Jessica souhami biography

Before she became a writer and illustrator, Jessica was a puppeteer. She made shadow puppets and, together with her puppet company Mme Souhami and Co., she travelled around the country bringing to life some of the stories that people have been telling one another for hundreds, and even thousands, of years. In the early 1990s Jessica stopped touring. She still wanted to tell stories but now she wanted to do it through books. Her first book was called The Leopard’s Drum, a story from West Africa. She went on to retell fantastic tales from around the world in her books including Rama and the Demon King, King Pom and the Fox, and Honk! Honk! Hold Tight.

Jessica’s shadow puppets, did not entirely go away; you can see their influence on her artwork style. Jessica creates her pictures using a collage technique, and one of the first things she decides is what colours to use. Each book has its own unique palette of colours that best captures the mood of the story. Onc

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Focus on Folktales: Jessica Souhami

by manz

London born author Jessica Souhami studied at the Central School of Art and Design. In 1980 she formed Mme Souhamiand Co, a travelling puppet company using colorful shadow puppets with a musical accompaniment and storyteller. By the early 1990s she stopped touring, but still wanted to tell stories, yet through books. Her first was The Leopard’s Drum.

She has adapted and illustrated numerous folktales for children, and her books are absolutely delightful! You might recognize some of the stories from attending preschool storytimes at the library.

Here are more of Souhami’s books that AADL owns that are worth taking a look at – the illustrations are wonderful, and with her cut-out illustration style with characters leaping across pages, you can absolutely visualize her work done in shadow puppet form.

Mrs. McCool and the Giant Cuhullin

Foxy!

The Little, Little House

Sausages

No dinner!: The Story of the Old Woman and the Pumpkin

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