Detours

What if a child opened a book and found an adventure you dreamed up? Your characters. Your imagination. A story that started with an idea you finally decided to try. I’m Angie Norris, and this is Side Hustle GPS. Today, we’re entering Storybook Valley to explore Children’s Books. For about a year, I hosted the Wednesday morning show for AI Morning Club. I taught AI side hustles through what I call AI party tricks. A simple, fun demonstration that helps someone go from, “I’m a little scared of this,” to, “Wait. I could do that?” One of those demonstrations involved creating an illustrated book with Google Gemini. To show the possibilities, I used a hair salon in my area as the inspiration. I turned the owner and stylists into cartoon characters and created pages telling the story of how their business came to be. They were wowed. Seeing their own story presented that way helped them imagine something they hadn’t considered before. I could take that concept further, prepare a physical book, and give it to them as a gift. But the part I loved most was watching the idea become something they could see. Now, imagine applying that creativity to a children’s book. A character who’s nervous about the first day of school. A little explorer learning how to save money. A funny animal who keeps making mistakes but finds a way to try again. What would you love to help a child understand? And what kind of adventure would make that lesson enjoyable? That’s where the story starts. You don’t need to begin by asking AI to “make me a children’s book.” Give it something meaningful to work with. Who is the reader? Who is the main character? What do they want? What gets in their way? And how will the story end? I use AI as a writing partner. I bring the ideas, the experiences, and the direction. It helps me develop possibilities and organize them into a draft. Then I read it. Does this sound like the story I wanted to tell? Is the language right for the child’s age? Would this page make them want to turn to the next one? You’re still the person deciding what belongs in the book. The pictures need that attention, too. If your character starts with curly hair and a yellow backpack, you probably want that same character to appear on the next page. Keep reference images and notes about their appearance. Check the illustrations, the words, and how they work together. Sometimes a picture can carry part of the story, so you don’t need to explain everything in the text. And sometimes the best edit is making a page simpler. There are different directions you can explore with this skill. You could develop an original children’s book of your own. Help someone turn their story idea into an illustrated book. Or explore personalized books for families—a route we can take further as we travel through Storybook Valley. You might create one book, then discover that the character has more adventures waiting. But start with the first story. You don’t have to plan an entire series before you’ve finished a sample. So here’s your first money move: Choose an age group and one idea for a story. Write a short outline with a beginning, middle, and end. Then create a few sample pages, with words and illustrations that belong together. Read them aloud. Do the sentences flow? Does the story make sense? Is there something funny, surprising, or interesting that makes you want to keep going? If you can share it with a parent or someone who works with children, ask what feels engaging and what needs another look. That feedback can help you improve the book before you offer it as a service or prepare it for publishing. So here’s your question today: What story do you wish a child in your life could read? Maybe it would help them feel brave. Maybe it would teach them something useful. Maybe it would simply make them laugh. Explore Children’s Books in Storybook Valley at SideHustleGPS.com. Your imagination gives you a place to begin. And a story that lives in your head could become a book someone asks to hear again.