In the Spotlight: Say Hello to Rayika!

When, where and why did you start illustrating?

I started drawing when I was two. My kindergarten teacher still takes complete credit for discovering my creative side. Apparently, my smiley-faced, googly-eyed frog, perched on an oversized mushroom won her heart.

Professionally, I started illustrating when I was in college – first for a project and then for Pratham Books. It gave me an avenue to combine both my interests – storytelling and drawing. Giving shape to characters and words is such a rewarding process! You combine your imagination with that of the author’s and weave this magical journey that had absolutely no existence.

Do you remember your first illustration? Have you kept it in-between a book or under the mattress? May we see it?

I don't, but it's a well-remembered family anecdote. For my first school interview, the two-year-old Oshkosh B'gosh dungaree wearing  little girl was asked to draw a flower. I did, but proceeded to colour it black. When asked by the interviewers why I had coloured a flower black, I said 'load-shedding' (interruption of electricity supply). The first preserved artwork I have (courtesy my super-encouraging family) is from an art competition I had won when I was five. 

"The first preserved artwork I have from 
an art competition I won when I was 5."  

Who are your idols?

Children's book illustrators I admire are Oliver Jeffers, Maurice Sendak, Eric Carle, Quentin Blake and Bruno Munari. But, honestly, it's a never-ending list. I think I'm the only non-parent who spends so much time with children's books! 

My other idol – my grandmother. Helping her out with alpanas (rice powder floor decors used in Bengali pujas) as a child, is what shaped my current style and sense of aesthetics. 

The Dragon’s Toothache is a fantastic book, visually. Take us through the visualization process you followed for this project.

I think what made the book alive for me was the process of creating the characters. The journey started first with the little girl, and then the dragon, followed by the characters interacting with one another and everybody else. I made up stories while I drew them – reasons for why she wore a ghagra-like skirt, how she had a collection of matching bangles, everything! 

Rayika's illustrations

The next big challenge was understanding the anatomy of mythical characters like dragons! How does one imagine the inside of something that doesn't exist?! So, I took inspiration from creatures similar to dragons – dinosaurs, elephants, whatever I could find, including my favourite animation How to Train a Dragon.  

The interaction that followed with the characters and the scenes came organically after that. 

What would you do if you bumped into a dragon (not necessarily with a toothache)?

I've always wanted a dragon as a pet! I have one – Maximillian (lovingly called Max). He's a mixture of all the dragons I've ever made/seen. And he's adorable!

Is that Max? 

This question seems to trouble most illustrators: what is your favourite colour?

Clearly you don't expect an actual answer for this! I will tell you this though – my wardrobe is divided into hues of clothes based on my mood. So I have a set of happy clothes – shades of yellows, oranges, blues; dull clothes – greys and browns; and neutral clothes (everything that don’t fit into the other colour categories). J  

New Release: The Dragon's Toothache

What could be stranger (or more exciting) than bumping into a dragon on your way back from school? How about bumping into a dragon who desperately needs your help?!

We have heard of damsels in need of rescuing from dangerous dragons. We have heard of knights riding majestic dragons to save a village. Skip through the pages of 'The Dragon's Toothache' and go on an adventure when our brave heroine takes on a challenge, makes new friends and goes on a fun adventure. Does she manage to help the dragon? Does she get gobbled up?

Annie Besant’s quirky tale coupled with Rayika Sen’s fantastic illustrations will have you giggling in no time.

Karadi Tip: Avail a 10% discount on the first twenty orders. Hurry and order your copy here:http://www.karaditales.com/FormProduct.aspx?SeriesId=41

Keep an eye on our Facebook page for exciting Fall Release updates from across the seas.

Here is a little sneak peek:

Snippets from Karadi Headquarters

We invited Annie to celebrate the right way - with cake!

Say hello to Annie.

Say hello to Rayika.

ALA 2015 was a blast!

The Karadi USA team huddled for our first team meeting in Fremont, California — with a bunch of files, papers and pens ready for the many copious notes we went on to take. The trip to San Francisco held many firsts for our team, exhibiting at the ALA being one of them!

