クリエイティブ・創作
How a 40-Something Office Worker Revived a Forgotten Picture Book Dream in 2 Months with AI
機械翻訳 / Machine-translated
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機械翻訳 / Machine-translated
As an elementary school student, Saeki loved reading picture books in the school library. He was captivated by the colors and stories that unfolded with every turn of the page, and he often thought, "I want to make one someday." But as middle school and high school came and went, he spent less and less time drawing, and after graduating from university he went into sales. He got married, had children, and before he knew it he was 44. The picture book dream had been tucked away in some distant drawer of memory.
The turning point came in February 2026, when generative AI came up during a company training session. The phrase "you can create visuals even if you can't draw" caught Saeki's attention. On his way home, he searched "AI picture book how to make" on his phone. The articles that came up were full of real examples of individuals who had written stories using conversational AI and created illustrations with image-generation tools. "Maybe I can actually do this now." That evening, Saeki took out paper and a pen for the first time in a long while and began writing down fragments of a story he had once imagined.
There were two main reasons Saeki had given up on making a picture book. The first was not having the drawing skills. He had tried teaching himself as a student, but he couldn't reproduce on paper the visuals he imagined, and he gave up. The second was lack of time. Working full-time while cherishing the time he spent with his family, he simply had no room to learn a new skill from scratch.
But by 2026, things had changed. Conversational AI could suggest plots and dialogue. Image-generation AI could produce a rough illustration in seconds from nothing more than a text prompt. For Saeki, these two tools were exactly "the missing pieces he'd never had."
"Rather than wondering whether I can do it, let me just try." Saeki decided to set aside 30 minutes each weekend for picture book creation. He made no grand plans — his only goal was to "finish one book, in some form."
The first tool Saeki used was a free conversational AI. He gave it a rough description of an idea he'd had long ago — a story about a little girl who gets lost in a forest and is helped home by animals — and waited to see what came back.
"I'm working on a picture book story about a child who gets lost in a forest and is helped home by animals. I want it to be for children, with a gentle, warm tone."
The AI returned three different plot proposals. Each one built on Saeki's original idea while varying slightly in how the story unfolded and which characters appeared. Saeki chose one and continued consulting the AI on more detailed scene structure. "What if the fox appears here?" "I want the girl's dialogue to sound more like something a real child would say." The back-and-forth with the AI felt like sitting down with an editor for a planning meeting.
By the end of the first week, he had a complete plot and dialogue for all 16 pages. Saeki was astonished. If he'd been working alone, it would have taken months to get this far.
Next, he tackled the visuals. He entered keywords like "forest, dusk, lost girl, picture book style" into an image-generation tool. The images that came out weren't perfect, but they conveyed the mood well enough. After adjusting the prompts a few times, he landed on an image he felt he could work with. In that moment, something inside Saeki began to stir.
The production process Saeki actually followed was simple.
He threw his ideas at the conversational AI and nailed down the plot. He wrote out the dialogue and scene descriptions for each page. Throughout this stage, Saeki paid close attention to "how it sounds when read aloud to a child," reading it out loud and checking it repeatedly.
He used an image-generation tool to create illustrations for each scene. Things didn't always go as intended at first, but by refining how he wrote his prompts, the results gradually improved. For example, rather than just "forest, dusk, girl," adding specific descriptors like "warm color tones, soft picture-book-like touch, for children" began to produce images much closer to what he had in mind.
Using a free design tool, he arranged the text and illustrations. He spent considerable time choosing fonts and adjusting margins. After eight rounds of revisions, Saeki completed his first book in early April — two months after he'd begun.
Compared to professional work, the finished picture book was still rough around the edges. But for Saeki, it was "proof that a dream he had given up on had truly begun to move again."
Saeki showed the finished picture book to his seven-year-old daughter. Her eyes lit up as she turned the pages, and she exclaimed, "Dad made this? That's amazing!" In that moment, Saeki felt a warmth rise in his chest. "Ah — this is what I wanted to do."
Saeki is now working on his second book. This time, at his son's request, it's an adventure story set in outer space. His conversations with AI have become smoother, and the quality of his generated images has improved. "Someday I'd like to make something good enough to donate to the local library," he says.
As of 2026, more and more people like Saeki are using AI to breathe life back into dreams they had given up on. What matters is not aiming for perfection, but finishing one thing first. The skills come later. All you need is that very first step — deciding to give it a try.
HAIIA's certification program offers a structured way to learn the skills needed to use AI to make your own dreams a reality. And "self-realization" — one of HAIIA's three core pillars — is a philosophy designed to support exactly the kind of challenge Saeki took on. If you'd like to start moving toward a dream of your own, you might consider joining the community through the member recruitment page.
What is the "someday I wanted to do this" that you've tucked away in the back of a drawer? AI has the tools ready for you. All it takes is 30 minutes tomorrow.
Anyone who can handle basic computer operation can get started. AI helps fill in the gaps in drawing ability and writing skill. What matters most is having a clear image of what you want to create — and an attitude that enjoys trial and error.
Yes. Both conversational AI and image-generation tools have free plans that offer more than enough quality to get started. Paid versions unlock more advanced features, but free tools are perfectly fine for your first book.
In Saeki's case, he finished in 30 minutes per weekend × 8 weeks. Everyone's pace is different, but many people find that making a little progress each day leads to a finished product in one to three months. The key is not to aim for perfection — just get that first book done.
This article is republished from HAIIA Notes.