Flooded: Winner of the Klaus Flugge Prize for Illustration 2023

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A gentle story of climate change and community, this is a visually stunning debut using a minimal text, richly detailed images and a limited palette of striking Pantone colours. Frances Lincoln) The water seems nothing ore than an irritation at first, and then a chance ‘to wear wellies‘. If you like to analyse stories and ask questions and think about why the author or illustrator made certain choices, there's lots here to discuss.

She completed her MA in Children's Illustration from the prestigious Cambridge Anglia Ruskin course in April 2021.Preoccupied by their own concerns, they deal with the practical inconveniences of rising water in humorous and inventive ways until finally they listen to the one voice urging action, and work together on a solution. There is an image, based on the Oxford Circus print, where a panda bear was talking with a tiger on the tube platform, blaming the politicians about what was happening. Yourself and Bob are much cherished in our booky world and I personally really appreciate everything that you do.

But as in this story if we leave it too late, the “clean up” will take longer and the consequences may be with us for far longer than necessary. Funnily enough, when I started working on Flooded I wasn’t thinking about writing a story about climate change. This page is an allegory to the attitudes we have seen towards climate change over the years, and it only seems to becoming a more pressing issue as more and more people are adversely affected, through droughts, wildfires etc. Flooded draws the readers’ attention to the increasing problems of climate change without being explicit.

All the animals ignore the obvious and go about their busy lives, disjointed from one another and preoccupied by their own problems. You can see it as an allegory for climate change but the attitudes and responses would fit with how to face and deal with any large problem that seems difficult to solve.

It was selected by the Unpublished Children's Books Showcase, as the third most voted project, with 29 votes from the jury. Not only is Mariajo Ilustrajo’s storytelling deft and attention grabbing, but the way she sequences the story, with huge landscape images against comic style intimate commentary, is assured. In this story we see animals living with a problem, the water levels are rising and everything is getting flooded . Observing people on the tube, in museums, cafes, etc, really influenced Lost, and Flooded of course! For more details, please consult the latest information provided by Royal Mail's International Incident Bulletin.

Altogether, Flooded is an exceptional, confident and necessary picture book that we recommend to readers of all ages. Eventually, the flood water reaches a height that they can no longer ignore and they have to work together to save their city.

I will take this time to draw again from life and find new ideas for my fourth book which will be published in 2025. Altogether, it means that we wonder and think on this book, alongside looking back over it and making constant new discoveries. 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. Could you tell us a little about current and future projects and what we can look forward to reading from you in the future.I always enjoyed drawing people in cafes and markets, but it’s something that I don't always find the time to do, so this module forced me to do it non-stop and reminded me of the importance of it. Working with a limited colour palette and negative space is one of the elements that make Flooded such a success. No one minds at first as it was just a little bit of water, but as the city carries on with its usual rhythm, the smaller animals start to realise that it is all becoming a rather big problem. I don’t remember any particular book that influenced me in my childhood but there are definitely illustrators who inspired me during my studies when I hoped that I could become one, such as Ana Juan, Javier Zabala, Rebecca Dautremer, Esther Gili, Elena Odriozola, Isabelle Arsenault, etc.