Children’s Picture Book Design Tour of Look! There Are No Dinos Inside of This Book by Jimmy Vee

Jimmy Vee is a magician, ventriloquist, and picture book author-publisher who knows how to capture a kid's attention. For "Look! There Are No Dinos Inside of This Book," it was imperative that we find the perfect illustrator who could keep the laughs coming in from our pint-sized audience. Mission accomplished!

Book Title: Look! There Are No Dinos Inside of This Book

Author: Jimmy Vee

Publisher: Belly Laugh Books

Trim Size: 10×10

Page Count: 40

Special features: Dustjacket with an undies case cover (This means the dustjacket design is different from the hardcover design under the dustjacket.)

Formats available: Dustjacketed case laminate hardcover

Layout Style: Illustrated Children’s Book

Book Description:

Look, Dangerous Dave is absolutely sure there are no dinosaurs inside of this book.
After all, he removed them himself.

But look closely and see if you can find clues that debunk Dave’s claims.

Beware, though—Dave may get defensive and challenge you to point out your prehistoric proof.

Can you uncover the evidence and show Dave that dinos do exist between the covers of this comedic caper, or are those dinosaurs really history?

This book is dino-sized fun that will have you roaring with laughter and interacting with every page!

Illustrator: Mark Wilson

Editors: Brooke Vitale and Robin Larin

Proofreader: Robin Larin

Book Designer: Melinda Martin (that’s me!)

Body Font: Text set in Artegra Sans

Display Lettering: Mark Wilson

Designer's Notes

Jimmy Vee is a magician, ventriloquist, and picture book author-publisher who knows how to capture a kid’s attention.

I first met Jimmy at a picture book author summit in 2023. I love when I can connect with someone in-person, because I can get an immediate read on their vibe, and Jimmy was giving great vibes! In addition to being known as the Five Foot High Guy, he is also the founder of the Florida Ventriloquist Association and, in 2023, only had one book under his belt, How to Make Your Sock Puppet Talk: A Beginner’s Guide to Ventriloquism. He was in the throes of a second book that he needed help with to get it across the finish line, and that was the start of a beautiful friendship.

Jimmy left that conference with four rough drafts for four new stories, and we have been hard at work over the past year crafting the best reader experience for kids.

Look! There Are No Dinos Inside of This Book is book 1 in the “Look-No-See” series. This series pays homage to a classic kids’ magic principle called “Look, No See.” In this comedic concept, the audience sees something happen that the magician explicitly claims cannot or will not happen. Every time the skeptical magician looks to verify the kids’ claims, nothing is there, and he confidently restates his mistaken position. But as soon as he looks away, the kids see it happen again, bursting into laughter and excitedly pointing out the magician’s mistake. 

But in order to pull this off, it was imperative that we find the right illustrator. Mission accomplished!

 

Character Sketch

Dave is the main character in this series, and here are some of the first sketches of ideas for bringing Dave to life.

There are lots of good choices here, and Jimmy chose option 5. Now that we have an approved direction, we start fleshing him out more with some mustache options.

Mustache #3 approved! Now on to some coloring and facial expressions.

Almost there! We wanted to go with non-gray hair features, so we changed it to red, and now we have the final approval on Dave, and we also love the dino that Mark paired with him.

Storyboarding

The author and I work on which text will go on which page, and while we would normally make some art notes for the illustrator, we didn’t want to impede Mark’s imagination in any way, so we sent him the technical parameters for the book along with our text-only paginated PDF. At this stage, everything is done in rough sketches, because there will be revision requests.

Mark sent his storyboards back, and we were not disappointed! Although we did have some feedback, it was very limited. It’s rare to have so few revision requests to the art concepts, and this is the result of choosing the right team members for your project. Mark understood the assignment!

Storyboarding Round 2

The next round of storyboarding is spent firming up the existing concepts and also implementing our revision requests. We are getting more and more excited with each new art.

We had a few spreads that need just a bit more fine-tuning, so we kept at it until we were all satisfied, and then we moved on to the line art.

