“Bea is worried. Something BIG has happened, and now everything is different. Schools are closed. So are restaurants, movie theaters, parks, stadiums, and zoos. When Bea goes for a walk around her neighborhood with her parents, everyone is wearing masks, and the world looks empty.”
Just as it begins, La gran cosa is a book designed for children. Words play a fundamental role in communication, but in children’s literature, illustrations also take center stage.
That is why, when the book’s two American authors, Alexander Friedman (former chief financial officer of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and former White House fellow) and Angela Meng (former journalist, investment executive, and model), had developed a story to explain to children around the world what was happening in the wake of COVID-19 and how to find the silver lining in the situation, they reached out to Álvaro González, who holds a degree in Graphic Design from Universidad ORT Uruguay.
“They called me to help bring their writing to life. In children’s literature, the text is just as important as the illustrations, and you always need to emphasize certain points to complement the story emotionally,” says the designer.
“Color is a great storyteller”
González opted for an artistic style that was more emotional than descriptive to illustrate *La gran cosa*, so that the message would resonate more strongly with children. As he explains, the goal is to reach as many children as possible around the world. “Personally, this issue really touches me; there’s an entire generation being shaped by the coronavirus, and it’s defining many lives,” says the graphic design graduate.
To achieve that goal, the illustrator made full use of color, which, he notes, “is a powerful storytelling tool.” According to González, he relied on color to set the mood on each page, ensuring harmony with the story that Alexander and Angela had written.
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“The story inspired me to create the characters. As I read the first draft, our protagonist Bea, her mother, and her father began to take shape in my mind. The sketches came together pretty quickly. I suppose you could say they were there, spending their own quarantine inside my head all this time,” explains González.
The development of the characters goes beyond what the story tells us, and that, as the designer points out, is what fascinates him most: “Why does her father have a thick beard? Why does her mother wear a casual bun? Why does Mrs. Eva have purple hair? There’s a reason for everything, and I suppose we’ll have to wait for Bea’s next adventure to find out the answers to those questions.”
From the United States and Uruguay to the world
Given the rapidly changing situation caused by COVID-19, it was essential that *La gran cosa* be published in record time. According to González, the book was ready for release in just two weeks.
In addition, it was published in multiple languages: it was originally written in English and was also translated into Chinese, Italian, and Spanish, precisely so that the message could reach as many countries as possible.
“We want parents to use the book to talk about the topic with their children, for schools to incorporate it into their curriculum and make it their own, and for it to be shared among friends and family—that’s why it’s completely free,” explains the illustrator.
In the future, it will be possible to purchase *La gran cosa* in print through Amazon (on demand), and all proceeds will go to charities related to COVID-19.
