LOVEVERY

The Reading Skill Set

Designing an evolving collection of more than 40 books that supports children from their first phonics lessons through independent reading.

As a Book Designer at Lovevery, I designed and illustrated books for The Reading Skill Set, a comprehensive, phonics-based program that helps children develop reading skills at their own pace.

Spanning everything from early decodable readers to more advanced stories and chapter books, the collection required an adaptable editorial approach that balances visual engagement, readability, and educational purpose.

ROLE

Book design,
illustration

CLIENT

Lovevery

DELIVERABLES

40+ Books, Early Readers, Illustrated Stories, Chapter Books, Wordless Books

THE ASK

Books that grow with the reader

Learning to read is a journey that looks different at every stage. Lovevery's Reading Skill Set was developed to support children as they progress from recognizing letter sounds to confidently reading chapter books.

The challenge was to create a cohesive collection of books that would grow alongside young readers, both in reading complexity and visual sophistication. The design system needed to be flexible enough to accommodate evolving typography, layouts, illustration styles, and storytelling, while maintaining a recognizable identity across the collection.

The goal: Age-appropriate design that would keep children curious and motivated as their skills developed.

A design system that grows up with its readers

THE approach

I approached the Reading Skill Set as an evolving collection, with each series reflecting a new stage in a child's reading development.

For beginning readers, playful illustrations, simple compositions, and approachable typography create an inviting introduction to books. As reading skills advance, the stories become longer, the characters and themes grow more sophisticated, and the layouts gradually shift to accommodate increasingly complex narratives.

The result is a collection that grows with its audience, maintaining a sense of fun and discovery while giving children books that feel appropriate for their changing abilities and interests.

Make it fun

Create playful, engaging stories and visuals that make children excited to keep reading.
Grow with the reader

Evolve the storytelling, features, and visual complexity as children's skills and interests develop.
Stay connected

Build a flexible design system that gives each series its own personality while unifying the collection.

Part 1

Building the foundation

The earliest books introduce reading through turn-taking. Distinct adult-read text and child-read text allow early readers to build confidence by participating in reading aloud of the content at their skill level.

Part 2

Words to independent reading

As children begin reading more independently, the books follow the same simple copy and photo spread composition, but feature only copy that is readable by the child. I illustrated spot illustrations for Mac and Yak, which allowed for moments of creative freedom and whimsy in the story.

Part 3

Advanced rules to chapter books

For more advanced readers, the design shifts toward longer narratives, increasingly sophisticated themes, and more text-forward layouts. Children can engage with richer stories while maintaining the warmth and personality of the collection. The

DESIGN ACROSS AGES

Elements that grow with the audience

I created consistent design elements that would serve to not only support young readers in skill-building, but also provide continuity between series. I created a playful, eye-catching graphic for the “Let’s practice” section of the intro matter for each book, which would allow children to practice words that would appear in the accompanying story. This practice section was removed only for our final series, Chapter Books, which needed to most closely follow design standards for non-educational books.

WORDLESS BOOKS

Telling a story in pictures

Sita's Hike to the Beach is a wordless storybook designed for Part 1 of Lovevery's Reading Skill Set. Through photography and thoughtful page design, the book invites young readers to follow Sita's journey, interpret visual clues, and tell the story in their own words.

Without written narration to guide the experience, every image plays an important role. I focused on creating a clear visual sequence, using composition, pacing, and graphic elements to help connect moments and move the story forward.

The result is an approachable, interactive reading experience that encourages observation, comprehension, and storytelling, showing children that they can be readers even before they can read.

Clarity for caregivers

An intro section designed to help caregivers understand the benefits of wordless books, and how to interact with them.
Cropping and composition

Creative approaches to cropping are engaging while contributing to readability and sequential storytelling.
Graphic elements

Fun graphic elements, like illustrated trails, help guide young readers through the story, interacting with photos and creating a throughline.