CHENNAI: In mid-November, a piece of heartwarming news made its way to our social media feeds. Two kindergarten boys in the US — one Caucasian and the other African-American — said they look the same and wanted to wear matching clothes for the school’s ‘Twin Day’ celebrations. A photo of the two five-year-olds dressed in maroon, checked shirts won many hearts on the Internet. After all, it was a message about friendship beyond colours.
Storyteller Divya Thomas drives home a similar sentiment with her maiden book I Am So Much More Than The Colour of My Skin. This 26-pager for children, written with the Indian diaspora in mind — but works for anybody in the world — lists nine different skin tones to discuss the topic of colour.
While the book is a five-minute read for any adult, the message stays far beyond that. CE talks to Divya and illustrator Ruchi Shah — whose vivid illustrations accompany Divya’s words — about the making of this book.
Excerpts follow
What made you choose this topic for a children’s book?
It’s a topic that I’ve encountered my entire life, from when I was a little girl till today. I have also witnessed kids grapple with similar experiences — is light skin better, is dark skin worse, why does skin colour get so much importance, how much are we defined by the colour of our skin? In a country enamoured by light skin, I thought it was time to start popularising a more inclusive narrative. Most importantly, I wanted brown-skinned kids to open the pages of a picture book to see themselves represented, and to dream big — beyond any limitations.
What themes do you like to explore while telling stories to kids or writing them?
I’ve spent most of my career campaigning for brands and now, I do that in the social impact space. The themes I like to explore are around the big ones that we have a difficult time explaining in simple terms. To be honest, I think I write for the child in me and it resonates with children today. I think it helps that I don’t have kids.
The narrative you have adapted is quite interesting — like a poem.
I purposefully chose rhyming prose for the narrative as I wanted to take this big topic and distil it into a catchy, light language that wouldn’t feel preachy. Writing in rhyme also forces me to be intentional about each word chosen, which I enjoy.
What are the challenges involved in writing for kids?
Well, it’s my first formal attempt and I guess I’ll find out more as I go. But so far, it’s been fairly intuitive and I think kids appreciate authenticity and simplicity, so I’ll try to stick to that. I incorporated insights from kids in my friends’ circle and I think that comes through with the themes other kids connect to.
Tell us about collaborating with Ruchi Shah.
As a first-time author, it was a more deeply collaborative process than I had imagined. We spent many hours discussing our vision on how we saw the words coming to life in the illustrations. Given it’s a picture book, it was important to have the visual language tell the narrative with clarity. I think Ruchi has perfectly accomplished this through the many details, the inclusivity and the love that has gone into crafting each of the pages.
What other topics are you working on?
I have a mental health book in the works, and would like to address topics such as gender equality, modern families and environmental responsibility in the future. I’m open to suggestions from young readers and their caregivers who can send a message to me @an_illustrated_world on Instagram.
Divya’s thoughts found a balanced interpretation through Ruchi’s illustrations. On her part, Ruchi found hues —– from biscuits and peaches to stones and sand — as ideal representation for the book.
Was it a conscious decision to include children with disabilities and vitiligo, and one wearing a hijab?
This is where Divya comes in. These were her suggestions, and we had some great ideas that were exchanged about each of these visuals. And these were not easy to create since we are trying to balance creativity with sensitivity. What helped was a unanimous thought about taking this book a little further than others. While vitiligo is a skin condition that we wanted to consciously draw attention to, having a child in a wheelchair or in a hijab, among others, should just become common practice if we are representing the world we live in.
The book involves colour codes in the form of objects that are part of our daily life. How did this idea come about?
When I read the script for the first time, I don’t just read it, I try to see what visuals are taking form inside my head. Earthy clay, teatime biscuits, honey, roasted almonds — all appeared to me as objects forming a colour palette. And I kept thinking ‘How do I incorporate these real objects into the book?’ A girl who loves coding, a boy who wants to bake, a differently-abled writer, a hijab-wearing doctor and a child dreaming of politics — the images are bent upon breaking cliches. And since I love crafting images by hand, I wanted children to explore different materials, find objects and see how they can be used to create images; you can see this in more of my work at @ruchi.saw on Instagram.
What inspires you to illustrate for books on young adults and children.
It is a very special feeling to be able to create something that children want to consume. Thinking like a child makes me relook day-to-day life with a certain newness, and inspires me to play with different materials. This is what excites me. Being predictable, avoiding stereotypes…these are some challenges. I want them to discover things in the book apart from the story. The whole idea is to build a fluid world, which could be imaginary, but can also be possible one day.
How was it like collaborating with Divya Thomas?
Divya is a strong person and that is reflected in her work and the way she writes. I discovered that there was room for both of us to exchange ideas and work on the words and the visuals together.