Illustrators shed light on how they introduce climate crisis and risking lives to young readers

Pala Dawa and Rinzing. Illustrations Courtesy/Tanaya Vyas; (right) Sleeping Beauty and the Fairyland. Illustration Courtesy/Rajiv Eipe

In Janet Manley's article, Let the Kids Get Weird, author Natalia O'Hara, was quoted to have said, "Children like sweet and safe stories but they also like dark, bleak, unsettling stories… stories that reflect the whole contradictory tangle of their lives." Recently, two beautifully illustrated books hit bookshelves - When Fairyland Lost its Magic and The Golden Tiger Mountain (both HarperCollins India) - that share O'Hara's sentiment.

The first title, written by Bijal Vachharajani and illustrated by Rajiv Eipe, reimagines popular fairytale characters like the Sleeping Beauty and Rapunzel caught in the middle of the worst climate crisis. The frozen mirror of reason has melted and the night sky has lost its little glimmers of light. The second, co-written by Nicholas Hoffland and Ravi Kapoor and illustrated by Tanaya Vyas, follows the journey of the eight-year-old Rinzing, who risks her life in search of the golden fruit which could cure her grandfather Pala Dawa's illness. Both books expose young readers to worlds that neither play with nostalgia nor provide moral endings of good and evil. Instead, they focus on more serious themes like environmental consciousness, sickness, and death.

An illustration by Vyas

Writers have to do the "heavy-lifting" work, admits Eipe, when we ask him about navigating through such themes while still keeping the book tender for its young readers. However, we believe the work of illustrators cannot be ignored. It strengthens the language of the narratives, helping drive the reader towards the action in the book. Eipe credits Vachharajani's ability to bring up "serious themes with levity and humour." He shares, "It provided a launchpad for me to go off on a visual adventure, exaggerating some of the silliness of the text, while inspiring the reader with a sense of awe for the natural world."

He recollects stumbling upon Aubrey Beardsley's pen-and-ink illustrations in Oscar Wilde's stories that inspired him. "The idea of combining utter silliness with ornate drawings felt like it could work for a book like this." He then took his first draft of bleak times in Fairyland to Maithili Doshi, the art director and book designer, who helped him shape the images into their final outcome.

For Vyas, on the other hand, it was important to return to "finding colours, light, composition and perspective to discreetly foreground the complex feelings of the characters" for the Golden Tiger Mountain. She adds, "I work meticulously to depict facial expressions using minimal linework." After conversations with the writers, she quickly realised that the story, at its heart, was about "exploring newer dimensions of one's being."

This allowed her to set her colour palette to sombre yet fresh colours, such that she could ensure that "the rhythm of the narrative and key moments of the characters' transformation echoed in the images."

Today, such collaborations between illustrators and writers have pushed creators of children's literature to take it to newer heights. Eipe reveals that these projects have led to a diversity of art styles coming forth, and "unique ways of imagining things." "There is a broad acceptance in publishing that illustration can be a powerful storytelling tool. It can enrich as well as run parallel or tangential to the text," he tells us, citing wordless books as great examples. Vyas agrees with this. Her atmospheric landscapes and portraits amplify the text in the Golden Tiger Mountain. "There is a certain joy in discovering something beyond the apparent and to expect the unexpected through the image-text dynamic," she signs off.

Cost Rs 499 (available at leading bookstores and estores)