Gustavo, the Shy Ghost (The World of Gustavo)

Product Information

Can you share with us a little about the collaborative work with the designers and editor at Walker and what this entailed?

I can tell you that making drawings with lots of details has been something that I love doing because those details help me to build a more convincing and unique world. In one hand we had the black and white Universal Monsters tribute and a nostalgic ghost, which made me think of vintage pictures in sepia tones; on the other hand, we have the really bright Mexican colours. 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.

Really love this book - has a really lovely story about a shy ghost, and it doesn't go the expected direction of him changing to make friends, but the friends coming to him, when he shares what he enjoys. My son is a generally outgoing toddler with adults and with peers at school, but with older kids or children he doesn’t know, he gets verrrry shy. As I slowly learned, I realised that you can do wonders with a limited palette because it gives coherence to the illustrations, creates atmospheres, catches the eye, and also, colour conveys meaning, so it’s one of the most valuable tools to master. Mat: With this in mind, another thing that I adored about the book was the celebration of the Day of the Dead.

I have even talked the head into a little revamp of the library so that we can display them properly! She has an MA in Children's Book Illustration from Cambridge School of Art and was shortlisted for the Sebastian Walker Award.Mat: Are there are any contemporary artists/illustrators whose work you admire so much that you think everyone should encounter them? When I was a child, I remember that some people didn’t like the idea of mixing Day of the Dead and Halloween, however, I have to say that I loved and cherished them both because they mean different things. 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.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average.

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. 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. 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. Flavia: My favourite spread is the one where Gustavo is looking at the monsters playing because it really reminds me of my childhood experiences. Some of my favourite characters in the book are Katerina the ‘Catrina’, the elegant skull girl in pink, based upon an engraving by Guadalupe Posada; Alma, the invisible girl who happens to be the prettiest monster in town; and the witch – with a secret name that I cannot reveal yet – who will feature as the main character on my next picture book!

You can also watch this YouTube video where I share the process behind the scenes, and my inspiration for the artwork.Alongside a delightful story that holds our attention throughout, the illustrations are detailed and entrancing.