Image Note: All images on this page were created using generative AI, unless otherwise noted. They are temporary visual placeholders — creative drafts meant to accompany the stories and spark the imagination. I look forward to collaborating with an editor and illustrator to bring these books to life with fully developed artwork.
The Little Book About Nothing
Tone Tags
🎈 Minimal Whimsy 🌀 Circular Logic 🐾 Childlike Absurdity 📚 Existential Play 🎭 Deadpan Humor 📐 Visual Rhythm
Sometimes, a pocketful of nothing can transform your fortunes, your friendships—or remind you what really matters.
A gently absurd picture book in comic book script format—following a spirited boy, a rich kid, and that magical commodity known as nothing.
Format: A Picture Book Told in Comic Panels (Ages 4–8)
Length: 34 pages / 1,618 words
Status: Available for submission
Author: Jerry R. Steele Jr.
Illustrator: To be matched
More About the Book
What can you do with nothing?
In a struggling household, a spirited boy ends up with a pocketful of nothing—yet somehow, that’s where everything begins. When a neighborhood bully turns rough and his unemployed dad comes home empty-handed again, “Nothing Boy” dreams up a plan that just might change their fortunes.
Blending comic book energy with picture book heart, this gently absurd story follows a resourceful child who manages to sell absolutely nothing to a hard-nosed Merchant—and gets paid in full. What starts as a playful twist of logic becomes a fable about dignity, imagination, and value that can’t be measured in coins.
Art Direction & Collaboration
The Little Book About Nothing is written in comic book format, with the tone and pacing of a picture book. The images here are AI-generated placeholders, but I envision a warm, expressive style: clean panels, strong gestures, hand-drawn lines, soft coloring—and just the right amount of visual chaos when the moment calls for it. I look forward to collaborating with an illustrator and editor to bring out the humor, heart, and quiet mischief in every scene.
From Script to Scene
From The Little Book About Nothing
PAGE ELEVEN – RIGHT (WITH PAGE TEN) – 6 PANELS
(Comic book script format)
Panel 1:
The Merchant and Nothing Boy. The Merchant is suddenly all business, or is at least pretending to be.
NOTE: We're not sure throughout the rest of this scene whether the Merchant is really seriously all business or is just pretending to be. Nothing Boy is responding to the Merchant at face value, i.e., thinks that the Merchant is serious.
MERCHANT:
Oh really now… The deal of my life?
Panel 2:
The Merchant leans toward Nothing Boy to put him off his guard.
MERCHANT:
Price per pound?
NOTHING BOY:
It's nothing you can buy with money.
Panel 3:
The Merchant has his hand to his chin, considering.
MERCHANT:
Hmmm… And the overhead?
Panel 4:
Favoring Nothing Boy. The Merchant and his Assistant are surprised at Nothing Boy's acumen.
NOTHING BOY:
Costs nothing to store it. Doesn't weigh anything, so shipping costs next to nothing.
Panel 5:
The Beggars are also curious.
NOTHING BOY:
It's the best deal you'll ever see.
Panel 6:
Close on the Merchant. Either he's really interested or is just pretending to be.
MERCHANT:
What's your ware?
© Jerry R. Steele Jr. | All rights reserved. Script and concept from The Little Book About Nothing. Not for reproduction or distribution without permission.
Page 11, Panel 4
From The Little Book About Nothing
Page Twelve – Left (with Page Thirteen) – 6 Panels
Panel 1
Close on Nothing Boy.
NOTHING BOY:
Nothing! Nothing like you've never seen it!
Nothing like you've ever—you've ever seen!
Panel 2
The Merchant and his Assistant.
MERCHANT:
Hmmm…
Panel 3
Nothing Boy.
NOTHING BOY:
And as much as you can carry…
Panel 4
The Merchant shaking Nothing Boy’s hand as he winks toward his Assistant. His Assistant is really surprised.
MERCHANT:
Okay, then. Let’s talk business.
Panel 5
The Merchant starts to pull Nothing Boy away by the hand.
MERCHANT:
Take me to your storehouse.
NOTHING BOY:
It’s right here.
Panel 6
Nothing Boy stops where he is and pulls open his pocket, offering it to the Merchant to look in. The Assistant, now confused, tries to see from a poor angle. He doesn’t understand any of this.
SFX (Merchant): GASP!
© Jerry R. Steele Jr. | All rights reserved. Script and concept from The Little Book About Nothing. Not for reproduction or distribution without permission.
Page 12, Panel 6
From The Little Book About Nothing
Page Thirty-Three – Right (with Page Thirty-Two) – 1 Splash Page
Splash Panel
Nothing Boy and the Rich Kid hang upside down next to each other from a strong tree branch, ropes around their ankles. The blood has gone to their heads, and their faces are red.
The tree branches curve protectively overhead, leaves casting dappled patterns of light.
Both boys are laughing uncontrollably — one clutching his sides, the other stretching his arms out wide with glee. Their hair hangs straight toward the ground; somebody’s shoe is dropping; big pieces of candy are falling from Nothing Boy’s pocket.
In the distance, a few curious flowers peek from the grass, watching the scene unfold.
BOTH BOYS:
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
CAPTION:
And so the boy with a head full of nothing became best friends with the boy with a pocket full of nothing.
CAPTION:
They became the Nothing Boys.
© Jerry R. Steele Jr. | All rights reserved. Script and concept from The Little Book About Nothing. Not for reproduction or distribution without permission.
Page 33, Splash Page