Just Enough | Allie Hill Design

Note to self: There will always be just enough

Just Enough, a children's picture book published by MPH Publishing

Author and illustrator

An interviewer once asked me the reason for writing this book. The explanation below, I guess, is a roundabout way of saying that sometimes there are no grand reasons – things happen, opportunities flirt with us, and it’s up to us if we respond or close the door.

“This book was truly my own lesson in having just enough, and I’d say that it was a happy accident. I am a graphic designer by trade and am happier designing books for other people. But it was while designing my cousin Kenny Loh’s book back in 2013 that I was introduced to Oon Yeoh, who was MPH Publishing's Consulting Editor then.

We got chatting about books and to my surprise and delight, he told me that they wanted to work with me. With no track record, qualifications or even story-line, I was really questioning my ability to produce anything. This book would never have happened without the patient encouragement and guidance of Oon. He encouraged me to think about what values I wanted to share with my child as a starting point. Together, we went over several ideas and settled on this one, and I began to write.

Actually I had no idea how to begin to write, so I wrote a bit, scribbled a bit, made lots of tiny mock-ups and spent days staring at Pinterest and my daughter’s picture books!”

It didn’t actually take three years to work on this book. I just kept putting it down and leaving it for months. What kept me going was all the amazing help I received – Alex Lim mentored me to write and rhyme, Nadine helped me to edit and trim the unnecessary parts, and family and friends all chipped in with gentle encouragement and prods when I procrastinated. In the end I realised that, more than anything else, I wanted to have this book published to honour all the people who believed in the story even when I doubted it.

The following are some slides from talks given to schoolchildren. Instead of reading or book signing, I preferred to tell the children about my process in making the book. In this way I could also share about my own feelings of inadequacy, and how drawings didn’t just turn out perfect the first time. With some perseverance, some frustration, and some Photoshop, I found just enough to complete my book. My message to the children was just this: you are enough – you can!

“A wonderful and pleasurable read with impeccable meter, cadence and rhyme.”

J Sadiq, Journalist

“Allie Hill’s second picture book is rife with loveliness and heart. A story about Amelia and her grandmother, who always has ‘just enough’ fabric to make magic with her sewing machine, it’s really a fable about contentment and happiness - where to find it, and how to treasure it.”

TRAVEL 3SIXTY MAGAZINE, DEC 2016

“This book will put a smile on your little one’s face and warm your heart. The rhymes make for fun reading and the illustrations are beautiful”

Brigitte Rozario, Founder and editor of Thots n Tots

Click here to read the e-book

An interview with Eksentrika – thank you, Ista!

“Growing up, we did not have much money, and my mum had to work really hard to make ends meet…. but one of the small luxuries that my sisters and I always enjoyed was having beautiful clothes – made by my mum, a self taught tailor and dressmaker extraordinaire. Many, many hours of my childhood were spent in fabric shops like Mun Loong, Fah Num, Globe Silk Store and Binwani’s… I remember being dragged from shop to shop, almost bored to tears waiting as my mother dove into ream after ream of colourful fabrics, raving about the colours and patterns, completely oblivious to my whining and tantrums. Years later, I realised how much this had imprinted on me.”

“From the beginning of what Allie says “was desperately throwing some things together” to taking inspiration from Julia Donaldson’s splendid use of rhyme and tempo, Allie began a journey of telling a story that would provide values she would like to see her daughter grow with, and ended with a book which is both vibrant in its illustrations as well as its narrative.”

Click to read: Review by Happy Go KL – Thank you, Jilly!