Two of our Pickle Yolk Books titles, The Susu Pals and Vee Loved Garlic, and their inimitable illustrators Alicia Souza and Kunal Kundu are featured in this Hindustan Times piece by Rachel Lopez on the changing face of children’s books in India: ‘Kids books are getting darker, cooler, nuttier.’
She writes:
“No pigtails. No Aadarsh Balaks. No preachy grownups. No morals at the end of the story. As children’s books in India get a makeover, their illustrations are brightening up too. Over the last five years, animation artists, muralists, graphic designers and doodlers have been lending heir skills to books for kids, redrawing the lines of what constitutes art for India’s young people.
Some of the work is almost cinematic – moody vampire landscapes, grandmas that swing up coconut trees. Others are clearly tongue in cheek – jokes about poo, gags sneaked in for parents. But each is a step towards a new visual language for kids, one where the rules are elastic – and a new adventure is just around the corner.”
Excerpts from the feature: