Robin Weatherall's "Beans English Alphabet" is an English book for children learning English for the first time. A fun almost interactive book for kids to look through and learn about the 26 letters of the alphabet.Concentrating on letter formation (specifically lowercase) and the ability to connect each letter together with the use of simple cursive.
The initial idea came from kids playing with a stuffed toy that looks just like a bean or a white carrot. The colour scheme is simple, for children to look at and be familiar with. It is supposed to be a simplistic design that children will like the look of. There are a number of pages where the reader can practice letter formation. As it is a work in progress, I am tempted to add word formation sheets as well, so that children can learn how to join letters together.
-Robin Weatherall
I used illustrator mostly, and created a texture in Photoshop. The initial design is Bean being posed in different scenarios, mostly around vegetable, plant, and fruit farming areas. I take an idea, like bean picking a buried letter \'a\', and then think of a way to hide the letter and how he will collect it. The letter \'l\' he is actually in someones garden stealing the plant. He is sometimes underwater, in deserts, in the sky on his flying carrot or just in the garden and greenhouse.
-Robin Weatherall
The response has been very positive so far. Everybody likes the idea of me creating books that can help children learn English as a second language. I certainly learned that I like creating books with a purpose. I make children's books anyway, but when there is a goal, like learning English, it is better by far.
-Robin Weatherall
About Robin Weatherall
Robin Weatherall is an illustrator and technical generalist from Nottingham, with a passion for technology, gaming, art, design and children’s toys. He's an avid gamer and see himself as an introvert and lateral thinker. His childhood was like many from my generation of kids, spent watching cartoons, playing with toys and reading stories. Robin have always liked the world of art, and from a young age he always wanted to draw like others in his class.At the moment, he is teaching English in China as a fulltime career move. It is not exactly illustrating kids books for a living, but it's as close to that as he can get at the minute.