shyamala's world

Illustration notes are guidelines shared by the author to a book's illustrator. Not all picture books need illustration notes. The text is enough to bring a book to life. Nonfiction books on specific topics  may need  illustration notes as accuracy is important.  Some fiction books may have one or two illustration notes to comunicate the twist in the story through an illustration. Shruti Rao's engaging picture book, Look Again!(Pratham Books) relies heavily on illustration notes. Artist    Kalyani Ganapathy has done a wonderful job bringing Shruthi's imagination to life.  About the book, Shruthi says,"I got this idea one morning,in those hazy moments before I completely woke up from sleep. It was just the seed of the idea. Over the next couple of days, I thought up some appropriate situations, and wrote them down." Do browse through the ebook before you scroll down to read the illustration notes.  Look Again!(Pratham Books) ...

There is always some confusion in the minds of authors when it comes to writing illustration notes for manuscripts of children's books. Experienced  children book illustrator and author of the famed Gajapati Kulapathi series, Ashok Rajagopalan, gives some gyan on the same.  1.         What kind of children books require illustration notes from an author? Any book where a picture has to give specific information may require illustration notes. Sometimes the note may only be helpful references for costume, architecture, etc. For some books, the author, respecting the reader's intelligence, and not wishing to spell everything out verbally, may intend to convey some information through text, and some through visuals. Then a note is needed. 2.         Do illustrators in general welcome illustration notes from authors of fiction pictorial books?  From an au...