Behind the Scenes: Creating The Magic Door

The Magic Door is one of our most beloved books, and its creation was a journey filled with imagination, collaboration, and countless hours of careful crafting. Today, I'm excited to take you behind the scenes to show you how this magical story came to life.

Getting the Story Together

The first challenge was figuring out how the story would flow. When you're working with a classroom full of kids, you get a lot of ideas—and I mean a lot. Some wanted dragons, others wanted castles, and there were plenty of suggestions about robots and talking animals too. Everyone had thoughts about which magical worlds Luna should visit, what she should find there, and how her journey should unfold. Of course, we had a guide to follow—a framework that helped us shape all these ideas into a cohesive story. That guide was our roadmap, keeping us on track when the possibilities felt endless. This is where a few particularly imaginative students really shone. They had such brilliant ideas that helped shape the whole direction of the story. When we'd hit a tricky spot in the plot, one of them would raise their hand and suggest something that made everything click into place. Those "what if...?" moments from the kids were the best parts of the whole process. As editor, I worked on refining the narrative through multiple drafts. We wanted the story to be whimsical but also meaningful—about self-discovery, acceptance, and embracing what makes you different.

Meet the Executive Editors

Every project needs someone keeping an eye on the big picture, and that's where our teachers, Shikha and Amy, came in. As the executive editors (yes, we had official titles!), they oversaw the entire project, making sure we stayed on track and that the story matched what the students envisioned. With a deadline looming to get everything sorted, having Shikha and Amy there to guide us and keep everyone organised was essential. They checked in regularly, asked the right questions, and helped us solve problems when we hit snags.

Bringing the Pictures to Life

Now, every good children's book needs illustrations, and this is where things got really interesting. Our younger students and NSS students became our artists, drawing, cutting out, and painting illustrations for the story. Wiktoria, our executive illustrator, oversaw this entire creative process. The children poured their hearts into their artwork—each drawing bursting with colour and imagination. Then came my job: uploading all those illustrations onto the computer and editing them into the book. Some needed adjusting to fit the pages, others needed touching up, but each one brought Luna's magical worlds to life in ways I never could have imagined on my own. Here's the tricky bit, though: we had so many beautiful illustrations. Choosing which ones would make it into the final book was genuinely difficult. There were tough decisions to be made, and not every piece of artwork could make the cut.

Designing Two Covers

Once the story was written, edited, and illustrated, I moved on to one of my favourite challenges: designing the front cover. It needed to capture the essence of the story—that sense of magic and possibility—while also standing out at a book fair. After numerous reedits and concepts, I decided to create two versions of the cover—one aimed at our younger students and another for the older kids. Both featured a door, inviting readers to step through and begin their adventure. Each version had its own style but told you this was going to be a story about something special.

Bringing the Inside to Life

The interior design was just as important as the cover. I experimented with different typography choices and page layouts, thinking about what would be easy for young readers whilst also feeling magical. The placement of illustrations, the chapter headings, even the page numbers—every detail needed to enhance the reading experience. I wanted clean, uncluttered pages that would let the story shine whilst still capturing that sense of wonder Luna experiences as she travels through different worlds.

When Things Don't Go to Plan

Let me tell you: working on a deadline means things don't always go smoothly. There were mishaps. Files that wouldn't upload properly. Illustrations that looked perfect on screen but strange when we did test prints. Formatting issues that appeared out of nowhere. Days when we wondered if we'd actually pull this off in time. And then came the meeting. Me and Shikha were called into the office for a meeting. Clutching our laptops, we walked into the headteacher's office. The headteacher and deputy head wanted an update on how the book was coming along. They sat us down in their office—it felt almost like being called into a boardroom. You know that feeling when you're about to present something you've been working on, and suddenly you're very aware of every little imperfection? That was us. We opened our laptops and showed them the rough copy. We scrolled through the pages, showed them photos of the students' illustrations, explained our vision for the layout. And their faces? Well, let's just say they didn't exactly light up with joy. They looked... let's call it "contemplative." Maybe they were expecting something different. Maybe the rough copy just wasn't rough-copy-ing the way they'd hoped. It was one of those moments where you start second-guessing everything you've done. Shikha and I left that meeting with a few nervous glances at each other and a renewed determination to make this book absolutely brilliant. Fast forward a few weeks. The final copy was ready. The physical books had arrived from the printers. And when the headteacher and deputy head saw the finished product—the polished layout, the vibrant illustrations, the professional cover, the whole thing actually looking like a real book—their faces told a completely different story. They were genuinely happy. Proud, even. Turns out, sometimes the rough draft just needs to become the real thing before everyone can see what you've been seeing all along. But that's the reality of making a book. It's not all smooth sailing—it's problem-solving, adapting, occasionally having a small panic, and sometimes having to trust that what looks rough now will shine later.

From Screen to Print

After everything was formatted and uploaded to our editing programme, it was time to make the book real. That's where Ajun Printers came in. They took our digital files and transformed them into physical copies you could flip through, touch, and proudly display on a shelf. Watching those first printed copies arrive was such a thrill. All those hours of editing, rewriting scenes, adjusting the layout, and editing illustrations had turned into something tangible.

We hope this behind-the-scenes look has given you a deeper appreciation for The Magic Door. If you haven't read it yet, we'd love for you to discover Luna's magical journey!

The Book Fair

The real test came at the Children in Need book fair. We set up our table, stacked our books, and waited to see what would happen. And you know what? Parents loved it. They bought copies for their kids, for gifts, for classroom libraries. Seeing people hand over their money for something we'd all created together—that felt pretty incredible. The students who'd written the story and created the illustrations got to see their work in print, being read by other families. That's the kind of thing that sticks with you.

What We Learnt

Creating The Magic Door taught us all something important: books don't just appear magically on shelves (even books about magic doors!). They're made by teams of people working together—authors, editors, illustrators, designers, printers, and yes, imaginative kids with great ideas. It was hard work meeting that deadline, and there were definitely moments when I wondered how we'd pull it all together. But with Shikha and Amy keeping us organised, Wiktoria guiding the illustration process, the students bringing their creativity and valuable feedback, and everyone pitching in, we made something we're all proud of. The Magic Door represents not just a story, but a collaborative effort to create something that inspires young readers to embrace their differences and believe in their own magic. And that's how a classroom assignment became a real book that now sits on shelves, inviting readers to discover what's on the other side of that door. If you haven't read Luna's magical journey yet, we'd love for you to step through and see where it takes you!

- Sandra Parker