Designing Picking Sweetgrass was a different kind of joy—quick-moving, collaborative, and quietly meaningful. This Native-written and illustrated picture book traces a child’s memory of gathering sweetgrass with his grandmother, blending personal storytelling with cultural tradition.
Like many titles from Black Bears & Blueberries Publishing, Picking Sweetgrass includes rich back matter—in this case, the author’s reflection on his grandmother, Josephine Robinson, an Ojibwe basket maker whose life helped inspire the story.
Design Process
As I often do with picture books, I began by typesetting the manuscript into a “blank” layout. This early mockup helped visualize the story’s pacing and identify how much space each spread would need for text. With that groundwork in place, I could guide illustrator Anna through the rhythm of the book, ensuring her imagery had room to breathe and that the narrative voice stayed front and center.
Project Recap
Throughout both sketch and final phases, I helped shape the visual storytelling: suggesting adjustments to character placement, and introducing a subtle “memory fade” effect as the narrator’s voice shifted from past to present. These quiet design decisions give the book a cohesive emotional arc.
The cover image came from the interior illustrations. I collaborated with Anna and the author to select the right moment, then expanded the scene in Photoshop to allow space for title typography and full-wrap background artwork. A little generative finesse and thoughtful typography brought the final design to life.
Children’s books may be short, but that doesn’t make them simple. For Picking Sweetgrass, I focused on pacing, clarity, and visual warmth—creating a book that invites both kids and adults to slow down, take a deep breath, and enjoy the story together.
As the publisher said to the illustrator and me during the final review, “Kent loves it! Exciting! Quick work you two—thanks so much!”
