Let's Play Music
Tappi / 2025
A playful interactive book that opens the world of music to little readers. With 8 instruments to explore, from gentle piano keys to lively drums and bright flute tones, children can create sounds, play songs, and enjoy fun games with a special Play Pen
Since this book is all about the joy of music, exploration, new experiences and because it’s created for very young readers, I wanted the illustrations to feel bright, cheerful full of bold colors and simple, playful shapes
For the color palette, I chose my favorite shades of blue, pink, green, and yellow, complemented by shades of blue, red, purple and brown
Each spread began its life as a very raw pencil sketch. At this stage, I explored different compositions, emotions, and storytelling approaches. These early drawings then moved into Procreate, where they took shape and gained details through several rounds of revisions until reaching their final look
It looks like Hugo the drummer is ready to play!
I was given a few initial notes about the characters: some lovely details about the child’s appearance, and I sketched small variations of the kid’s face right next to the spread explorations. Sometimes, those very first impressions made their way into the final illustrations "almost" unchanged
Every spread has its own background color that pops and helps tell a part of the story about the child and the instrument. It was also important for me to create a visual rhythm throughout the book, so we experimented with several color tests, and some spreads went through quite a range of options before settling on the final choice
From the very first sound to the band’s first performance!
Meet these tiny musicians and join them in their love of music!
The book is available at Tappyplay
