Client: Pratham Books
Role: Freelance Illustrator
Design Synopsis: Character Design, Illustration, Layout, Publication Design
Background: Leading with the motto "A book in every child's hand", Pratham Books is India's largest multilingual children's publication house. Their online library Pratham Storyweaver, makes stories widely accessible in regional Indian and International languages.
An Umbrella for Druvi is a storybook written by Shabnam Minwalla to take readers through the flight of Druvi the dragonfly as she searches for the right leaf under which to take cover in the rainy landscape of Western Ghats. I was added to the project as an illustrator.
Role: Freelance Illustrator
Design Synopsis: Character Design, Illustration, Layout, Publication Design
Background: Leading with the motto "A book in every child's hand", Pratham Books is India's largest multilingual children's publication house. Their online library Pratham Storyweaver, makes stories widely accessible in regional Indian and International languages.
An Umbrella for Druvi is a storybook written by Shabnam Minwalla to take readers through the flight of Druvi the dragonfly as she searches for the right leaf under which to take cover in the rainy landscape of Western Ghats. I was added to the project as an illustrator.
The inspiration for the artwork for the book came from illustrators who capture the joy of outdoors for children such as Bill Watterson, Brendan Wenzel and Eric Carle - keeping in mind that the lens through which children see the world is always tinted with a little magic.
The characters were designed to be playful and expressive. While we are taught to fear or worse kill bugs, this story gives them a chance to be seen as creatures that play an important role in the ecosystem and food chain.
Here are a few of my favourite pages from the storybook.
The book has been translated by Pratham Storyweaver into 25 Indian and International languages and in print in Hindi, English and Kannada. Several readers have created their own interpretations of Druvi's story in their craft projects, interactive libraries and on YouTube.
Author Shabnam Minwalla | Editor Bijal Vacharanjani | Art Director Amitabh Kumar