My story, The Red Canoe is finally finished and going to print. (There will be a short delay due to the Covid Crisis and its effect on publishing-I will add the ISBN as soon as it is available for pre-order.)

Working with Art Director Rita Marshal who is based in Connecticut I completed the work in record time—fortunately the Lock-down had a positive effect on me and my powers of concentration (in fact I also completed Powerful Princesses three months later). Our house in the cemetery was remarkably peaceful, the air outside was astonishingly pure due to the lack of vehicles on the road and for a short while it was possible to see what could be achieved if we decided to save the planet.

Just to re-cap The Red canoe is a story about death and rebirth, or the continuation of life and is set in an America some time past. I loved drawing the complex landscapes and wildlife, an aspect of North America I will always treasure since living there. Here are some new spreads contrasted with my older ideas.

Because it had been a long time in the making I wondered if I should make a fresh start in a new style so I offered this spread to Rita—cut-out Canson paper, coloured pencil and drawing pens. It was decided that the old style worked best.

Without words it was necessary to show the passing of time—the book spans roughly the turn of the last century up to the Nineteen Sixties—the clues are therefore in the change of clothing and inanimate objects. I deliberately stopped the book at what I see as the end of America’s ‘Golden Age’ because it is a book about hope and confidence that all will be well in the future. This message has been lost in recent times but I hope my story reminds people everywhere of what is possible.

How to finish the book was a conundrum and roughs went backwards and forwards while I sought the perfect images to show new life returning to the lake. For a while I wondered if this child should be a girl but that seemed a change too far and I opted for another little boy.

I took a deliberate step back when it came to the cover. For too long I had Danny’s original idea in mind and I couldn’t see around it—(funny how we sometimes get stuck on an idea!), so I left the decision-making solely to Rita. It was such a surprise and delight to see the new design, completely different from the old one, I love her clean and elegant approach.

A few years ago, Angela Buckingham contacted me out of the blue to say she like my illustrations and would I be interested in working with her on an idea she had? That idea turned out to be a series of 10 stories, written from real life, about actual princesses who bravely fought for survival against all odds.

We have had an interesting time working on this book and an even more interesting, if harder time, selling the idea. Twice we took it to the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, polishing and reshaping it constantly. We listened to lots of reasons why it was unpublishable—too long, too many difficult words, too traditional and not nearly cartoonish enough; fortunately, we didn’t believe them. We believed instead in the principle that children, particularly girls, need strong ideas with strong heroes and role-models; stories to aspire to; people to look up to.

Women’s history was side-lined for centuries till girls believed that a female role was a passive role; that princesses wore pink and meekly awaited their fate. Nothing could be further from the truth. Women have always fought—they had to; girls should celebrate their history and follow in their footsteps.

Below are some images that show the progression of our ideas.

This was the first sample piece to show the illustrations style and treatment of the historical character, costume, drawing style etc. My intention is always to bring my people to life; to make them as historically accurate as possible and imbue them with a spirit that makes them wholly believable. Aud is an older
woman but still the leader of her people and she saves her community from annihilation despite great personal loss.

I depicted her full length on the page with an exaggerated pose and slightly altered perspective using the visual language of super-hero comics. The background is kept minimal so as not to detract from her strength—the figure must be the ‘hero’ of the composition.

Our second princess was a Chinese warrior princess. At this point we were keeping the overall design of the book fluid—it could be one book featuring 10 princesses or it could be 10 books each featuring one—the final decision would belong to the publisher who ultimately bought it.

Ping Yang seemed to require more action and movement so I produced two images complete with flying pennants and members of her army. I am always careful to research textiles and armour and even colour—only a member of the Imperial Family was allowed to wear yellow on pain of death. Each princess has her own colour—Aud is red depicting her place in her community as well as available dyes, Elizabeth wears the Tudor green, Noor’s favourite colour was blue, and so on.

Five Mile

By this time Powerful princesses had been picked up by Five Mile Publishing in Australia with a very short deadline (3 months) which only allowed one major piece per princess supported by a vignette or border. Our goal remained to keep the pages clean and bold with each princess the strongest feature of the spread. The layouts and typography shown here were created by our very own designer Danny Nanos who had worked on this book from its inception.

It was a difficult birth but we are pleased to see the book on the market and hope very much that it sells as Angela would love to follow it up with Queens and even Pirates.

Design

We had very strong views as to the design of our book right from the start and though our initial designs sold the book the reality of working with all publishers is compromise. There was talk at the beginning of collaboration but ultimately the final design is the result of the struggle to maintain our vision overridden by a designer with different aims. The images below illustrates our aesthetic as opposed theirs and the compromise reached between us—because at the end of the day we are professionals who wanted very much to make this important book work.

Angela felt we owed it to girls everywhere to feature as diverse a group of women as she could and there are 2 princesses from the African continent—one a warrior, the other a teacher so as not to be accused of stereotyping black women. Nzinga is shown in full battle mode urging her men into battle.

Not all of our princesses took up weapons—Elizabeth Tudor had only her wits and education to help her survive in a court where her life was in constant danger. Her pose therefore is passive but her expression shows the bravery of her inner struggle.

A princess story collection like no other. These princess stories are not fairytales for small children. They are true tales of real women that every young person should know. These fast paced, action packed tales are stories that have been lost, stories that have remained untold. They come from every corner of the world and across history, but the single thing they share is that each is, in their own way, a powerful princess. These princesses are: Deep minded. Courageous. Warring. Healing. Mighty. Artful. Rebellious. Wise. Sage. Stoic Discover the true tales of history’s boldest heroines.

