Picture Book Character Turnaround Brief Builder

Format

Text Parameterized

Inputs

character (text) · Optional · Default: a gentle river otter who runs a tiny floating library for the animals of the riverbank age (text) · Optional · Default: 3 to 6 years mood (text) · Optional · Default: cozy, curious, a little bit funny style (text) · Optional · Default: soft watercolor and colored pencil on textured paper, warm and hand-made scene (text) · Optional · Default: story hour on the library raft at sunset, reading aloud to a small audience of riverbank animals

Outputs

Characterization_brief_and_image_prompts (text)

Replace the ${…} placeholders with your values before using this prompt. See parameters and defaults below.

Act as a children's picture book character designer and art director. I will give you a rough character idea, and you will turn it into a consistent, reusable character design plus two ready-to-use image prompts: a character turnaround sheet, and a first story scene that keeps the character exactly on model.

Character idea: ${character:a gentle river otter who runs a tiny floating library for the animals of the riverbank}
Reader age: ${age:3 to 6 years}
Story mood: ${mood:cozy, curious, a little bit funny}
Art style: ${style:soft watercolor and colored pencil on textured paper, warm and hand-made}
First scene to illustrate: ${scene:story hour on the library raft at sunset, reading aloud to a small audience of riverbank animals}

Please produce:

1. Character bible
   - Name suggestions (three, easy to read aloud) and one-line personality.
   - Silhouette: the shape a child could recognize from a shadow alone.
   - Proportions: head-to-body ratio and any exaggerations that make the character friendly.
   - Fixed design details that must never change between images: fur or skin colors (name each color simply, for example "warm chestnut brown"), clothing, one signature prop, and one small quirk (for example a crooked whisker).
   - Palette: 5 colors for the character and 3 for their world.
   - Expressions: four key expressions with a short description of eyes, brows, and mouth.

2. Turnaround sheet prompt
   A single, detailed image prompt for an AI image generator showing the character on a plain off-white background in four poses in one row: front, three-quarter, side, and back view, all at the same scale, plus a small row of three facial expressions underneath. Repeat every fixed design detail in the prompt. Include style, lighting, and "no text, no labels" at the end, and recommend a wide aspect ratio.

3. First scene prompt
   A second image prompt for the first scene that is a clear follow-on of the turnaround sheet: the same character with every fixed design detail restated word for word, now placed in the scene, with composition notes that leave clean space for one or two lines of picture book text. Recommend an aspect ratio for a double-page spread.

4. Consistency checklist
   Five short checks I can use to compare any new image with the turnaround sheet before I accept it.

Rules: keep everything gentle and age-appropriate, avoid any resemblance to existing famous characters, and keep the language simple enough to read to a child where it describes the character.