I reflect on the collaborative efforts I have undertaken with artist Ellie Shipman as we work towards producing a child-friendly version of my thesis. One being a scholar of children’s geographies and the other being an artist of hopeful illustrations for challenging times, we challenge the hypocrisy of knowledge production in academia by creating a children's non-fiction book, focusing on slum-based play in San Jose del Monte, Philippines. Through our collaborative endeavours, we engaged in several fruitful conversations, devised multiple plans for shared outputs, deepened our geographic expertise, and reinforced our mutual commitment to enhancing children's accessibility to academic scholarship. Working with an artist enabled me to rethink the various forms of resistance against systemic neglect and spatial erasure of slum-dwelling children, denying hegemonic narratives about slums. As knowledge production is immensely politically-charged—largely confined to academic circles using academic jargons—collaborating with an artist has enabled my thesis to disrupt the larger power-laden practices of knowledge production behind geographic works. Such a collaboration has also challenged some of my assumptions about arts, and allowed me to think outside my ways of understanding children’s spaces. It is not enough for children to participate in research; they deserve the output too—one that makes sense to them. We shall continue to fight for the continuity of decentralising the adultist perspective in geographical research. Will stay with the trouble of discussing dignified urban childhoods. This reflective piece aims to create a mental space for geographers and artists who are presently exploring the possibility, execution, and principles of collaborative efforts.