Mate and Me
The boy upstairs plays in the yard,
his name is Matata.
I call him Mate for short.
When I see him I shout, ‘Hello Mate!’,
but he doesn’t join in my games.
When Mate moves in upstairs,
he has an instant friend.
But Mate is shy and learning
to adapt to a new home.
There’s a new family downstairs too.
A secret family.
Where have the families come
from and what happens when
the downstairs family goes missing?
Where will their silver treasures lead?
A celebration of the power of friendship in the face of displacement and loneliness.
When I read ‘Mate and Me’ I found Matata’s apprehension with his new environment, and his unwillingness to engage with the narrator, added mystery and intrigue to his character.
Visually I chose to keep Matata’s face hidden from the reader to reflect the narrators inability to connect with Matata and to increase the mystery around his character. At the end of the book when the boys become friends his face is revealed, bringing him closer to the narrator and the reader.
Making a story board helps me to see a basic view of what my ideas look like.
The next step is making roughs of the characters
What type of bird to use
The welcome swallow was chosen. It is a real bird. They are very beautiful with rusty orange chests and a hint of metallic blue in their wings they are often found nesting in garages and under bridges. They have cheeky alert faces.
Building on the story board I start to put the finished images together.