It is fascinating to see that children are often drawn to rather stylized drawings and minimalistic storylines. Some of my daughter’s favourite illustrated books are those by Oliver Jeffers
and Genevieve Cote. There are many commonalities between these authors. They both explore imaginary worlds created by children and they both tell the stories visually, through illustrations that are made to resemble children’s doodles. As I explore their style, it becomes clear that the apparent simplicity of both the writing and the drawings is actually hard to achieve. The challenge is to capture only the essential elements and not let the unnecessary details detract from the clarity of the image.
My daughter’s make-believe stories often involve a nemesis, in the form of a mischievous cat, from which the main character, played by herself, needs to be protected. So here is the continuation of the illustrated story of the Girl and the Egg.
“It was not an easy job – taking care of the Egg. It had to be kept warm. Not too hot and not too cool, but just right. Bit most importantly, the Girl had to watch out for the Cat, who was always looking to steal the Egg when the Girl was not watching.”
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