So You Want To Be An Animator (So You Want To Be A...)
About
WINNER of the Literary Titan Gold Book Award
So You Want To Be An Animator takes young readers ages 10-14 inside one of the most technically demanding and most creatively exhilarating careers in the arts — not the magic-wand version, but the real one. The years of foundational drawing, motion study, and software mastery that happen long before an animator contributes a single frame to a production that audiences will see. The specific discipline of developing an eye and a hand that can translate the principles of physics, emotion, and storytelling into movement — frame by frame, adjustment by adjustment — until a drawing breathes, a character thinks, and an audience forgets they are watching lines and light. The team of directors, riggers, sound designers, writers, and fellow animators working in careful coordination so that thousands of individual decisions, made by dozens of people over months or years, become a single seamless world. The sequence that lands perfectly — and the one that demands you find a solution no one on the production has tried before.
This is a book about what animators actually do: the foundational principles they ingrain through study and practice so deep that squash and stretch and follow-through become instinct, the observational discipline they develop by watching how everything in the physical world moves so they can make the impossible feel inevitable, the technical fluency they build across software and pipeline tools that are always evolving, and the creative resilience they cultivate to take direction, rework finished scenes, and keep the quality of their attention high across a production schedule that tests everyone. It’s also a book about what the career costs, what it demands, and why the animators who do this work say that the hours they spent filling sketchbooks when no one was looking are the only reason anyone is watching now.
Inside, young readers will discover:
- What a real animator’s training and professional life actually looks like — from art school foundations to studio internships to the specialized disciplines within film, television, games, and beyond
- The science and craft behind elite animation — the twelve principles, character rigging, motion capture, and what separates movement that feels alive from movement that merely looks correct
- The mental demands of working at the intersection of art and technology — and how animators develop the patience, visual intelligence, and creative problem-solving the work requires
- The history of animation and the pioneering artists whose vision transformed a scientific curiosity into the most versatile storytelling medium on earth
- What young people can do right now to discover if this might be their calling
Honest, specific, and genuinely illuminating, So You Want To Be An Animator doesn’t talk down to young readers — it brings them all the way in. Because the child who wants to know what this work is really like deserves a real answer.
For readers who feel the pull toward a career that rewards imagination and discipline in equal measure. For the kid who fills the margins of every notebook, who watches a film and wonders how they made that.
The canvas is blank. The tools are there. And somewhere, right now, the animator who will create the character a generation grows up loving is sketching in a notebook no one else has seen yet. Maybe that animator is you.
Ages 10-14 · Nonfiction · Careers & Professions · Illustrated
Praise for this book
"So You Want to Be an Animator is one of more than 180 career-orienting books by Linda Soules. Dedicated to the profession of being an animator, it is an illustrated non-fiction book for children aged between ten and fourteen. With the aid of colorful, stunning pictures, the author explains the art and science of animating, what it takes to make a character drawn on paper move and breathe in a film, what other professionals work side-by-side with animators, animators’ must-have skills, and even the pitfalls in creating animation. The book also includes reading suggestions, websites to explore, things to do, organizations of animation professionals, and a list of the other books in the series. So, what does it take to be an animator?
So You Want to Be an Animator by Linda Soules has not a single dull moment. As an adult who still likes animated films, I discovered many fascinating new facts about the profession. I enjoyed exploring the colorful pictures and the informative narrative and marveled at the stellar quality and clarity, with perfectly balanced text and visuals. I also enjoyed the exercises – especially the thaumatrope! - for young readers to try their hand at creating an animation and experience the results! But most of all, I liked the author’s honesty in explaining the effort and the skills a person needs to succeed as an animator. I highly recommend this book to parents and teachers for their junior mentees who are curious about careers, especially children interested in drawing."
"So You Want To Be An Animator is a fun, colorful, and surprisingly detailed look at what it really means to work in animation. Written for kids ages 10–14, this illustrated nonfiction book goes way beyond 'animators draw cartoons' and shows readers how much patience, skill, teamwork, and imagination are involved in bringing a character to life. From hand-drawn animation and flipbooks to 3D computer animation, character rigging, storyboarding, and digital tools, the book gives young readers a clear picture of the many steps between a sketch in a notebook and a finished scene on screen.
