Souvenir from Bologna
Yael Frankel, Winner of 2023 BCBF Best picture book, fiction
Every month the members of
, international group of children’s illustrators, answer a question, related to the world of picture books - in July it is about becoming known as an illustrator.In below links you will find other Illoguild members talk about their vast experience in connecting with the illustration industry, finding their unique fit in the market and various strategies for getting discovered.
I would like to add visiting the industry fairs to that list, as another great way of connecting with the illustration community. This past March I was lucky to be able to go to one of the most relevant ones, the Bologna children’s book fair. I got to meet many of my fellow illustrators in person for the first time (you can read more about my Bologna adventure here) and I also had a chance to attend some news conferences and other events.
The one I found particularly interesting was the presentation of this year’s winner of the best picture book in the fiction category, Argentinian author-illustrator Yael Frankel. Her book Everything That Happened Before You Arrived was published by Limonero, Argentina, in 2022.
Yael Frankel, Everything That Happened Before You Came, BCBF
Yael Frankel (far right), winner of best picture book, fiction category, with her book Todo Lo Que Pasó Antes De Que Llegaras.
This very original picture book explains the arrival of a new baby into the family through the eyes of a child, an older brother, using a simplistic, most tender language and wonky pencil drawings that children and their parents will understand and identify with immediately;
“Dad said you were about as big as a tangerine. After dinner, when he brought tangerines and bananas to the table, I chose banana just in case, ”says the little character.
The sibling counts the days and months it takes for a baby to grow in mama’s belly, comparing them to slices of pizza.
In his daily observations the big brother introduces the extended family, their dog Ernesto and explains to the new baby everything that is waiting for him in the big world. There is great excitement of meeting the baby one day but there is also a hint of sibling rivalry and jealousy, when the big brother points out: “Mom and Dad are always taking me to all sorts of activities - I don’t really know who will take YOU”.
Besides this incredibly accurate portrayal of a little child’s voice, Yael Frankel also manages to reproduce the child like way of drawing, with her hesitant pencil lines, simplified perspective, exaggerated shapes and basic colour palette. Any illustrator knows how hard it is to draw in this naive, sincere style once we’ve trained our hand to polish every imperfection. The way Frankel tricked her brain to forget what it had learned was to use copier paper she laid under the blank sheet onto which she could then draw “blindly” and allow herself the hesitancy and mistakes of and inexperienced little artist.
Yael Frankel manages to reproduce the child like way of drawing, with her hesitant pencil lines, simplified perspective, exaggerated shapes and basic colour palette.
Yael Frankel lives and works in Buenos Aires and her illustrations have been chosen before at many other industry events like the Moscow International Children’s Book Fair, at previous Bologna fairs and at the Sharjah Children's Reading Festival in the United Arab Emirates where in 2019 she won first prize for her author-illustrator book The Elevator. Her book At Simple View, edited by Amanuta, in Chile, has been selected for the White Raven catalogue, curated by the International Youth Library (IYL) in Munich, Germany. Her book Tell Me More has won the award for best book album, awarded by ALIJA IBBY Argentina, in 2017.
I hope this picture book presentation inspired the child artist in you, check out other Illoguilders’ posts about becoming known as an illustrator at these links:
Jen Gubicza emphasises getting lots of friends in the illo community. Jen Jamieson talks about finding her fit in the market.
Katie Stack talks about building an online audience.
Adam Ming outlines how he broke into the industry.
Carla Hoffenberg offers ten strategies for being discovered.