“Not long ago I was a lady of

the Imperial Court . . . 

Today I command my own troops.”

Drumbeats roll. On top of the walls the city guards signal to their soldiers on the field that the city itself is under attack. Some of Emperor Yang Di’s soldiers turn to stop Ping Yang. The huge gates of the city slowly creak open. Ping Yang sees her chance, signalling to the soldiers beside her. Together they charge, like a battering ram of horses, soldiers and armour through the Emperor’s soldiers. Ping Yang and her troops keep pushing to the city gates and past them.

They are through the gates! They are inside the Daxing! Elated Ping Yang rides across the inner court. Ping Yang knows this city well and races her horse down the city’s main avenue. It is usually full of people but now everyone hides. She heads straight to the Palace. At the steps of the Palace she pulls her horse to a holt. It is quiet - too quiet. She expects hundreds of soldiers here. Is this a trap?

ISBN-13: 978-1922385536

THE RED CANOE

By Yvonne Gilbert

I have been asked many times “what has happened to The Red Canoe?”, “when will it be published?” So here’s the latest news. I am very happy to say that my idea was picked up at Bologna last spring and I have been working on it ever since. I have nearly completed the illustrations and it should be available later this year.

The best news is that it is The Creative Company that has picked it up and they produce the most beautiful picture books in the whole of the United States. On a personal note I have wanted to work with them the whole of my career and the fact that they have chosen this story is a dream come true. 

I am working with Art Director Rita Marshall and though I can’t show you much yet I wanted to give a taste of what is to come.

The illustrations depict a North America of some time ago and are set in a landscape of forests and lakes. They cover a passage of time shown mostly by pictures rather than words and deal with the tricky subject of death and then rebirth through natural progression in a manner suitable for children.

I will post the publishing date and ISBN number as soon as I have that information.

Feels Like Home

By Angela Buckingham

Some bookshops, the very best bookshops, are more than just a place of commerce where you can buy books. The very best bookstores make you feel like you belong in their space. They offer the magical opportunity to find oneself within their walls. It is that wonderful experience that makes the best bookshops feel like home.

Few bookstores do this as perfectly as Todo Modo Bookshop in Florence. The books have been carefully selected with obvious love and attention, spanning topic, writing styles and authors from across the globe. There are offerings in both Italian and English. Many of the illustrated books are works of art in their own right.  There is a cafe nestled in the heart of the store, inviting you to sit down and read, have a coffee, talk to a friend. The back of the book store is at once a cosy theatre and a children’s book section, with the whole space offering nooks for one to sit and peruse the books at leisure. This is a place for reading, thinking, performing, talking and listening. It is the sort of place every community needs. 

And so, it is much more than just a place of buying and selling. It reminds us of all books can give us and how we have to support those who bring us such fabulous books.

The Pencil is Mightier Than The Sword.

By Yvonne Gilbert

This month sees the publication of an interview I did with Diego Cordoba for ‘Illustrators Quarterly 28’ magazine.

It is lovely to be asked and, more importantly, be allowed to talk frankly about my working life and the state of the industry today. I have the benefit of 45 years experience as an illustrator and I hope you find it a good read. For more information about me and how I work please look at the case-studies in my blog at www.anneyvonnegilbert.com .

This issue of Illustrators Quarterly 28 can be purchased at: https://bookpalace.com/acatalog/info_ILLUSTRATORS28.html#SID=1357

SUNKYUNG CHO

By Yvonne Gilbert

Every year we have gone to Bologna we have gravitated towards the far eastern publishers first as their sensitivity towards all things paper and their meticulous approach to book design is consistently the best at the show. Danny and I have worked closely with Grimm Press of Taiwan for many years and it has been an eye-opening experience.

This year we were lucky to meet Sunkyung Cho an artist, lecturer and book designer from Korea and have a brief chat with him about his work. He is a truly outstanding individual whose work takes book design to a higher art form. He lives and works in Seoul where he also runs an intensive course in book design. Here are three books we bought from him—delicate, enigmatic and unique.

www.chosunkyung.com

BOLOGNA 2019

By Yvonne Gilbert

I look forward each year to being in Bologna, not only for the Book Fair which is fantastic enough, but to soak up the warm sunshine while drinking a Crodino in the Piazza, eat dinner at restaurant tables set outside in narrow streets and stroll around the enticing street markets shopping for fresh produce. Bologna is such a wonderful place and I miss it already—roll on next spring.

Bigger than ever with around 1,500 publishers present and even more exhibition halls, it is a book lover’s paradise. Every kind of children’s books from many different countries and cultures are lined up in all their splendid colours just asking to be picked up. I find the experience deeply stimulating and am so full of ideas I can’t wait to get back and start working on them.

Due in part to the hard work we put in on our presentations, and the fact that as a team of three we are so much more than the sum of our parts, we had a very successful trip. New relationships were formed and old alliances confirmed so we will have new works to show here in the future.

Of course, there were far too many wonderful books to take in at the Fair; a few hours a day was enough of a sensory overload so the rest of our time was spent enjoying the city and the weather. We were lucky enough to meet with the highly-acclaimed illustrator Etienne Delessert who was in town as part of a show of Big League illustrators. New friends were made—illustrator Esther Samuels-Davis and storyteller and artist Kim Fielding. Danny was able to catch an exhibition of Andy Warhol and friends with Tom and Christine and we all visited the children’s book shop (Libreria Per Ragazzi) in the Piazza Maggiori to buy more outstanding volumes. We returned home extremely tired but very grateful for the opportunity.