A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words: Vassilis Papatsarouchas

When, back in January, I had the pleasure to supervise the set up of the 1st Children's and Young Adult's Bookfair in Athens, I was privileged to meet, amongst other talented people, one of Greece's most prominent illustrators: Vassilis Papatsarouchas.

From Peter & The Wolf

Vassilis Papatsarouchas was born in 1975 in Athens (in Perissos). He studied Painting and Graphic Arts at the Athen's School Of Fine Arts. He has participated in many collective exhibitions with paintings, constructions and video art. Up to now he has illustrated almost forty books, three of which were also written by him. Amongst his awards, he received in 2004 the State Award of Illustration for the book "Little Red Riding Hood", an adaptation by Argyro Kokoreli, in the same year he also got the 1st award from the Greek division of IBBY for illustrating "Chrysoula" by Lila Patroklou.

From Peter & The Wolf

This year, he is nominated for the Andersen Award for Illustration. The Andersen Awards are international awards given for children's literature and are very prestigious. Vassilis' talent is so obvious, it surely was a matter of time before his nomination for such an award was announced.

From The Wizard Of Oz

His latest work is for the"The Twelve Little Red Riding Hoods and The Clockwork Wolf" book, an ingenious sequel to the original childhood tale by Christos Bouliotis. The superb, surreal illustrations of Vassilis Papatsarouchas add to the quirky storyline, making the world of the twelve twin sisters seem more real to the book's readers, transporting them into a world full of fantasy and imagination.

From The Twelve Little Red Riding Hoods and The Clockwork Wolf

His style is completely original. Idiosyncratic and rule-breaking, he combines high-brow seriousness with childish fun, all in a modern context. His use of colour, combined with minimal lines and intense perspectives, contributes in making the storyline stand out.

From The Cat Leopold At The Art School

His illustrations have graced editions of "The Wizard Of Oz", "Peter And The Wolf", "The Clown's Magical Umbrella" (also written by him), "The Notebook Of Coincidences", "Pinocchio In Athens", "The Mystery of Anomvrida", "Don Quixote", "One Love, Seven Colours And A Wolf" (collection), "Chrysoula", "Mitsogatos in the Open Market", "The Cat Leopold at the Art School", "The Ghost Of Prince Gelastroni", "And Tell Me About Your Toys", "A Forest For Thirteen" (collection), "The Sleeping Button-y" (written by him), "You'll See, You'll Like It", "The Clown's Magic Umbrella" (written by him), "Dorilenia", "The Him", "Stories That Nobody Knows", "The Show Starts... Now", "Schooner Corallia", "The Tale Is...", "The Abduction of Princess Hammock", "Six Small Big Tales" (collection), "Parsifal", "No To The Mutated Bad Wolf", "Pizza Strawberry", "The Boy That Drew Goblins", "Bliah", "Hop O' My Thumb", "Pinocchio And the Discobolus Statue", "Pinocchio Torch-bearer", "Jack And The Bean-Stalk", "Games With The Wolf", "Panic in The Geometry Land", "The Coincidence Notebook", and others.

All photos were taken by me during the Bookfair last January and they do not do any justice to Vassilis' talent. I promise to make up for this by scanning some images off his books and putting them up in a future post.

UPDATE: Unfortunately Vassilis did not win the Andersen Award this year, but I am sure he will in the future!

Ecology starts at home: Healthy Child Healthy World

Once upon a time there was a loving couple who had a wonderful child, their life's blessing. When they lost her at age 5, fro ma rare form of cancer, after trying to cope with their enormous loss, they started wondering if they could do something to help other children avoid this fate. This is the way CHEC (Children's Health environmental Coalition) was founded in 1991 by Jim & Nancy Chuda and Olivia Newton-John, their dear friend and Colette's godmother. Since then many years have passed and lots of things have happened regarding making home a safe and healthy environment for children. CHEC is now called Healthy Child Health World, and continuous to help parents understand the world they bring their child into and how to make it a safer place environmentally. With a special focus at home and the dangers lurking in it for children's health, it strikes a sensitive chord into every parent's heart.



Their website is a wealth of information and knowledge about many things regarding the environment and children. It is separated into six main categories:



1. Food and nutrition



2. Baby care



3. Prevention



4. Non-Toxic and Natural Products



5. Hazards and Threats



6. Sustainability and Lifestyle



They even have a blog, which is a very interesting read. You can donate for their cause and enlist in their mail list to receive periodical updates by normal mail or e-mail. Your children will thank you for it.

All photos courtesy of Healthy Child Healthy World