Line Art

After all rough sketches have been approved, the illustrator starts work on the line art and introducing details.

Color

After the line art has been approved, we submit any revision requests, then we sign-off on the interior’s core art and start on color decisions. We knew from the beginning that we wanted to go with spot illustrations to provide a nice clean backdrop so the artwork could really shine.

End Pages Design

Since this is book 1 in the series, in the spirit of Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems, we wanted the intro end pages to introduce this story, while the outro end pages introduce the forthcoming book 2.

Cover Design

We had some ideas for the cover early on, but we sat with our collective ideas until the book was closer to being finished. Since this is book 1 in a series, it is imperative that we nail the cover and establish a layout and branding that can be utilized with each new book in the series. We were also still futzing with the title, which was originally just “There Are No Dinos Inside of This Book.” Adding the “Look!” really spiced things up.

Here are a few pics of the evolution.

We had lots of fun playing around with the different possibilities and eventually made all of the small decisions that lead up to the best overall cover for the debut book in the series. 

Bringing It All Together

If you know me, then you know I love doing an undies case cover. Now that we had the dustjacket cover direction, I turned my attention to developing the case laminate cover.

My method is for the author and I to go through the interior art and see if anything gives us that a-ha! moment. We pulled our inspiration from an interior page illustration. Since Mark works in separate layers (a must!), I was able to easily extract what I needed from the interior page to create the undies case cover.

There are so many fun moments in this book, and I hope you purchase a copy for your inner child so you can relish them all.

Reviews

The Wishing Shelf Book Awards EDITORIAL REVIEW

Star Rating: 5

CATCHY QUOTE: ‘A wonderfully crazy, super-silly picture book that young children will WANT to read. Highly recommended!’ The Wishing Shelf

Long Review

There are all sorts of picture books for children to enjoy. And some, not to enjoy at all. Of course, I’m talking about (drum roll, please) the dreaded ‘message’ picture book. You know, the ones by authors so intent on preaching to young readers, they forget to offer them a story, or interesting characters, or anything to laugh at, or, well, you get the picture. Now, there is a message, sort of, in this book (FACE FACTS) but it’s secondary to the fact that this book is A LOT OF FUN! And let’s face it, when kids read, particularly picture books, that’s what they want. It’s just a shame so many picture book authors have forgotten that.

So, in this rhyming story from the pen of talented writer, Jimmy Vee, you get to meet Dangerous Dave, who’s a dino-wrangler – according to Google, a wrangler is an American term for a person who’s in charge of animals on a ranch. Now this particular wrangler is not very smart. So much so, no matter how much proof he sees of dinosaurs – huge rips in the book, deafening roars, etc – he still insists There Are No Dinos Inside This Book.

I think this story will go down superbly well with children aged 4 to 7, particularly, I suspect, boys. They’ll love the humour in the story – and the humour in the vibrant artwork – and they’ll love the absurdity of it all. It’s just all so wonderfully silly. But in a good way; the way that gets kids laughing – and reading!

So all you parents, grandparents and schools out there looking for a book that young children will actually WANT to read, grab a copy of this book. It will in no way help children to ‘stop bullying’ or ‘work harder in school’ or ‘respect elders’, but unlike all those message picture books, it’ll get read – over and over and over. And, at the end of the day, what good is a book if nobody ever wants to read it?

A ‘Wishing Shelf’ Book Review, www.thewsa.co.uk

Reedsy Discovery

Short Version

“With its engaging text and illustrations, Look! There Are No Dinos Inside of This Book is a guaranteed giggle-fest from the moment we meet Dangerous Dave to the end scene. It’s a comedic gem that’s not just for kids, but for the whole family to enjoy together. 5 Stars!” —Kameron Brook for Reedsy Discovery

Long Version

It’s a comedic gem that’s not just for kids, but for the whole family to enjoy together.

