A children's book concept exploring why apology is worth practising — proposed for Wonderbly.
A children's book concept proposed to Wonderbly, exploring why apology is worth practising rather than performing. Developed as a group project at Goldsmiths in response to Wonderbly's brief, the book uses humour and warm illustration to walk young readers through the everyday situations that call for saying sorry.
Brief Context
Wonderbly visited the university with a question: how do you teach a child to apologise without flattening the lesson into a moral? Their team commissioned student groups to propose new book concepts in response. This concept began with the observation that children often struggle to apologise — out of embarrassment, defiance, or the simple feeling that saying sorry is a loss.
Narrative Approach
The book was framed as a comedy. Rather than instructing children to apologise, it walks them through situations that clearly call for one — and uses humour to disarm the discomfort around saying it. The aim was to show that apology is neither shameful nor difficult; just a small honest gesture worth practising.
Illustration Process
Spreads were drawn in Procreate and laid out as comic panels. The illustration style was kept loose and warm, with limited palette and visible brushwork — meant to feel made, rather than printed. The book's pacing was tuned to a young reader's attention span: short scenes, recurring characters, repeated visual cues.
Published Outcome
The work was delivered to Wonderbly as a concept proposal alongside other student responses. It did not go into production, but the book stands as a complete proposal — a tonal and visual case for treating apology as something practised, not performed.
