Writer and illustrator John Devolle introduces the latest installment of his popular Big Science for Little Minds series of childrens' books.
Hello, I'm John, I’m an illustrator and writer of children's books. My fourth book Brains is out now.
Brains was created as part of the Big Science for Little Minds series of books I have written and illustrated along with Atoms, Planets and Germs. I remember the idea for Brains came to me whilst walking to my studio one day, like most ideas I have, I’m usually mulling over random things in my brain or I’ll see something that will make me think about something in a new light; it could be a leaf on a tree, a road sign, a building, anything really. Ideas can come from anywhere.
What struck me originally was the idea of a reader sitting there whilst inside their head there was this amazing blobby organ with neurons firing off doing amazing stuff.
This also sparked the idea for this infinite image of the person reading the book, whilst an image of themselves reading the book appears in their mind:
I find my book ideas normally come to me in a flash, usually an image and some words for an idea for one page, then I build on that idea and the whole book gradually comes together.
Sometimes I start working on one thing but it doesn’t work out and then the idea takes a tangent and I end up doing something completely different! But thats all part of the process.
Like all the books in this series, my aim is to spark an early interest in science in kids by getting them to wonder about these amazing things going on all around - and inside - them.
I try to combine simple text with bold playful illustrations to entice them in to the subject, hopefully without making them think they are being ‘taught’.
When I’m working on the illustrations I start with a rough drawing, usually scribbled down on paper in a rush as an idea occurs to me. Here is an example of one of my rough sketches:
Once I’m happy with the idea I work on the coloured artwork on a computer using software called Adobe Illustrator. I like drawing in this way as it enables me to use bold shapes and colours and work very quickly.
Here is the final artwork as it appeared in the book.
Once I have completed the artwork for all the pages, the book is complete. Then it gets sent off to the printers and a few months later I get a printed copy of the book delivered to my house.
It’s always a very exciting moment when you hold in your hand the actual printed book...
Brains by John Devolle is published by Pushkin - find out more here.
