My childhood school's playground was a parking lot; the monotonous cement broken up by one thing: a massive, looming, chestnut tree. Under that tree, childhood imagination ran wild, and many fantastical worlds were created and explored. I returned to the chestnut tree years later, and found the tree chopped down and paved over. The title, and its accompanying title poem are a reference to the Chestnut Tree, a physical symbol of change and childhood.

Each spread contains a poem and an illustration pair. The two serve to enhance each other, frequently creating a whole new emotional experience than one or the other alone would incite. This means that the book of over 120 pages contains dozens of unique illustrations and poems, more than 50 of each. At the back of the book, I have included an appendix, which contains never before seen behind the scenes process images, and some bonus illustrations.

The book is hardcover with a dustjacket, 120 pages on 135 gsm paper, 6 x 9 inches.

Under the Chestnut Tree was crowdfunded and fully funded on the first day of its Kickstarter in March of 2023. I handled all printing, shipping, storage, and distribution independently. View the kickstarter here