Jianye Zou - Children's Book

In my picture book, I created the main character, Little Witch, who lived in the forest and whose mom was pregnant. Little Witch wanted to figure out what a sibling relationship would be like. She asked the crystal ball (who knows everything) for help, but it told her to find the answer in the woods with the guidance of moonlight, so she started the journey with her flying broom. Going deeper and deeper in the thick bushes, she met three different kinds of animals there: the stag brothers, the mole sisters, and the bird families. I gave these animals three kinds of typical negative situations between siblings: arguing about who was the strongest in the family, destroying their sibling’s belongings, and competing for parental care.

After escaping from these chaotic situations, Little Witch felt stress and depression, which made her start crying. However, her tears woke up the Magic Mushroom. It turned into a little girl, a mini version of Little Witch herself. The mushroom joined Little Witch, and accompanied her back into the woods to see the other side of the animal siblings’ relationships: the stags who had previously argued about who was stronger protected each other when they heard the wolf; the moles who ruined each other's favorite nuts and blueberries put both treats in a chocolate bar and shared it together; and the little birds who fought over parent’s love hid together under their mothers' wings when it rained. On the journey, Little Witch shared her big red hat to cover the mushroom from the rain, like a protective big sister would.

At the end of journey, she learned that her relationship with a sibling could be loving. Of course they would have fights, conflicts, or make each other upset; but bad memories were not enough to alter the love binding siblings together.