[Featured Illustrators] Caroline Binch

Caroline Binch's latest picturebook project, Look Back!, celebrates the relationship between a grandmother and her grandson Christopher as she tells him about her Caribbean childhood adventures in the rainforest in search of a mysterious creature called Ti Bolom. Is Grannie’s Ti Bolom real or just one of her stories? Written by Trish Cooke, a British children's author of Dominican heritage, Look Back! was published by Papillotte Press in May 2013.

The illustrations "Grannie as a little girl" and "Christophine is frightened" depict Grannie as a little girl searching for the mysterious Ti Bolom in the rainforest. The illustration "Christoper Ponders" depicts the grandson Christopher reflecting on Grannie's story about Ti Bolom and wondering if it's true.

Grannie as a little girl

Christophine is frightened

Christopher Ponders

Caroline on what Caribbean children's illustration means to her:

I hope that all my books that focus on the Caribbean, including my latest, Look Back!, can lead to better understandings between children from different countries. Gregory Cool, for example, is now read by children in both the UK and Tobago and has led to exchanges between the two countries. I hope my books can lead to making the world a more friendly place where children can identify with the similarities between them and not the differences.

Biography

Caroline Binch is the acclaimed illustrator of Amazing Grace, which has sold more than one million copies and was named "One of the Best Illustrated Children's Books of the Year" by the New York Times. A winner of the Smarties Prize, she was twice shortlisted for the Sheffield Children’s Book Prize. Among her work set in the Caribbean is the picture book Gregory Cool (set in Tobago) which she also wrote; Hue Boy (with words by Rita Phillips Mitchell) and Down by the River: Afro-Caribbean Rhymes, Games and Songs for Children (with Grace Hallworth). She lives by the sea in England but has traveled widely in the Caribbean, having visited Jamaica, Belize, St Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago and Dominica where she researched Look Back!

View more of Caroline's work here:

http://www.carolinebinch.co.uk/

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About Anansesem

Anansesem is an online magazine of Caribbean children's and young adult literature by adults and children. We strive to bring you the best in news, reviews and creative content from the world of Caribbean children's publishing.