How does an architect design a picture book page?
A page is a small room. Before I draw anything I ask where the eye should land, what the space should feel like and what the person standing in it needs to see first. I learned to ask those questions in architecture school, and I never stopped asking them when I picked up a pencil to draw Finch.
What did architecture teach me?
In 2005 I began studying architecture at the Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico. I spent a season in New York, then worked in industrial and pharmaceutical architecture back in Puerto Rico, and eventually moved to Texas to see more of my designs become real buildings. Those years taught me to design spaces with intention. Nothing is there by accident, and every choice has a reason.
Why one warm world and one bold bird?
That habit became a design rule for The Bird in the Egg. I drew the world in a single warm yellow with white linework, and Finch is the only thing in bold blue and black. Blue sits opposite yellow, so your eye always finds him first, and you can see what’s happening around him even when Finch, hiding in his shell, can’t. I wrote more about that rule in Life: First Sketches for My Next Book.
Is making a book like making a building?
More than I expected. Both get made one small, patient step at a time. I spent three years of nights and weekends writing and illustrating every page, and I learned how a book is printed and published from start to finish, the way an architect learns how a building is built. You can read the story of the finished pages in Finishing The Bird in the Egg and how Finch got his look in How Finch Was Born.
Where can you read the book?
The Bird in the Egg is a 24-page picture book for ages 4–6, and it won the Silver Medal for Best First Book – Picture Book at the 2026 Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards. If you’d like to know more about me, start here.
Frequently asked questions
Is D.G. Alonso really an architect?
Yes. He studied architecture at the Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico, worked in New York, then in industrial and pharmaceutical architecture in Puerto Rico, and now works in Texas.
How did architecture shape The Bird in the Egg?
He designs each page as a space with intention: one warm yellow world drawn in white linework, with Finch as the only bold blue and black shape, so the eye always finds him first.
How long did the book take to make?
Three years of nights and weekends, writing and illustrating every page and learning printing and publishing along the way.