butterfly city
"The good thing about visiting places that don't exist is that you can do it at any time and you don't need to pack your suitcase..." This is how the illustrator ** Ana de Lima ** ends up convincing us that yes, definitely, the destinations that she paints in her book Atlas of places that do not exist (editorial Mosquito Books Barcelona) are necessary.
Traveling to them is very easy, as much as getting carried away and forget about fear, insecurity and worries.
The rest? Turning the pages of a book with you, through delicious illustrations and texts of exquisite sensibility , we will reach the highest lighthouse, we will discover the City of Butterflies, we will tour the Inverted Valley or we will know the story of the Sleeping Whale, the one that will only wake up when "all the inhabitants of the city that it carries fall into a deep sleep at the Same time".
sleeping whale
“From the beginning we agreed that the book should have a certain magical and surreal tone , which made us enjoy a lot imagining possible geographical settings and the stories that unfolded there” , tells Ana about the creation process that she shared with mia cassany , editor of Mosquito Books Barcelona and author of the texts that can be read in the book.
Tranquility, sweetness, absence of prejudices, feeling that literally everything is possible and freedom, that which tastes like fresh air.
The pages of Atlas of places that do not exist envelop the reader as one goes through them and distances him from the overstimulation to which the world subjects us, ours.
“All those things are present in our world, it's just that sometimes it's hard to recognize them or they're hidden by other negative feelings or acts that also exist”, reflects Ana.
tallest lighthouse
“The trick is to remember that we can always fall back and take refuge in nature to recover that peace and balance” she advises.
And it is that nature plays a fundamental role in the creative process of the illustrator and that shows in her work.
“In general, my work is strongly influenced by nature and, by reproducing it, I show my admiration and respect for it. I believe that nature is the greatest creative force there is and my best teacher.
inverted valley
Although she acknowledges that she likes the idea that this Atlas of places that do not exist can contribute to making reflect on the importance of caring for the environment and living in balance with nature, she assures that both she and Mia were clear that the book "I did not have a concrete or didactic message , as often happens in children's books.
“We just wanted stimulate the imagination of readers, surprise them and then invite them to dream of their own invented places”.
And by readers we understand children and not so children because, as stated in the declaration of intent of Mosquito Books Barcelona, "Do we make children's books... or not... this no longer depends on us..."
marine forest