How to Illustrate a Children's Book with AI

Illustrating a children’s book used to mean choosing a style, finding an artist, and waiting weeks for revisions. Modern AI tools shorten that gap between imagination and the page. The goal isn’t to replace taste or storytelling—it’s to help you explore more ideas, find a consistent look, and get to a finished book faster.

What “consistency” really means

Kids notice when a character’s hair, outfit, or even the shape of their eyes changes from page to page. A good workflow locks the character’s identity and keeps lighting and composition steady so the book feels like one world. Tools like MyStoryBot include character locking and a single‑style pipeline so you can generate new scenes without drifting away from your hero.

1) Define your main character

Start with a clear reference—a photo, a drawing, or a description. Note age, clothing, colors, and personality. Save this as your book’s character so every page draws from the same source.

2) Choose one illustration style

Watercolor, painterly, flat color—any can work. What matters most is choosing one style and sticking to it. That single decision does more for continuity than fine‑tuning prompts on every page.

3) Turn beats into pages

Break your story into 10–20 beats. Draft one prompt per beat and generate a few options. Pick the image that communicates the emotion and action most clearly—then move on. Momentum is your friend when building picture books.

4) Keep scenes aligned

• Reuse the same character and style for each page.
• Keep camera angle and lighting similar within a sequence.
• Use light negative prompts to avoid drift (e.g., “no glasses” if your hero doesn’t wear them).

5) Export for print and digital

When you’re happy with your pages, export at 300 DPI in your trim size with bleed. MyStoryBot can generate a print‑ready PDF for KDP as well as web‑friendly images for sharing online.

Practical tips

• Design spreads that read left‑to‑right with a clear focal point.
• Leave safe space for text or captions when needed.
• Save promising alternates—you may reuse them for marketing or endpapers.

If you already have a script, you can jump straight to illustration. If you’re still outlining, the How it works page shows how writing, illustration, and (optionally) narration fit together. When you’re ready, you can try the workflow in MyStoryBot—no pressure, and you keep creative control.