Beyond the Mountains of Elbat
The brief: To create a full set of black and white illustrations for a children's middle grade novel, including a detailed map of the world and individual icons for each chapter, along with a full colour cover design. The challenge was to develop characters and scenes that captured the warmth and spirit of the story, as well as the excitement and, in some instances, the sense of danger.
Children's book illustration and cover design
The story follows Ngawai, a young girl living in a sun-scorched land ravaged by drought, who sets off on a daring quest – accompanied by a small but determined Little Brown Quail – to find a lost goddess and restore balance to her world. Their journey takes them through magical lands filled with strange creatures, unexpected dangers, and extraordinary friendships.
The map was particularly fun to work on - working out the connections between the lands and tracing the journey that Ngawai and Little Brown Quail took, trying to give young readers a sense of the world they were about to enter. I do love a map!
This was a wonderful project to work on: a fantasy adventure novel for young readers aged 8–12, self-published by its author, Bertha Tobias, and full of rich, imaginative characters.
Cover design from rough sketch to final illustration.
The book is available to purchase from Waterstones and Amazon.
Services: book illustration, cover design, map illustration, chapter icon design, children's publishing
Ruth recently created the cover and illustrations for my book. They are beautiful and exactly how I pictured my characters.
Not only did she create the wonderful pictures, but she designed the layout, and supported and advised me along the path of self publishing. I’m technologically challenged and Ruth gave me an amazing amount of advice and assistance. Without her my book would never have made it to the printer. I will be forever grateful to her for her patient, professional help and communications along the way.
If you are looking for an exceptionally talented artist, graphic designer, whose artwork will be appealing to children and adults and someone who is highly organised, choose Ruth.
Bertha Tobias, Author