The Big Little Book of Awesome Stuff

Illustration, Publication Design
2023

Popular Mechanics The Big Little Book of Awesome Stuff, written by Dan Bova and published by Hearst Home Kids, is a book jam-packed with fun projects, wild and weird facts, and incredible how-tos to help kids ages 8-12 build S.T.E.A.M. skills. The book spans six chapters — Wild Adventures, Incredible Builds, Unlock Your Superpowers, Art Attack, For the Win, and Mad Science — to offer over 300 activities and ideas.

I both illustrated and designed the entire book. The interior uses only one ink color — a warm, purple-ish navy Pantone color — that has tints to give depth to the illustrations and layering effects of the typography. The illustrations are detailed but playful and loose, like encyclopedia-style drawings for children. A collage of stickers adorn pages to give it a mixed-media, school-binder feel, combined with large-scale hand-lettering to add whimsy and humor throughout the book.

The book is available now!

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A person holding a blue book titled 'The Big Little Book of Awesome Stuff' by Dan Bova. The cover features playful doodles and a yellow warning sign that says 'Will Crush All Feelings of Boredom.'

The book cover is illustrated and designed for awesome-overload.

Doodles of fun facts, ideas, scenes and characters from inside the book wrap the front and back of the cover — from planets and stars (and a little UFO too) to snowboarders, Big Foot, robots and more. It gives a taste of what is inside!

Open blue children's book displaying two pages with fun facts and doodles of nature and adventure themes, surrounded by four copies of a blue book titled 'The Big Little Book of Awesome Stuff' and a closed blue book. The books are on a wooden surface.

Back cover of a blue book with various line drawings of nature, animals, and activities, including mountains, a dinosaur, a guitar, and a person fishing, with text describing the book's contents.

Line drawing of a cozy house with a mailbox, a small dog, and a large bow on the front, set against a plain background.

One of my personal favorite design touches: the end sheets.

The end sheets use a bright gold Pantone ink to contrast with the bright blue of the cover, and the purpleish-navy of the interior one-color printing.

I used negative space illustrations on the end sheets to give a fun, flipbook-effect: on one side, a child is peeking out from behind the end sheet as a curtain (and if you look closely: a few small furry feet standing next to her). On the reverse side, the gold is inverted to draw in the back of the child, as well as reveal the puppy and small robot next to her behind the curtain.

Open book with a yellow page, a white page with a black and white illustration of a girl peeking from behind a curtain.

Open book with yellow pages and illustrations of a girl peeking behind a curtain of yellow ink in white outline on the left side, on a wooden surface.

Open children's activity book titled 'The Big Little Book of Awesome Stuff' on a wooden surface. The right page features secret code decoding instructions with symbols and a drawing of a person on a ladder looking through a telescope, while the left page is blank with a small drawing of a robot in the bottom corner.

A page from a book with columns of symbols for decoding a secret message, with a drawing of a person with a telescope and a person with a magnifying glass, surrounded by stars and abstract shapes.

The half-title page of the book is a fun decoder puzzle.

Two illustrated children and a dog in a classical inspector’s hat work to solve the puzzle together!

Open book on a wooden surface showing the table of contents with chapters titled Wild Adventure, Incredible Builds, Unlock Your Superpowers, Art Attack, For The Win, and Mad Science.

Each chapter of the book has its own icon to identify it. Throughout the book, projects are identified with difficulty-level badges — from Easy-Peasy and Get Some Help to Adult Needed.

Chapter introduction spreads are full-color dividers in the book, with tons of doodles and drawings of what you can expect to learn more about for the subject matter.

Icon of a pine tree inside a white circle on a dark background, with the words "WILD ADVENTURE" below.

Three buttons with icons and text: a finger pointing right with ''EASY-PEASY'', a hand with pointing finger in a triangle with ''GET SOME HELP'', and a hand in a stop sign with ''ADULT NEEDED''.

Open illustrated book about Earth with infographic showing part of the solar system and labeled planets, and text about facts and information on Earth and space.

Hand-drawn illustrations and fun stickers galore!

The interior uses only one ink color — a warm, purple-ish navy Pantone color — that has tints to give depth to the illustrations and layering effects of the typography. The illustrations are detailed but playful and loose, like encyclopedia-style drawings for children. A collage of stickers adorn pages to give it a mixed-media, school-binder feel, combined with large-scale hand-lettering to add whimsy and humor throughout the book.

Open book laying on a wooden surface, showing pages about identifying animal tracks and avoiding smellable plants in the woods.

Colored illustration of the solar system showing the Sun and seven planets labeled Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus, with an arrow pointing down and the text "You are HERE" indicating the viewer's position.

Collection of purple and white stickers with various messages and symbols, including a paw print, light bulb, globe, lightning bolt, and text such as 'BIG TIME BUILD,' 'FAR OUT FACTS,' 'FROM THE BAD IDEA FILES,' 'NO SNIFFS,' and 'WHAT IN THE WORLD?'

Page from a book titled "Don't Smell These Roses!" listing toxic plants to avoid in the woods, including Poison Ivy, Poison Hemlock, and Poison Sumac, with illustrations and descriptions of each.

A guide to mythical creatures, how to teach your dog tricks, and fun facts about the Great Wall of China and the International Space Station: the book covers a huge range of content so that there’s something for everyone. It even features a section titled “From the Bad Idea Files” where we show real projects that were proposed in PM decades ago — but maybe seem like something to not try at home anymore.