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MAGIC TABLE SERIES

Cover of “El volcán”, book 51 of the Magic Table Series: Duke the dump truck beside an erupting sand volcano. Cover of “Duty Time”, book 53: Duke and June work together on the sand next to a blueprint. Cover of “La máquina”, book 52: June the excavator pushes a soccer ball across the grass. Cover of “Crane Rescue”, book 54: red Crane in front of a cloud of smoke, with Duke behind.

DUKE, JUNE & CRANE

Pencil sketch sheets with early versions of the vehicles. Duke, a blue dump truck with an orange bed and a smiling face. June, a yellow excavator with a gray bucket and a cheerful face. Crane, a red crawler crane with a wrecking ball. Line turnarounds of Duke from the front, side and back. Line turnarounds of June from several angles, with the bucket up and down. Line turnarounds of Crane from several angles, with its wrecking ball.

Duke

June

Crane

Duke’s Expressions: full-color illustrations of Duke with different expressions and the dump bed raised and lowered, accompanied by the color palette. June’s Expressions: full-color illustrations of June with cheerful expressions and different shovel positions, accompanied by the color palette. Views of Crane: full-color front and side views of Crane with the wrecking ball hanging, accompanied by the color palette.

BACKGROUNDS

BOOK 51 - EL VOLCÁN
BOOK 54 - CRANE RESCUE
Background for “El volcán” and “Crane Rescue”: a sand sensory table with cones and small piles of dirt.
BOOK 52 - LA MÁQUINA
Background for “La máquina”: a sensory table with a strip of grass, sand and toy bricks.
BOOK 53 - DUTY TIME
Background for “Duty Time”: a sensory table with a dirt road and piles of black gravel.

SKETCHES

Line sketches for two pages: Duke builds a sand volcano and, in the other illustration, takes a photo of his creation. Line sketches for two pages: June kicks the ball, and Duke blocks it to prevent a goal.

FULL-COLOR PAGES

Full-color pages from “El volcán”: in one illustration, a hand holds Duke beside the sand volcano; in the other, Duke takes a photo of the volcano with a phone camera. Full-color pages from “La máquina”: June and Duke play soccer with a toy goal. Full-color pages from “Crane Rescue”: Crane in front of a cloud of smoke while Duke and June watch. Full-color pages from “Duty Time”: the vehicles work as a team in the sand, with speech bubbles.

THE PROJECT

The Magic Table Series is part of the Descubrir collection and consists of four decodable readers set inside sensory tables where miniature vehicles come to life through children's imaginative play. It explores educational and playful stories featuring Duke the dump truck, June the excavator, and Crane.

Books in the Collection

  • El volcán (Yaxkin Hernández-Melville): Duke builds a sand volcano that Crane accidentally destroys, leading to a lesson in empathy and forgiveness.
  • La máquina (Yaxkin Hernández-Melville): a fun game of soccer played between June and Duke over a rice sensory table.
  • Duty time (Andrea Shuman): a team building challenge to recreate a sensory bin blueprint against the clock.
  • Crane Rescue (Andrea Shuman): a teamwork rescue mission to fix a fuel leak.

PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS

  • Authors: Yaxkin Hernández-Melville and Andrea Shuman
  • Client / Publisher: Acuarela Biliteracy Works LLC (formerly Acuarela Curriculum Co-op)
  • Year: 2025
  • Target Audience: early childhood education / early literacy (kindergarten) — bilingual decodable format
  • My Role: character and background design, interior illustration, and visual composition
  • Medium / Software: digital illustration (Adobe Photoshop & Adobe Illustrator)
  • Scope: 28 pages in total (7 per book)

Process and Teamwork

  • Visual Contribution & Conceptual Challenge: proposed adding facial expressions to the vehicles to make them relatable while maintaining the core premise: ensuring they felt like real toy figures rather than cartoon characters. To achieve this, I built them in Illustrator using clean vector shapes, flat colors, and geometric forms, rendering them as 3D-feeling objects with subtle emotional cues.
  • Art Direction & Collaboration: close conceptual and design development working in continuous communication with the Acuarela editorial team.
  • Design Coordination: direct collaboration with the graphic designer for text integration, page formatting, and pre-press mechanical preparation.
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