I have chosen to write and illustrate a children’s book. I have based the concept on endangered animals not being able to stay in their natural environments, and having to seek safety in the young readers garden. Unsurprisingly, this doesn’t work out but other suggestions that will help the animals are listed at the end.

 

I used an application called Procreate to design all 30 pages of the book, this enabled me to work quickly and in the cut-out style of my illustrations. I chose to work in this style because the subject matter could scare a younger audience.

 

The theme for my book came about from researching in depth for my dissertation, my title being ‘the role of the arts in promoting environmental sustainability and conservation.’ This really sparked my interest in finding a way to encourage people to change their behaviour towards the natural world. Given the recent pressing concern around these issues, I believe it is important to start having conversations with the younger generation to help them understand the importance of some of the problems we will come to face in the future. The harsh reality is the animals that children love and adore may not be around by the time they reach adulthood, and something needs to change urgently.