Mady’s Forest: an adventure into change and regrowth
Grace Hattrup
Thesis
In a world where climate disruption may only become more common, children often don’t have the tools to process these scary changes in their environment. Mady’s Forest seeks to inspire hope and knowledge during the climate crisis.
Backround
The concept first came to me at the end of last summer, when wildfire smoke choked the air in Vancouver. Experiencing that apocalyptic red haze over the city made me wonder how children today are making sense of these frightening and confusing events.
It brought me back to my own early encounters with environmental disturbance—moments that left me feeling unsettled and unsure. I began writing and illustrating these memories, reflecting on clear-cut forests, flooded childhood campsites, and vast expanses of burned woodland. In those moments, what I often needed was reassurance that the world wasn’t falling apart. My goal in creating Mady’s Forest is to lay the groundwork for children to engage in more complex conversations about climate change, rooted in hope rather than fear.
Research and visual discovery
To start the process of creating my story, I first began sketching ideas and themes I wanted to bring into my book. These included character drawings, storyboards, and hazy childhood memories.
Storyboards
Scraped Kness
I wanted to store all of this rich visual research in one place so I created Scraped Knees. Scraped Knees is a zine which explores my early personal childhood experiences with Climate change, pairing them with digital collage and children’s book illustrations. The zine is meant to act as a supplementary element which explains the inspiration for Mady’s Forest.
Branding
It was important to me that I created a publishing company for Mady’s Forest.
The branding would represent my story in its elements, speaking to the whimsical and environmental themes of my book. I hand-drew a looping tree with a window. The tree would represent the ecological elements while the window would denote its early childhood audience. And so I created Tall Tree Books. Tall Tree Books is a hypothetical publishing company that carries nature related children’s books.
Illustration Process
I created Mady’s Forest using a combination of apple’s Procreate and the adobe suite. I would start out with my rough sketch and then start slowly developing the final spread all the way up until carefully placing the typography. I chose Mrs. Eves for its classic but whimsical flair which complimented my twisting illustrations.
Final Spreads
Mady’s Forest is a beautifully crafted 7″ × 7″ hardcover children’s book, featuring an original story brought to life through 26 vibrant, full-colour, hand-drawn illustrations.
Thank you!
