Our Next Book

JUNE 2025 | UPDATED AUGUST 2025

Follow the river, step on the stones,
Look out for treasure wherever you roam.
Tucked into clouds and slivers of sky,
Whispers and clues float quietly by.

- from Treasure Everywhere by Mimochai

Now available for pre-order!

August 2025 update

I'm happy to share that Treasure Everywhere is now available to pre-order! Pre-ordering reserves a signed copy, and also offers the opportunity to become a Book Supporter and get your name printed in the book itself 💛 Books are expected to ship by December 2025.

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Mimochai

Treasure Everywhere Pre-Order ✨

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Ever since my first book Let's Go Explore, I've shared my book illustration process live as I go. This is very unorthodox in the book publishing world, but it itself has become part of my creative process. So I'm looking forward to continuing my Mimochai tradition with our third book :)

With that said, I'm happy to share that our next picture book is called Treasure Everywhere! I recently finished the manuscript and am starting to work on the illustrations, and felt this was a good time to start sharing my process.

Treasure Everywhere shares a simple but important message: that treasure isn't rare or in some far away place—it's all around us and within us, waiting to be noticed wherever we are. In many ways, it's a spiritual sequel to Let's Go Explore.

  • A very early exploration of cover design

The elusive creative process

It has taken me a long time to get back to this place of bookmaking. It is hard to believe that it's been four years since my last picture book Alphabet Adventure! It's not that I haven't been trying. I'm pretty much always thinking about "my next picture book." My notes are filled with so many different book ideas.

But having ideas is one thing, and bringing one to life is another. There were a few years (I.e. my IVF years) where I couldn't get past the idea stage, and it seemed that maybe I would stop making picture books. The harder I pushed, the more elusive it became. When I tried to let go, it seemed to drift even further away. I turned my attention to other projects like Nature Spirit and The Solar Terms. I kept developing my skills, showing up everyday, but it was definitely a hard feeling.

Then, a few weeks ago, something shifted. Questions and answers clicked into place. I found a new sense of "why" (more on that below). I finished the manuscript. And finally, I felt it: Yes, this is the next book I want to make. I'm going to make it.

  • Showing up everyday in the studio

  • Keeping inspiration close

Setting the art direction

So where do I start on a big project like this? With the manuscript in a good place and my overall intention clear, the heart of the picture book work this month is art direction: What should this book feel like? How do I create something that serves both children discovering wonder and adults remembering it?

I have a basic storyboard in place, and before I go any further into detail, I want to set the overall tone with some key illustrations. These are important establishing visuals, so I've been drawing the same scene with slight variations. I challenge myself to grow with each book, so I have to figure out these aspects anew every time.

Some considerations I'm working out at this stage include:

  • the character—what age? how defined? one or two?
  • the rendering style—more textured? more shape-driven?
  • the compositions—more negative space? more detailed?
  • the size format—consistent square size? or new portrait size?

Each aspect must serve the story and its intention. There are so many ways it could go, and there are so many decisions to be made. For me, the process involves a mix of looking at references, trying different approaches, and following my intuition.

  • Thumbnails and explorations

  • Iterating and refining

Embodying a daily practice

One thing I've really loved about my creative practice this year is integrating natural exploration into my process. As I explain in my class Natural Explorer, every week I make a habit of exploring my local area, collecting inspiration, and practicing nature studies based on what I find.

This practice has helped me more than once when I feel creatively stuck, because it gets me out of my thinking mind and into an observational flow. It's also a perfect match to the themes of Treasure Everywhere, and some of my observations have translated directly into illustration compositions.

  • Daily practice

  • Direct experience

Evolving naturally

August 2025 Update

Since June, I've been diligently working on the spreads everyday. Even though I keep a regular rhythm and hours, the pace of output is not regular. Some days, I feel like I'm flowing through an illustration—it comes naturally, I like how it looks right away, and it's just a matter of putting in the time to finish it. Other days, it feels like moving through molasses, and in the wrong direction. I spend hours on a spread that I end up not liking. This used to really get me so frustrated, but I've learned to accept that as part of the process now. No matter what, I learn something new.

As I commit to moving forward, the book gradually emerges. Regularly posting the spreads onto social media provides me with a bit of self-imposed healthy pressure. It's interesting for me to see how small details in the characters evolve, and how the style finds itself and starts to fit together like a puzzle. Making a picture book is always such an fun challenge of keeping an eye on both the details of each individual page and the overall big picture of how all the pages fit together in a cohesive experience.

I'll be putting the finishing touches on the book print file this month, and then we're onto production to bring this book to life!

Behind the story

I'm so ready to bring this book to life. It honestly feels cathartic. Working through the foundations of this third book has clarified my purpose with Mimochai. Our motto has always been Live in Wonder, and I've always championed values of curiosity, creativity, and mindfulness. But with everything going on in the world, I took a step back to reassess whether we were still heading in the right direction.

As I've grown into my new role as a mom, I think a lot about what values I want to share with Esden and what I wish I was taught as a child.
I came back around to seeing that actually, these original Mimochai values are more relevant than ever. Even the most prominent tech leaders agree that in the age of AI, these traits of curiosity, creativity, and mindfulness will be critical to our wellbeing.

I know this project is just a picture book, but looking back at my own life, picture books have made all the difference. The values and messages embedded in the finest stories were like secret codes and clues, without me even knowing it. I want there to be more stories that give children and grownups this inner sense of knowing as we navigate into an unknown future. This is the story I want to be a part of.

Thanks for supporting our work 🙏 -M

  • Studio inspo & work-in-progress shelf