One of the best things about this book is how honest it is. Soules doesn’t make animation sound easy or magical. She explains the actual craft behind it, including timing, squash and stretch, anticipation, follow-through, and the careful observation of how things move in the real world. In the section labeled The Hardest Parts of the Job the author states, 'Animation is extraordinarily time-consuming… a single second of fully drawn animation needs twenty-four separate drawings.' I didn’t consider this even as an adult. Kids who love drawing will likely find themselves looking at movement in a whole new way after reading this.
The book also does a great job showing that animation is a team effort. Animators work with directors, writers, sound designers, riggers, and many other artists to build a world that feels seamless to the audience. I appreciated that the book talks about the hard parts too, like the long hours of practice, the technical learning, and the patience it takes to create even a few seconds of finished animation. The exercises, glossary, suggested websites, organizations, and further reading make it feel practical, not just inspirational.
So You Want To Be An Animator is an encouraging and informative book for creative kids, especially those who are always sketching in the margins or pausing animated movies to study how characters move. It’s easy to understand without talking down to readers, and it’s interesting enough that adults may learn a few things too. I would highly recommend it to parents, teachers, and young artists who want a realistic but exciting look at animation as both an art form and a possible career."
"So You Want To Be An Animator by Linda Soules belongs to the So You Want To Be series, a growing library of career guides built for curious young minds. This volume turns a child's notebook sketch into an honest look at real craft, giving parents a clear view of what animation demands. A thoughtful entry point for families exploring creative careers.
What I appreciated most is how Soules moves from ancient cave paintings to a kid flipping notebook pages without the book ever feeling like a textbook. She explains what animators actually do: the five roles they juggle as actor and timekeeper, the tools from light boxes to digital rigs, and the quiet patience behind three seconds of screen time. There are profiles of pioneers like Miyazaki and Lotte Reiniger, plus genuinely usable prompts for flipbooks and stop-motion. I kept pausing to share sections with my kid, and she kept asking for one more page.
Soules writes with warmth and precision, weaving history with clear explanations of squash and stretch, walk cycles, and the twelve principles. The prose never talks down. A handy glossary backs up the terminology, and the closing pages feel genuinely moving without being sentimental. The illustrations are lively and inviting, giving children plenty to linger over on every page. The voice stays confident throughout, and the pacing makes it easy to follow on their own.
If your child draws in every margin and wonders how cartoons come alive, this book belongs on their desk. For parents, it treats animation as serious art and honest labor, not a cute hobby. Encouraging without sugarcoating the grind, it opens a door worth walking through together."
"So You Want To Be An Animator is an inspiring and creative book that explains the world of animation in a way that is easy for kids to understand while still being fascinating for older readers. The author does a great job showing that animation is not just about drawing cartoons, but about bringing characters to life with emotion, movement, and personality.
One of the best examples in the book is the explanation of a bouncing ball. The author explains that a bouncing ball feels alive when it hesitates before bouncing again, almost as if it is “thinking” before moving. This simple example helps readers understand how animators make audiences connect emotionally with drawings and animated characters.
Overall, this book is encouraging, informative, and full of imagination. It would be perfect for any young artist or anyone curious about how animated movies are made."
"Linda Soules does an excellent job of describing the day to day life of an animator....Overall, the book is an eye opener for any child or adult wanting to pursue this art!"
"I checked out this book because I have a granddaughter that is consumed with drawing. We are also huge Disney animator fans and I have wanted to find something that might encourage her and give her some things to think about. I was extremely impressed with this work. The detail and the "things to begin to do" at the conclusion of the book were perfect. Now that I've tackled the book, she is next. I can hardly wait to watch her eyes brighten up."
"My little artist loved this book. Especially the 'What You Can Do to Prepare Now' section."
"I was pleasantly surprised by this book. At first I thought it would be for little kids, but my almost 6th grader loved it! It was great at detailing what an animator really does (I had no idea!) and even down to what their average day might look like. The author said “an animator doesn’t move a character…. But moves an audience”. This book was incredible. I plan to read the others in the series as well!"
"So cool- I wish I would have had this type of book when I was younger. It’s such a great insight into the animating profession. The illustrations are multicultural and use vivid colors. This book grasped my attention from the start. It is extremely informative and immersive, to the point where you almost feel like you’re sitting with the animators watching and learning about their jobs. I liked that it also includes history about animation, famous animators, and extra facts. After reading about animators, this book also switches gears from providing information to enabling consideration as to whether this could be a future career or not! It really gets the reader involved."