Award-winning illustrator Axel Scheffler visited Athens

Award-winning illustrator Axel Scheffler spent a few days in Athens, dropped by the Ikaros bookshop, and we chatted about the success of the Tick and Tella book series.The books in this series were among the first we published when we started publishing children’s books two years ago. Although the text is short, we entrusted the translation to the experienced Filippos Mandilaras, who brought them to life and named the heroes Tik and Tela (in English they are Pip and Posy).Parents and teachers have found a valuable ally in these books: the stories simply describe moments in the daily lives of the characters as they face and overcome challenges. The simple structure of the text, combined with the colourful and tender illustrations, allows pre-school children to identify with the characters and feel at home. The books have now won a place in the hearts of young readers. Axel Scheffler has gifted us with an original illustration featuring the two heroes, Tick and Tella, in Greece. During our meeting with Axel Scheffler, we chatted about the series’ success in Greece and around the world. Although he believed there would be no further book in the series after ‘The Balloon’, their huge success has made him consider a follow-up title. He was quick to clarify, for anyone who didn’t know, that he hasn’t written the texts for the stories, and on that note we discussed the collaboration between author and illustrator in every children’s book. He spoke to us at length in the highest terms about his collaboration with Julia Donaldson and the books they have created together, such as The Gruffalo, which they have been working on for over twenty years. We chatted about the way he illustrates each book and the creative process behind it. Axel also shared a secret with us: in the books where drawings of Tick and Tella appear, hanging on the wall or elsewhere, they are actually drawings by his seven-year-old daughter! We met in the loft at Ikaros. Axel Scheffler sat in front of the bookcase housing Ikaros’s archive of books published since 1943. Each book, in its own time and according to its genre, left its mark on the Greek reading public. Most of them are regularly reprinted. Now that the catalogue has been expanded to include children’s books, our aim is to help children develop a love of reading and high aesthetic standards from a very young age.On the website www.tikkaitela.gr, parents, teachers and children can find games and activities based on the books in the series, whilst the books are available from kids./wordpress and all well-stocked bookshops.