Lucy-roo and Family Too!

Project Overview

Lucy-roo and Family Too! by Rachel Holdsworth (Mascot Books, March 2023) addresses one of the most important questions a child from a non-traditional family can ask: does my family count? Lucy-roo, a cheerful puppy with two caring mommies and two playful sister kitties, finds her confidence shaken by a trip to the park that raises doubts about whether her family is “real.” Her best friend Turbo, a wise old wiener dog, meets her uncertainty with the kind of straightforward warmth that cuts right through it — family is defined by love, not configuration.

The illustration challenge was making Lucy-roo’s world feel genuinely joyful and normal rather than making a point of its difference — the art needed to present her family with the same warmth and ease as any other, so that children from similar families see themselves reflected naturally, without ceremony.

Role

Rachel’s story carries real emotional stakes behind its warm, colorful surface — Lucy-roo doubts whether her own family counts as a “real” one, and the answer needed to land gently, through Turbo’s warmth, rather than as a lesson spelled out for the reader. The illustration challenge was presenting her household — two human moms, Lucy-roo, and her sister kitties — with the same easy, unremarkable normalcy as any other family in a picture book, so a child from a similar home sees themselves reflected without ceremony.

The full cast, from Lucy-roo and her mommies to her sister kitties and Turbo, came together before a single page was illustrated, and that same groundwork carried through to print-ready files. Every one of the book’s 38 pages kept that same unforced warmth, so the heart of the story came through naturally rather than as a statement.

Character Design

Before a single page is illustrated, I develop the main characters in full — defining their proportions, expressions, and personality. This is the foundation that keeps your characters recognizable and consistent across every scene, every lighting condition, and every emotional moment in the project.

Process

Every project follows this same structured path, so you always know where we are and what comes next. You review and approve at the sketch stage and the line art stage — nothing moves to color until you’re happy. By the time the final spread is rendered, there are no surprises.