Stories, like water, are life sustaining
Swaths of indigo swirl across detailed folk art illustrations in this intricate allegorical tale about the power of storytelling.
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A layered narrative featuring stories nestled within stories begins with a boy in a drought-stricken Moroccan village, where water and storytellers are scarce. Looking to quench his thirst, the boy encounters an ancient raconteur: “The man’s face cracked like dry mud to reveal a toothless grin. ‘Sit down, my boy, and your thirst shall be quenched.’ ” Various tales and their tellers are woven into the story the old man spins, with color-coordinated typefaces and borders helping readers track the different narrators. As the boy listens, his cup fills repeatedly with water, which figures prominently in the story’s climax. Turk (Grandfather Gandhi) combines primitive sketches and simple patterns to create sophisticated multimedia spreads.
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Fountains of blue pour from the mouths of storytellers, cementing the message that stories, like water, are life sustaining. The revelation of the final narrator brings this multifaceted tale to satisfying closure. An author’s note details the inspiration for his modern-day allegory: a real-life resurgence of the storytelling craft in one Moroccan cafe. —Publisher’s Weekly, Starred Review
The Art of ‘The Storyteller’: Behind the Scenes, Part 1
The process for creating ‘The Storyteller’ began in August of 2012 while at an illustration/drawing workshop with Dalvero Academy, an independent school of continuing studies in art and illustration that I have been a part of for many years. As part of a semi-annual trip with the school to DisneyWorld, one of our rigorous days was in EPCOT where I focused on the Morocco pavillion. The pavilions at EPCOT are more than just culturally inspired attractions, they are created by the governments of the countries represented as a synthesis of culture and craft to display their country to the world. Because of that, they are great places to begin learning about a culture.
Visual notes from EPCOT Morocco
The Art of ‘The Storyteller’: Indigo, Tea, and Fire
The artwork in ‘The Storyteller’ was created using a long list of materials including water-soluble crayons, colored drawing pencils, and inks. But my favorite technique in the book involves indigo, tea, and fire! Learn more about this technique (which should not be attempted without adult supervision!) in this video:
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The Art of ‘The Storyteller’: Influences
The style of the artwork in The Storyteller evolved over a long time, incorporating many different influences along the way. In this post, I’ll focus on a few of these influences and how they are reflected in the art throughout the book.
Gustav Klimt
Paintings by Gustav Klimt
Storytelling Celebrated as Life-giving Force
The art of storytelling is celebrated as a life-giving force in this enthralling picture book set in Morocco.
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A nameless, thirsty boy meets a storyteller and is drawn to return day after day to listen to intricately linked stories and to learn the older man’s art. The stories bring not only sustenance to the boy’s inner life, but water to his lips, for in this world, storytelling and water are symbolically connected. Stories will ward off the great drought if the Sahara encroaches on the cities, but only if young people keep the tradition alive. And so, in the manner of Scheherazade, the stories unfold, and the protagonist retells the story of the boy who saved the city from the sandstorm that arrived as a large djinn by telling him a story, day by day. With the stories embodying sharing, creativity, and hope, the life force of cool blue water appears in the illustrations, the antithesis of the destructive brown sand. Beautiful swirls of blue dominate many of the intricately bordered double-page spreads, fighting against the tans and browns of the djinn and the sands he represents. Each spread takes on a life of its own, sometimes highly geometric, other times full of swiftly crayon-drawn individuals, and still others with heavily inked and outlined figures.
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Original storytelling with the feel of the best folklore, enhanced by illustrations done in a style not seen anyplace else. —Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
The Storyteller
From Ezra Jack Keats 2015 New Illustrator Honor recipient Evan Turk comes his debut work as author-illustrator: an original folktale that celebrates the power of stories and storytelling.
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