Storytime Issue 139 – Just Add Colour!
Here at Storytimewe do our best to fill every issue of our magazine with magic and enchantment. Inside the covers, readers will find fantastic fairy tales, thrilling myths and legends, amazing true-life stories and so much more.
This month, we’d like to pay tribute to the amazing creatives that add their own unique enchantment to our stories: our wonderful artists and storytellers!
When you open the special envelope this month, you’ll immediately notice the cover art by Carlitos Pinheiro. You will sure be able to hear the roar of the engine and the wind rushing past! Carlitos also illustrated the story ‘Race Mode: Activated!’a real-life tale about the childhood of Formula One racing legend Ayrton Senna. He is a national hero in his home country of Brazil – and that’s where Carlitos comes from. His passion for the subject matter really brings the story to life.
There’s a different kind of magic in ‘Beatbox Kingdom’. When Princess Elena’s kingdom is enveloped in darkness, she goes on a quest to bring back light and music. Patrycja Fabicka brings something special to the tale, adding atmosphere and detail to a world based in imagination. She captured each character’s personality before starting sketching and even created the festival mood on the page… Dance on to this tale if you dare!
When illustrating ‘Uncle Cricket’s Bedtime Story’, Élia Meraki faced a special challenge. The story stars a character from the classic story of Pinocchio – and the wooden puppet’s little kids, Oakley, Twig and Maple. The tale of Pinocchio has been depicted by innumerable artists and directors, and Élia did a fantastic job of creating these characters, an giving them their own personality while obviously taking after their dad!
Matheus Rodrigues provided the amazing illustrations for ‘The Burning Forest’a tale about two tribes who are brought into conflict by a wicked wizard in the Amazon rainforest. We wanted the artist to capture the spirit of the environment and its inhabitants authentically, and accomplished this in style. Introducing young readers to myths and legends is a great responsibility – and when done well, they might go on to read many more. We certainly love a challenge and Matheus helped us do it well, don’t you think?
Illustrating a fairy tale can be a challenge, as one needs to capture a special magical and dreamlike atmosphere. For the tale of ‘Wildrose’, Rossella Tables accomplished this by rendering the characters in a soft and charming way and infusing her art with gorgeous dusty pink tones that match the feel of the story and the colours of the heroine, who was born from a rose flower. The illustrations really are magical!
The new STEM Time section has been very popular with readers, as it combines storytelling with fun information about science, maths and engineering. However, providing appropriate art for these tales can be challenging. Should artists go ‘realistic’, or lean into storytelling whimsy? Fortunately, Sabina Schürmann gave us the best of both worlds with her illustrations for ‘The Biggest Puzzle of All’. It’s a story about a young boy who notices that the continents of the earth look as if they could join up like puzzle pieces and comes up with the intriguing idea of ‘continental drift’. Sabina’s art combines charm and clarity in equal measure.
This month’s Around the World Tale comes from the Native American Pueblo culture of the American Southwest. Mariah Richey researched the costumes and architecture to make sure it was authentic in the art for ‘The Doll Who Brought the Spring’. The doll in question is called a ‘kachina’, and these figures have special significance in Pueblo culture. Mariyah really went the extra mile to get the art right, and it shows!
One of the most difficult things to do well is comedy – but Rob Sherwin delivered amazingly funny art for the fable of ‘The Green Imp’. This hilarious tale is about a farmer who gets a troublesome little fellow to do his chores for him… but the imp will cause destruction if he doesn’t have enough to do. The characters are rendered wonderfully and are full of character, and they make the story even funnier. We’re sure you’ll love it!
Which art in this issue is your favourite? Does it look like you imagined it, or did it surprise you? Tell us about it and look out for more amazing art next month!