Ben and Ruby Character Sketches

Thank you for all the comments on the I'm Reading Now series! Working on a big series like this, the most important thing is to have the character sketches down pat when I start. I got a short character description of the whole family, and here is what I came up with. Here, the main characters Ben and Ruby:

Ben is suppose to be 5 years old and Ruby is 4. Here they look a bit too old. Try again!

Better here. But what's up with the Elvis hair on Ben? And I was told the dress on Ruby was a bit too old fashioned (Hey, I would wear that cherry dress at 4!)

Perfect!

Ok, actually there were many more rounds back and forth with the art director and editors before I got it just right. But its better to get it right in the beginning than later.

And last but not least, a BIG shout out to Alicia Padrón's kids for their fantastic critique of my tree entry for The Wish Trees giveway! It was a gift in itself listening to their reaction (I've never heard directly from my audience before) and it truly confirms I am in the right profession! It was so gratifying and made me all warm and fuzzy inside!!! So thank you, Gabriel and Alexandra. And kudos for everyone who entered, I had alot of fun looking at everything!