Colombian illustrator and writer Valentina Toro launched the Mexican edition of his book “My monster and I”, published in Planeta Junior. In the novel, she tells the daily life of a girl who does not have many friends, but a monster who begins to accompany her in her daily life. The author’s narration is accompanied by her illustrations, as Valentina has that double artistic facet. About her training, Toro commented: “I started as an illustrator, since I was very little I like to draw, think about stories about images. Since I can remember I have been fond of children’s books, because of how they combine images and text. I am fascinated by this double language of image and text. Although since I was little I liked to write, I did not take it seriously as with illustration ”.
After studying illustration and design, Valentina studied a master’s degree in creative writing: “As I learned that stories were my thing, I made the decision to expose this double talent. It ends up being the same talent: it is talking about the same thing from two different languages. The purpose is the same: to create fictions ”.
“My monster and I” is a metaphor about loneliness and the way we fit in or not in the world: “This particular story was quite beautiful, it started as a very personal process, not as a story to be read by others but as an exercise. Almost to make peace with childhood anecdotes. I discovered myself. I came to the conclusion that it was about loneliness, that many children live at some point in childhood, some of us are more marked than others. What I wanted to achieve with the illustration is not only that they were aesthetically beautiful, but to illustrate a feeling, that the reader would find something that cannot be narrated in the text. Feel ourselves in that atmosphere of the lonely, the magical or the fantastic. It was my great challenge ”.
After deciding to publish this novel that emerged from childhood evocation, the creator was welcomed by the Colombian edition: “When this book was published my biggest fear was not finding empathy in the readers, but a lot happened. I think my greatest finding with this text, and my greatest satisfaction with publishing this book was to confirm that one can relate to other children through their toys, their strengths such as climbing a tree, but our greatest allies, especially in childhood , will always be the books. They are a guide, like a map that helps us understand the world ”.
Given the success of “My monster and I” in its country of origin, the Mexican subsidiary of Planeta also launched it: “It was like having unlocked a new level, that it reaches any other country is a satisfaction, especially for me that I had so afraid that other readers will come to him, it is a very personal, intimate book ”.
The book opens with a quote from Maurice Sendak, famous writer and illustrator. Regarding the influences, Valentina added: “I would say that my greatest teachers and almost my amulets when writing a book have been Maurice Sendak, his most famous book is ‘Where the monsters live’, but there are many books by him that have served me to understand how childhood works, beyond children’s literature. Roald Dahl, is one of my favorite authors, ‘Matilda’ is a book that never ceases to amaze me. And also the classics, such as ‘Alice in Wonderland’, ‘Peter Pan’ among others ”.
SQM
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