Canada Wild: Animals Found Nowhere Else on Earth
Knowing about my love for Canadian wildlife, Nimbus Publishing asked me to contribute illustrations to Canada Wild, by Maria Birmingham. The book includes profiles on twelve uniquely Canadian animals and documents their diet, behaviour, habitat, and fun facts about each. It includes lessons on what can be done to help these creatures thrive and how the reader can be an ally to the natural world.
Canada Wild is meant for ages 7 and up, and this posed me with an interesting task. I needed the illustrations to be visually engaging and exciting, appealing to young eyes, but still present the animals in a way that depicts accuracy since it is an educational book. I landed on this colourful hand drawn style that renders the animals pretty realistically in terms of their anatomy and appearance, and left the whimsy and exaggeration mostly to the backgrounds. Limited drawing tools and colour palette unifies the whole book despite vastly different landscapes and creatures.
Overall, I’m quite proud of Canada Wild. Not just because I’m happy with how it looks, but environmental conservatorship is something that’s important to me, and I have a deep reverence for all wild creatures. So to contribute work to a book with this ethos means more than just nice drawings ever could.
Find Canada Wild and other books I’ve contributed illustrations to on the shop section of this site. Or order it from your local independent bookseller to support an important local small business!