Dinosaur fans (like dinosaurs) come in all shapes, colors, and sizes. Kids love to play with plastic dinosaur figurines. Families flock to the cinema when a new dino movie hits the big screen. We curl up on the couch and stream new or old dinosaur programs. We wear dino merchandise. Many of us even have a favorite dinosaur. (FYI: Mine is Blue, the female Velociraptor from Jurassic World.) For those who love comedies as much as they love dinos, you’ve hit the jackpot with Look! There Are No Dinos Inside of This Book.

We are introduced to Dangerous Dave, a dinosaur wrangler who assures readers that this book contains no dinos. Of course, the reader can assume there will be. Dangerous Dave repeatedly refutes claims that ‘you saw something.’ The viewing audience will crack up over page after page of hilarious images and scenes. It isn’t easy to pinpoint which comedic moment I adored the most since there was something to love on every page. The dinosaurs marching in the parade were cute. I chuckled at the drawing of two dinosaurs holding onto the strings attached to the Dangerous Dave turkey balloon. Even the blueprint with a mustard stain and apology note was funny because we’ve all dribbled something on our clothes, work, and homework. That’s why some restaurants offer bibs! 

While Dangerous Dave insists there are no dinosaurs in this book, the evidence suggests otherwise. The teeth tearing across the page is a stroke of creative genius, as is the way the illustrator cleverly covers up the torn paper. The author encourages readers to interact with the book, inviting them to touch the ripped paper. This made me wonder if the print edition will be marketed as a sensory book with touch-and-feel features. That would be a lovely touch. (No pun intended.)

Dangerous Dave is not the only character speaking in cutesy rhymes or assuring readers all are safe in this book. Wait until Dave can’t ignore the existence of the dinosaurs any longer! Kids will squeal with delight as the wrangler screams in fright! 

With its engaging text and illustrations, Look! There Are No Dinos Inside of This Book is a guaranteed giggle-fest from the moment we meet Dangerous Dave to the dino eatery scene. It’s a comedic gem that’s not just for kids, but for the whole family to enjoy together.

5 Stars — By Kameron Brook for Reedsy Discovery

Self-Publishing Review

Short Version

“Vividly illustrated and instantly engaging, Look! There Are No Dinos Inside of This Book by Jimmy Vee is a whimsical and clever children’s book with a unique twist that delivers a silly but entertaining escape for young fans of dinosaurs.” Self-Publishing Review

Long Version

Vividly illustrated and instantly engaging, Look! There Are No Dinos Inside of This Book by Jimmy Vee is a whimsical and clever children’s book with a unique twist.

Readers are introduced to a determined dinosaur wrangler who confidently explains how all dinosaurs have been effectively cleared out of the book. When suspicious teeth marks, huge footprints, and dino-sized damage seem to contradict those claims, the wrangler stubbornly refuses to believe it, until the clues become downright impossible to ignore. Overconfident, a bit goofy-looking, and unfairly biased against dinosaurs who simply want to exist, the wrangler is eventually chased out of the book by the same cartoonish predators he was so worried about.

Vee’s book is charmingly interactive, with the oblivious dino wrangler challenging readers to find and touch various clues and parts of dinosaur anatomy on the pages. The meter and rhyme schemes are fun and consistent, while the humor woven through every page and stanza will entertain kids and parents alike. Mark Wilson’s illustrations are exceptionally well done, with new color and variety on every page.

Original, endearing, and laced with important lessons about acceptance and tolerance, Jimmy Vee delivers a silly but entertaining escape for young fans of dinosaurs.

I hope you enjoyed this book design tour of Look! There Are No Dinos Inside of This Book.

The mass-produced units will be ready for order fulfillment in Spring 2025.

I’m Melinda Martin, and I help authors create quality books for kids.

I meet each author where you are in the process. Request a fit call to learn how I can help you specifically.

Share this post:

Keep reading:

Self-Publishing How-Tos

Picture Book Storyboard Templates

Proper pagination is one of the great mysteries surrounding picture books. These picture book storyboard templates and accompanying explanations provide a firm foundation for your picture book layout.

Read More »

Find out how I work with
savvy authors like you.

Free Workflow Process: How to Organize Your Manuscript.