Children do not know what their parents look like when they work during the day
Children know almost nothing about what their parents look like when they work during the day.
Children watch their parents closely.
The face they make when resting at home.
The face they make when cooking.
The face they make when helping with homework.
The face they make when slightly angry.
The face they make when sleepy.
The face they make when looking at their smartphone.
The face they make when lying on the sofa on their day off.
But children do not see all of their parents.
For example, Dad during the day.
For example, Mom during the day.
What kind of face do they make at their workplace?
Who are they talking to?
Who are they working for?
What kind of things are they paying attention to?
What kind of small mistakes are they preventing?
What kind of 'thank yous' are they receiving?
Children know almost nothing about that.
I think that is only natural.
Most workplaces are not places that children can easily visit.
Adult work is a bit difficult to explain to children.
Parents themselves do not have many opportunities to talk about their work in a way children can understand.
But I feel that is a bit of a shame.
Because a parent's work is the most familiar form of 'society' for a child.
My father was an aquarium keeper
My father was an aquarium keeper.
He did not have weekends off.
My father's day off was Monday.
So, to be honest, I don't have many memories of playing with my father when I was a child.
I think I only played with my father during summer vacation.
Even so, strangely, the memory of 'feeling lonely because my father wasn't there' is not that strong.
When I think about why, I think it's probably because I knew from an early age where my father was and what he did.
I was once taken to the backstage area of the aquarium.
For me as a child, it was a world I couldn't normally see.
It was a different place from the aquarium you see as a visitor.
It was a place where people took care of living creatures, where there was work that couldn't be seen from the front, and where the aquarium was supported.
There, I learned that my father was not just 'someone who isn't at home', but
someone who takes care of living creatures.
After I became an adult, my mother once suddenly said something like,
“I wasn't able to let you play with your father very much.”
That remark has strangely remained in my memory.
It is true that I don't think I spent much time playing with my father.
But
to me, my father was not just an absent person.
A person who worked at an aquarium.
A person who took care of living creatures.
A person who did important things in places that were usually unseen.
That understanding existed within me as a child.
Thinking about it now, that might have been very significant.
The parent who is at home is not the entirety of the parent
I think there are many families now where parents and children spend more time together than in the past.
It has become more natural for fathers to be involved in childcare than before.
There are also families where parents spend more time at home due to remote work.
Ways of working are also changing little by little.
However, just because the time spent with parents has increased, it does not necessarily mean that children know about their parents' efforts or the significance of their work.
What children see is the parent who is at home.
A parent who comes home tired and rests.
A parent who sleeps in a little longer on days off.
A parent who gets angry while checking homework.
A parent who tells them to clean up.
A parent who tells them to go to bed early.
From a child's perspective,
“Dad is always sleeping”
“Mom is always angry”
It might even look like that sometimes.
But that is only a part of the parent.
Outside, they might be preparing for someone.
They might be checking things to ensure there are no mistakes.
They might be helping someone in trouble.
They might be fulfilling a role within a team.
They might be working hard every day to support the family's livelihood.
That side of them is hard for children to see.
That is why I wanted to create a way to convey a parent's work to their children.
I want to make it a story, not an explanation
However, explaining your job to your child is not easy.
“Daddy works in sales.”
“Mommy works in administration.”
“I interact with customers.”
“I build systems.”
Even if these words make sense to adults, they can still be a bit abstract for children in kindergarten or the first or second grade of elementary school.
Besides, for a parent to say it themselves,
“Daddy is working hard.”
“Mommy is having a tough time.”
can feel a little embarrassing.
Sometimes, it might even sound like you are forcing it on them.
That is why I wanted to turn it into a story rather than an explanation.
As a picture book that children can read.
Presenting parents' work from a perspective close to a child's.
As something that gently conveys the side of Mom and Dad that isn't visible at home.
That is what I am currently creating called
“Daddy's Picture Book, Mommy's Picture Book”
.
About “Daddy's Picture Book, Mommy's Picture Book”
“Daddy's Picture Book, Mommy's Picture Book” is apersonalized picture bookthat turns a parent's job into a story for children.
The target audience is mainly children from kindergarten to around the second grade of elementary school.
By answering a few questions and providing photos and work information,
we create a “Daddy's Picture Book” or “Mommy's Picture Book” unique to that family.
It is not just about introducing the job.
I want the face, the clothing, the job details, and the way it is conveyed to the child to be as true to that person as possible.
Not a “person who looks like a dad,” but Dad.
Not a “person who looks like a mom,” but Mom.
I am aiming for a book that is specifically for that child and their parent.
I am also considering several story templates.
A story that follows a day at work.
A story that depicts colleagues and the team at the workplace.
A story that depicts the act of quietly helping someone.
Rather than explaining the work in a difficult way,
“This is how Mom and Dad are helping someone during the day”
I want to make it a picture book that children can naturally feel.
It is still a work in progress.
To be honest, this service is not yet a finished product.
There is a demo version.
The ordering process has also taken shape to some extent.
However, there are still parts I want to polish.
In particular, how to structure the illustrations.
How to make the generated text and pictures feel personal and understandable to children.
How to consistently improve the quality of each finished product.
I am still going through trial and error with these aspects.
Using AI can certainly make things faster.
But faster is not necessarily better.
This is a picture book to be given to a child.
It is something that preserves a parent's work as a family story.
That is why I do not want it to just be“generated by AI and finished.”
I want it to be something that can be read properly.
I want it to be something that is truly personal.
I want it to be something that truly reaches the child.
For that reason, I believe it is necessary to improve it little by little while actually creating it.
I want to create it together with the first families.
First, I decided to create a waitlist.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSftiz1Qpj16P_XATqjZpw3CpMbRGDgDWsE36FnxFrNg_z7aNw/viewform?usp=publish-editor
Once everything is ready, I will send out production invitations little by little to those who have signed up for the waitlist.
Instead of selling to a large number of people from the start, I would like to create it while getting cooperation from a small number of people first.
Actually create it.
Have them read it.
Listen to the child's reaction.
Fix the parts that were difficult to understand.
Improve the parts that can be made even better.
That is how I want to make it a product that we grow together with the first families.
I have some ideas about the retail price and specifications.
However, they are not yet finalized.
Quality, the effort required for production, how to deliver it, and a sustainable format.
I will decide these things properly while looking at those aspects.
Therefore, the initial announcement will likely be closer to an advance notice for those who will cooperate in the development, rather than a sale of a finished product.
I plan for it to be something like that.
A book that might slightly change the way children see their parents
I don't think this picture book will make children suddenly understand everything about work.
But,
“Dad isn't just someone who sleeps at home.”
“Mom isn't just someone who gets angry.”
“They are working hard for someone else during the day.”
In that way, the way they see their parents might change a little.
I believe that alone has meaning.
Turning parents' work into a story that children can understand.
Turning the hard-working side of Mom and Dad that isn't seen at home into a picture book.
In this note, I will record the development process.
I intend to write not only the finished, polished story, but also the things I am struggling with, the mistakes I have made, and the things I have corrected.
If you are interested, I would be happy if you could register for the waitlist.
I am looking for families to create the first book with me.
Register for the waitlist here
I look forward to a long relationship with you from here on out.