One day, I was contacted by a young woman named Marina. She and her little daughter had written a book together, and she wanted to commission me to illustrate it. She was planning to self-publish. I liked the manuscript — it was one of those rare cases where the author of a children’s book treated children as equals and wasn’t afraid to ask them deep, meaningful questions that help them grow.
But Marina lived in a Siberian town, while I lived in Flanders — and the rates for illustration work in our countries were very different. The book required more than twenty illustrations — about half were full-page, the rest half-page. It was a large project that would take several months. But the fee she initially offered was so low, I couldn’t have sustained myself for even a month on it. So, I had to turn it down.
A year later, Marina reached out to me again. She had spent that whole year raising funds through a crowdfunding platform. She collected as much as she could. I was so moved by her persistence and dedication that I gave her a discount and took on the project.
This was one of those cases when the author of the text and I worked together very well, and there were no ideological or aesthetic differences between us.
And together, we created this book.
