It is a book inspired by northern myth and folklore, visual traditions and landscapes. The cultural background and surroundings of my own childhood in South-Estonia, forests in every direction. Nightland Colouring Book reflects the understanding that there are things in the night that are best left alone but there are also hidden blessings. And help often comes unexpected.
I believe young children deserve to be treated with respect. They deserve stories that are well written. They deserve questions that are left for them to answer. To be trusted to make up their own mind and at the same time to get to know the richness of where their cultural roots can reach.
Nightland Colouring Book consists of twenty images (that can be coloured) and a story that goes with them. The originals of the illustrations are my ink drawings and I am also responsible for the concept of the book. The text has been co-written with Lemmit Kaplinski, a steampunk wizard and saviour of the art of printing. Translation assistance was given by Diana Norma Szokolyai, a poet and performance artist from NYC.
Nightland Colouring book has already been published in Estonian and has proven itself to work for many people of different age groups. Its Estonian version also already has a small international following.
I am Ellom, a writer and illustrator from Tartu, Estonia. My first passion is poetry and poetic collaboration but I have also worked with children's books for some time, published three books for young children in Estonia and illustrated a collection of Saami fairy-tales.
My publishers in Estonia have found their true passion and decided to become a printing museum. I fully support them in that endeavour (and recommend to visit them in Tartu!) but that means I am on my own when looking for a way to make Nightland Colouring Book available internationally. I have all the rights to my work (and agreements with collaborators) so I am also free to do what I want with it.
Making the book available in English is a natural development – as much as Nightland Colouring Book draws inspiration from traditional cultures and the place where I was born, my community of friends and work-partners is very much international. This book is for that community. www.ellom.ee
Ello-Mall Toomet
