Gustavo, the Shy Ghost (The World of Gustavo)

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Not only is Gustavo the Shy Ghost set within the Day of the Dead, but the warmth between the characters, the interest and unique storytelling delight! The first blend I tried was too limited; the second one was too colourful and there was nothing really magical about it, so I had to stop for a while and think about the world I had just created. Flavia: Learning how to use colour has been a slow process, I remember that on my first illustrations I tended to use all the colours of the rainbow and all the textures at the same time – what a nightmare! Drago won the prestigious Klaus Flagge Prize for this entrancing, funny, empathetic and original picture book. More than anything in the world Gustavo wants to make a friend, but he also has a problem: he is very shy, so whenever he tries getting close to the other monsters in town, he realizes they can’t see him.

Flavia: I just moved from Mexico to the UK to do a PhD, I have been living on my current address only for a few months so I am afraid that it still needs decoration, but here are pictures of my studio in Mexico City. Was the idea behind the story largely based on your own childhood and why was this an important message for you to share? Although he loves all the usual things about being paranormal such as walking through walls, he’s too shy to join in and make friends. There was just the right amount of choice to suit everyone without being overwhelming and I received comments from parents and staff about the quality of books offered compared to previous sales which have always been based around current crazes and well known celebrity authors.We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others.

It's a cute story about a ghost who is too shy to speak to anyone but by being himself makes friends anyway.

From Mexico my favourite illustrators are Erika Meza, Estelí Meza (they are not related), Juan Palomino, Jimena Estibaliz, Pam Medina and Sofia Weidner. You guys were so fab and Dawn was such a lovely presence in the schools - I will absolutely be in touch next time I'm in your neck of the woods. The main difference between Gustavo and me, is that, sadly I cannot do the ghostly things like walking through walls, making objects fly, glowing in the dark or playing the violin.

I know that this is not how the story ends – at some point I even considered that Gustavo could be a real boy disguised as a ghost – but as the plot evolved the sheet joke became irrelevant as Gustavo was already showing his true self. I have even talked the head into a little revamp of the library so that we can display them properly! I haven't charted out my visits for the summer term, but I'm sure there are several in the south) and thanks so much for being so fantastic! Can you share with us a little about them, from their initial concepts to their completed design and, perhaps, a little of their origins?Very nice story and illustrations, keeps my little one engaged and creates opportunity for further discussions while looking at the illustrations. He loves looking at the “ghostes” and also enjoys talking about Gustavo’s violin, being an avid music appreciator.

You can also watch this YouTube video where I share the process behind the scenes, and my inspiration for the artwork. I’ve been seeing this book on Pinterest/ig influencers’ photos of their kids’ seasonal bookshelves and I wasn’t sure about it—I am very picky about what messages I am representing to my toddler through books, and like them to have nice illustrations as well. From around the world, I really love the work of Isol, Sara Fanelli, Carson Ellis, Jon Klassen, Marta Altés, Anushka Allepuz and Beatrice Alemagna - the list is endless!

Throughout the whole story, there was an authentic sense of someone knowing and celebrating Mexican culture and the vernacular. It was such a pleasure to meet you both, and I really appreciated how smoothly and professionally you ran everything. A great story about making friends by being yourself and the illustrations are a constant visual delight. I was at my last school for 4 years and we had ********* book fairs every term – and every term, I was disappointed by the narrow range of books. As an adult, I immediately loved it—in college, I threw what would have been a really fun Halloween party for my work friends, who all said they would come and told me literally just hours before how excited they were…but when it came time for the party, literally no one showed up except my 3 closer friends.