Ilya and Mr Moon is a story that was written by my late mother of Ilya, my son, and his adventures with Mr. Moon. Each night Mr. Moon visits him and takes him on journeys across three continents: Australia, South Africa and The Netherlands.

These are the countries we, as a family, have either lived in or have strong connections with (Ilya was born in the Netherlands and have never lived in South Africa). So in a way, the book celebrates the experiences Ilya has had in the first few years of his life and the places he has been to.

Togehter, Ilya and Mr Moon visits Sydney, Amsterdam, the Kruger National Park and many more places. Each morning, his mom finds evidence of where he has been in his bed, for example, a little heap of beach sand, etc. The book celebrates the wonder of childhood discovery and the excitement around these.

The illustrations for this book was done with traditional media: they all started with sketches of pencil on paper. These sketches were traced on a lightbox to refine the outlines, then coloured in, using coloured markers and pencils. Some were done in graphite pencil only. Each chapter contains three illustrations (two main and one small illustration) and an illustrated title page.

I have not been able to finish the illustrations for the book before my mum’s passing away, so by continuing the journey in doing so is also a way of working through the unavoidable process of grieving.

Progress of the book will be posted on my blog (see it on www.tanyarochat.com).