <3 I'm so happy for you Kya, it looks brilliant from the illustrations and the cute "vibe" it gives out! I'm going to download the eBook and show my little brother, I'm sure he'll love it! I hope you make more! :3

  19. I AM SO PROUD OF YOU! So so proud! I noticed how this project was important in your life, and I couldn’t be more happy that you finally accomplished it! I will download it and read to my little cousin, and I am sure she will love it 🙂

  20. I downloaded the book and it was a really cute (and for me, touching) story. The illustration is cute and pleasant to look at, too. I will look forward your future works!

  21. Seriously, this is amazing! It is just perfect!
    Also, I’m really glad you printed with Blurb. It’s pricier than Lulu but I’ve done both and lulu’s binding falls apart after a while.

  22. I thought I left a comment here already! :O But anyway, I am proud of you that you published your book. The drawings are amazing and that tealy-green colour, you know I love. 😉 Thank you for letting me help out with it. I would love to help you out with more of your publications in the future. <3

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