The ALA 2015 Conference was held at Moscone Center, the largest convention and exhibition hall in San Francisco. The Conference was spread across three buildings, each with a direction to its name. Jokes apart, the events were well-organized and clearly marked out; even those of us who were fresh off the boat didn’t take too long to get our ‘bearings’ (pun fully intended) right.

Registrations and Exhibit Hall Badges awaited us in the North Hall. Across the street, South Hall was where all the action was—at least as far as we were concerned. We were among the Small Press Tables. For neighbours, we had Scholastic, Chronicle Books, Live in a Story (lovely set-up!), and what seemed like a corridor each of Harper Collins and Penguin / Random House. We had the cafeteria right at our elbows for unlimited access to coffee and sandwiches.

We were among the first to arrive in our section—and we quickly found out why. It took us a little under two hours to set up Table #3341. Puppets, parrots and elephants were all part of the predominantly yellow decorations at our stall. We spent some time exploring the conference halls, and ended up getting some great tips from industry veterans on how to go about the ALA Conference.

The first person we spoke to was familiar with Karadi Tales. For a team looking to build brand awareness, what could be more exciting?! Marge Lock-Wouters of BiFolkal Productions gave us quick tips on how to go about the conference since this was the first time Karadi Tales was exhibiting anywhere in the US. We also got some practical tips from the ‘Mother Goose on a Loose’ team about ‘small budget’ table set-up options (getting to know that there is a Target store right around the corner made us breathe a giant sigh of relief). Marge also gave us a generous shout-out on her blog that evening - http://tinytipsforlibraryfun.blogspot.com/2015/06/exhibits-power.html.

In the past, these presses and publishers were often relegated to the last two or three rows at the end of the exhibit floor. But this year at ALA, there is a welcome change. The small press tables can be found at the end of rows - rows that put them next door to some of the biggest names in publishing, ILS systems and other national vendors. You won't have to go far to find a first time exhibitor like Karadi Tales, a publisher in India who has two books recently honored by the South Asia Book Awards - The Rumour won the Young People's Award in 2013 and in 2015 A Pair of Twins was on SABA's Highly Commended list. The books that are on exhibit from this publisher are delightful and easily open up our collections to needed diversity.

Once that was done, we took a break to go for a stroll around Fisherman’s Wharf, and got back just in time for the opening ceremony.

We spent the next three days making sure we did our share of spreading the word. Almost as well as our Karadi Bear would have spread his favourite honey over a hot and crispy piece of toast—or so we’d like to think!

For other first-timers,

Here’s what we had on hand:

Our ALA Schedule

Samples of Karadi Tales’ picture books

Karadi Tales US catalogues (Suraj, we want a couple of our India catalogues for the next time!)

Karadi Tales audiobooks’ catalogues

The Very Hungry Caterpillar—tactile (our personal favourite!) and bilingual versions

And most importantly, decorations

A Few Tips

• Prepare for the conference in advance (2 months ahead would be a good place to start)
• Book your tickets sooner than that if you are travelling overseas
• Carry a journal 
• Drink a lot of water!
• Carry a few extra stands, markers and other things—you never know, whether you will need them or whether someone else might
• Help and seek help—remember that not everyone knows about your work
• Business casual ranges all the way from casual to full-on business gear—that looked as confusing as it sounds. There were canvas shoes walking the same aisle as shiny business Oxfords and stylish pumps. Checking to see what goes with your organization’s ‘look’ would be a good idea. Otherwise, just wear what you think fits the bill, and rock it!

Contributors: Aditi Chandrasekhar and Roopa Suresh

Welcome, Suraj!

Join us in welcoming our new editor. 

Suraj J. Menon is an editor who was born and raised in Bangalore. Having dabbled in several fields over the years, he found his true calling when a child asked him to narrate a story. He can smell good food, bad grammar and fine stories from miles away. He loves children’s books, cassettes, colours, films and the rain. He also has a very low standard of humour and loves to laugh at everything.

We wish you the very best, Suraj!