Boy Who Tried to Shrink His Name

Sandhya Parappukkaran left her job as a Food Technologist so she could put her feet up and read. Then she rediscovered her passion for children’s books. Her stories are inspired by her multicultural experience and include scrumptious food from her Kerala Indian heritage. Michelle Pereira is an illustrator who spent her childhood in Nairobi, Kenya and now lives in Melbourne, Australia. She graduated from Monash University with a Bachelor of Communication Design and became a professional illustrator after a somewhat extended, but enjoyable, stint of bar work. She has worked with a range of clients such as Penguin UK, Netflix, the New York Times and Marie Claire. She uses bright colours and textural elements to create playful illustrations.

'With gentle compassion and tender wisdom, this Australian import portrays the challenges and joys of starting over in a new setting, juxtaposing fraught school days with the cozy warmth of evenings at home. Pereira’s block print style digital artwork brings Zimdalamashkermishkada’s name to vibrant life in bright orange against the muted pink, green, and brown palette as it sprawls across the pages trailing after him, strikes his desk as a lightning bolt, and unfolds into an endless paper accordion that won’t stay neatly contained. When he begins to teach Elly his name, the unruly shapes begin to take the form of a bird, adding more detail with each syllable until it soars gloriously across a two-page spread in joyous, fiery tones when Elly says the whole thing. This sensitive book will make an excellent lead-in to age-appropriate discussions about difference and belonging.' – The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books