Planning the Illustrations: Building a Picture-Book Mockup for The Rabbit in the Moon

The Rabbit in the MoonYabbit the RabbitWriting a Children's Book

Feb 14

Now that I’ve finalized the text for Yabbit the Rabbit’s first book, The Rabbit in the Moon, it’s time to plan how many illustrations the story truly needs, and where they should appear for the best storytelling rhythm.

Step 1: Words First, Then Delete What Art Can Show

Instead of jumping straight into character tweaks of Yabbit the Rabbit, Rod (my illustrator) and I are combing through the manuscript line by line to ask:
Can this moment be shown instead of told?

Because children’s picture books thrive on visual storytelling, our goal is to make the text sharp, clean, and musical, allowing the illustrations to show emotion, movement, and setting wherever possible.

Step 2: Build a Rough Book Mockup in Google Slides

To visualize the pacing and composition, I’m creating a book mockup using Google Slides. Page by page, I’ll drop the text roughly where it would appear in print. This simple exercise helps us see:

Where a page-turn adds tension or surprise
Which scenes deserve a full-bleed spread across two pages
Where a single-page illustration works best
And where the text can be trimmed because the art will carry the action

🎥 Watch my full explanation and visual walkthrough on YouTube

Step 3: Deciding on Full Spreads vs. Single Illustrations

Once the mockup is complete, Rod and I will mark each page as:

Full Spread – for big emotional or visual moments that deserve cinematic impact.
Single Page – for smaller, quieter, or transitional beats that move the story along.
Spot Illustration – for subtle, supporting visuals that add charm and rhythm.

This process helps balance pacing, composition, and visual variety, keeping readers engaged from page one to the final moonlit scene.

Why This Stage Is So Important

Creating a book mockup may sound technical, but it’s the creative bridge between writing and illustration. It helps us confirm that every page has purpose, every illustration adds emotion, and every line of text earns its place.

It’s also where the phrase “show, don’t tell” comes to life, literally.

What’s Next

Once we finalize which moments should be shown versus told, Rod will begin thumbnail sketches and page layouts. From there, we’ll refine the compositions, lock in the number of illustrations, and move into the final art stage.

Every decision we make now, spacing, pacing, visual balance, will define how The Rabbit in the Moon feels when children hold it in their hands.

Picture Book MockupIllustration PlanningShow Don't TellFull-Spread vs Single PageStoryboardingGoogle Slides Book DummyIllustrator CollaborationChildren's Picture Book ProcessPage Turns & PacingThe Rabbit in the MoonYabbit the Rabbit

KD Schnee

KD Schnee is a children’s author from Pittsburgh, PA. He was raised in Bull Valley, IL on a former Christmas-tree farm. He spent his childhood roaming the woods and listening to nightly read-alouds from his dad, and early favorites like A Cricket in Times Square helped plant the seeds for storytelling.

His debut picture book, The Rabbit in the Moon, introduces Yabbit the Rabbit, a character first imagined by KD’s mother and inspired by his own childhood tendencies to hesitate or avoid. Today, KD writes hopeful stories that help kids (and the child in all of us) face fear, feel brave, and grow.