At My Desk: I Dance
This post has been a long time coming. I’ve been thinking about writing this for over a year now. Finally, I’m ready.
“I Dance,” written by Diana Rañola, illustrated by myself and published by Holiday House came out at the end of October of 2025. It’s “An easy-to-read book for girls and boys who love to dance. Perfect for kindergarten and first grade readers.”
Not too long after I Dance was published, my twins were born! So, life changed once again. A year has finally passed since then, and I feel like I can (kind of) think clearly again. So here it is! A behind-the-scenes look at how I illustrated “I Dance.”
I remember getting the manuscript for this book in 2024 and feeling so INTIMIDATED.
This book is an early reader and has simple text so young readers can gain confidence in their reading skills. Brilliantly structured, Diana wrote this book with a different Filipino folk dance in mind for each spread. The dances range from the popular Tiniking, to the Cariñosa, to the Itik Itik, Tahing Baila, and more. Each dance has a different dress, different music, and comes from different regions in the Philippines. Knowing all of this, I felt the weight of the responsibility to have each dance represented well in my illustrations. That involved research and studying.
While sketching, I mainly focused on getting the gesture right. Later on, I focused on making sure the characters looked young. If you didn’t know, Diana is also a brilliant dancer, thus the inspiration for this book. She graciously shared beautiful reference for each dance! Here are some of my studies:
Another challenge I was met with in this book was “how do I weave a narrative into these images?” If each spread is from a different region and have different looks on each page, how do I insert some sense of consistency throughout the book?
I settled on three main characters. One would wear dance the Muslim dances from Mindanao, another mainly dressed in piña cloth, and another dressed in terno or butterfly sleeves. They take turns showcasing dances throughout the book and come together at the end. This way, there is some sort of pattern that readers can follow until the ultimate finale of the book.
These three characters would show up in early sketches of the cover. The brilliant team behind the book, our editor Grace and art director Chris, directed us into focusing on one dance that would showcase one of our aforementioned characters dancing with a boy that also shows up in the book.
One thing I discovered about myself while illustrating this book is how much I LOVE DRAWING PIÑA CLOTH PATTERNS. If you didn’t know, it is a special textile made from pineapples in the Philippines. It is lightweight and the most skilled artisans weave patterns onto the fabric. I loved drawing these elaborate and intricate patterns, even if they are just a pale imitation to their hard work. It is so recognizably Filipino and so much fun to showcase on the cover.
I hope you enjoyed this behind-the-scenes look at I Dance! I’m so happy to finally share what we made.
You can still get some stickers that Diana and I worked on when you order I Dance from Bel Canto Books!
Thank you so much for reading,
Christine
Current Faves
Food: Chobani Ube Coffee Creamer (I wish this were a year-round flavor, Ube isn’t meant for Halloween!)
Book: Just re-read Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin for the first time since I was a kid, and the first book I’ve read postpartum
Music: u + me = <3 by Olivia Rodrigo and BRB by H.E.R. & Liza Soberano
Order prints on INPRNT & my books on Bookshop.org