Colour-lover Aysha Tengiz illustrates a book about a pink bee who befriends a green ladybird

If you’re familiar with the work of illustrator Aysha Tengiz, (if not where have you been?), then you’ll know she’s got something of a soft spot for colour and lively visuals. Her works are punctuated with bright blues and greens, often paired with paler hues of yellow, pink and orange, and throughout you’ll also encounter a whole host of charming characters, frolicking animals and luscious greenery. And so, having honed such a distinctly playful style, when Aysha was approached to provide the visual elements to Lliana Bird’s debut children’s book, Baboo the Unusual Bee, she had no trouble rising to the occasion.

The book follows a pink Bee, Baboo, who loves to dance. Despite his lively friendliness Baboo is bullied and excluded from his hive, only to be befriended by a green ladybird, Lee. “It’s a story about embracing out differences in a celebration of dance and colour,” Aysha says. Though Aysha loves colour and it features as a central component to the story, she still found herself having to “strip it back” in parts, as pages that are too busy can overwhelm children, she explains.

But Aysha has never been one to work with whitespace – as many children’s books do – and so Aysha set herself the task of working out how she could leave as little whitespace as possible, while preventing the pages from becoming too hectic. Set in a garden full of plants and traverses various parts of the day, twilight, night, sunrise and sunset, allowing Aysha to block out the colour of the skies (with pinks, light blues and navy) alongside a healthy dose of green.

Of all the spreads throughout the book, one that stands out for Aysha is the moment Baboo leaves the hive. “He’s really low, that feeling of not fitting in I think is something we have all related to at some point, and I love accessing these topics through picture books,” Aysha says. In the spread, while Baboo cries a tree stump, Asyha’s included a hint of things looking up for Baboo; “hiding little things in my illustrations is also something I enjoy, and there’s a hint of Lee (his soon-to-be friend) peeping behind him!”

Growing up, picture books meant a great deal to Aysha, and researching for the project she found herself returning to the books that marked her childhood, fromJan Pieńkowski Meg & Mog, to Alan and Janet Ahlberg’s Funny Bones. “They were a form of escape, imagination and inspiration, they were what influenced me to pick up a pen and begin drawing. If this book could do that for just one person, that to me is an achievement,” she says. “The story itself is so incredibly heartwarming, I hope it offers comfort to a child who feels like they don’t fit in and gives them courage to enjoy their individuality. Whilst also providing valuable lessons on acceptance, friendship and inclusion.”