May 2022 Debut of the Month | Winner of the UKLA Book Award 2023 ages 3-6 | Winner of the Klaus Flugge Prize 2023
This is a brilliant debut novel from the winner of the World Illustration Awards Overall New Talent winner for 2020. The unnamed city wakes up to a small amount of water everywhere and everybody ignores it and gets on with their lives, except for one small creature who knows it will become a problem, but nobody listens. As life in the city becomes more and more problematic even the large creatures realise they must help the smaller ones, they all become fed up with having to deal with the issues of working in water all the time. Even the excitement of wearing Wellington boots all the time is not enough! It is at this point that everyone realises they must work together to solve the problem and to not let this sort of thing happen ever again.
Illustrated in muted colours with a vibrant pantone blue for the water there is much humour in the illustrations and text, with many laugh out loud images before everyone realises that something must be done. The solution is simple when everyone works together.
The text is minimal. I recommend this strong new talent in the making. The book has a strong climate change and community message that is vital for everyone now. This is a book that will appeal to all ages even though it is intended for the young. I look forward to seeing much more from Mariajo.
Join LoveReading MD Deborah Maclaren as she chats to judges Lydia Monks and Dr Sarah McConnell and the 2023 Klaus Flugge Prize winner Mariajo Ilustrajo.
Flooded is the funny and beautifully illustrated tale of animals who live in a city that is ever so slowly flooding. The flood comes gradually at first. All the animals ignore the obvious and go about their busy lives, disjointed from one another and preoccupied by their own problems. Eventually, the flood water reaches a height that they can no longer ignore and they have to work together to save their city. All the animals join together in a line and pull out the plug that is drowning the city.
This is an exceptionally illustrated story that teaches a message not to let problems fester and with a little team work and community spirit, no problem is insurmountable.
Mariajo Ilustrajo is a multi-award-winning author-illustrator based in the UK. Her debut Flooded published in 2022 to widespread global acclaim: it was sold into 22 languages, won a score of prestigious literary prizes and received glowing international reviews. Her second book Lost (2023) was published to the same fanfare, with the brand new I Hate Love Books available now.
After 15 years working as an illustrator, she earned her master’s degree in Children's Book Illustration at Anglia Ruskin University and chose to focus her career as a children's book illustrator/author.
Mariajo loves to cook and to draw, and fills dozens of sketchbooks with her daily scribbles. She lives with her partner, young daughter and their new puppy