A studio service
Joke books with pictures that get a second laugh.
You bring the jokes. We group them, give each one room on the page, and paint cartoons that react to the joke without giving away the punchline.
N° 01Timing on the page
Timing on the page
Setup and punchline are separated so a child reading aloud gets the pause.
N° 02Cartoons that do not spoil it
Cartoons that do not spoil it
The picture shows the setup or the aftermath, never the answer.
N° 03Chapters and hosts
Chapters and hosts
Jokes are sorted into sections, with two or three painted characters who appear through the book.
N° 04Riddle answers out of sight
Riddle answers out of sight
Answers go upside down or overleaf.
N° 05How it is made
How a book like this comes together.
01
A set number of jokes per page
A page holds only a few jokes, so each one has space around it. The number is agreed before layout.
02
Sections by subject
Jokes are grouped by subject, such as animals, school or food. Each section opens with its own picture.
03
A mix of joke types
Riddles, knock-knock jokes and one-liners alternate, so the page does not repeat one pattern.
04
Not every joke gets a picture
We pick the jokes with the strongest picture in them. The rest are set in type with small spot art between.
05
Type made for reading aloud
The text is large and clear, and two-voice jokes are set as separate lines for each speaker.
N° 06What goes wrong
Common mistakes, and how to avoid them.
01
A pun broken across two lines
A line break in the wrong place kills the wordplay. Line breaks are set joke by joke, not left to the page width.
02
A picture of the wrong meaning
A pun has two meanings, and drawing the wrong one confuses the joke. You check each cartoon sketch against its joke.
03
The same joke twice
Long collections often hold one joke in two wordings. We flag the repeats we notice for you to decide.
04
More jokes than pictures
A long joke list and a fixed illustration count have to be matched early. The jokes that get art are chosen before sketching.
N° 07Your brief
What to send us to get started.
You do not need all of it. Send what you have and we will ask in writing for anything missing.
• The jokes in one document, grouped if possible
• Your confirmation that you may publish them
• The age of the reader
• Colour or black and white inside
• Ideas for the host characters
• Trim size and where you plan to print
N° 08Peek inside
Pages like these.
Sample artwork made by Kompanie to show the kind of pages we make. Not client work.
N° 09Investment
Three packages, fixed prices.
Little Book
From $1,125
Board books, first-words books and short picture books. 4–5 weeks.
- Up to 2 characters, with a character sheet
- Up to 12 pages and 8 illustrations
- Cover illustration and title lettering
- One revision round on sketches
- Print-ready PDF and ebook cover
Picture Book
From $2,175
A full 32-page picture book. 6–8 weeks.
- Up to 3 characters, with character sheets
- 15 illustrations plus cover
- Two revision rounds per illustration
- Endpapers and title page
- Print-ready PDF and fixed-layout ebook
Big Book
From $3,675
Longer books, nonfiction, cookbooks and books for older readers. 8–12 weeks.
- Up to 4 characters plus settings
- Up to 30 illustrations
- Diagrams, maps or step-by-step art where needed
- Two revision rounds per illustration
- Print-ready PDF, EPUB and fixed-layout ebook
Before you choose
What you get
- A fixed price for the scope listed
- Sketches or a first draft to approve before anything is final
- Print-ready and editable files, yours to keep
What we don’t do
- Writing or editing the story
- Printing and shipping
- ISBN, publishing account setup or marketing
- Translation
Extra pages, slides or revision rounds are quoted before we start them.
N° 10Questions
The answers we give most often.
- Do you write the jokes?
- No. You supply the text and confirm you may publish it. We flag jokes that look wrong for the age.
- Colour or black and white inside?
- Either. Colour interiors cost more to print; many joke books use a colour cover and black and white pages.
- How many jokes can the book hold?
- The packages limit illustrations, and the Little Book also limits pages to 12. Jokes without a picture are set as text, and the number per page is agreed in the quote.
- Will you correct spelling in the jokes?
- Editing is not included. We set the text as supplied and point out any typing errors we notice.
- Can the host characters tell the jokes in speech bubbles?
- Yes. Speech bubbles are part of the layout and their text is set as editable text.
N° 11Related
Start your book
Ready to make your book?
Tell us what you're making. You'll get a fixed price and a schedule within two business days.