The Mandrill Illustration - in Kite Tales!

I was chosen to illustrate a poem about a mandrill in this summer’s Kite Tales newsletter. Kite Tales is published by the LA chapter of SCBWI.

THE MANDRILL

by Thalia Chaltas

Mandrill manhandled the mangroves

and bit them till they cried,

He ate their leaves, stomped their roots,

and then lay down and died.

I started with a ton of preliminary sketches, since this assignment was officially A Big Deal, since Kite Tales is read by a lot of kidlit industry professionals. Mandrills and mangroves are not everyday images in my life, so I decided to really research what they were all about before committing to any of my sketches. I think it paid off.

Here's a link to the issue, my illo is on page 13!