Making of When the Sun Goes Home

My second picture book, When the Sun Goes Home (Orchard Books 2021), is a story of the sun who hides his loneliness behind his glorious smile. 

The very first idea of the book came to my mind while I was walking to work. It was an image of the sun having a TV dinner by himself in front of the TV set (don’t ask me why). First it made me giggle, then hooked. I asked myself “Does anyone know what the sun is up to after he disappears beyond the horizon? What if it's not what we expected? What if it's rather quiet and lonely?" The sun is a symbol of happiness and positivity in many cultures. I never thought the sun could be lonely, but, come to think of it, unlike the moon who is always surrounded by billions of stars, the sun seemed a bit lonely up in the sky. That thought sparked the story about hiding true feelings.

Writing and editing was the hardest part in making of this book because I tried to put too much into the story at first. The first draft was packed with a LOT of content – a lot of messages, a lot of scenes, a lot of descriptions. It was too complex for a picture book. It also didn’t have a quite right “picture book” feel. But my then editor, Emily, patiently helped me simplify the story and find a focus and the right tone. 

For example, here’s the lines from the first draft:

Sometimes he wishes he had a friend to spend a quiet evening with. Maybe they could watch a film or play a board game together. But, unlike the Moon who is always surrounded by stars, the Sun is quite lonely.

And here are the lines in the final draft:

How lucky the moon is, thought the sun. She always has the stars for company. 

I wish I had a friend.

I also learned how to enrich the simplified story through illustrations, instead of more words and scenes. In the first draft, there was a scene where the sun mistook the diva-like moon’s popularity for being loved. I cut the whole scene but it was implied in this spread in the background. 

Thanks to Emily (and later Frances), after about 15 rewrites, When the Sun Goes Home became a story about the importance of sharing emotions and asking for help.