This was an exciting job involving illustrating my first children’s book cover for the beloved New Zealand author David Hill. Set during WWII, the book follows a young adult who’s posted as a Coastwatcher in the Solomon Islands.

The cover design was to set the scene in an engaging yet lighthearted way appropriate for the younger audience. With this in mind I decided to work with negative space from jungle leaves to depict the main character’s viewpoint and role in the story. The colourway was chosen to further paint this picture of being on post on a tropical island night.

The internal diagrams (of a map and radio) where to have a realistic feel for the timeline yet have a creative flair to appeal to the youth audience.