The tandem of artists formed by Miguel Alayrach and Sergio Montal give us an interview. They are the authors of the text and illustrations of Lledó the police and Quim the supermarket cashier (Unaria editions). Miguel Alayrach has a degree in Journalism and Documentation from the Faculty of Information Sciences of the Complutense University of Madrid. He has worked as a journalist and correspondent in different media outlets.. He has published numerous stories and short stories., as well as children's books among which stand out The firefighter arrived and Pau the nurseo (2014), The magician Vicentín (2017), Whitey doesn't paint anything (2017), The Legend of Boquilandia, the enamelled city (2018), My bed is very elastic!! (2018) y Kowin's jump (2019). He has twice won the prestigious Tombatossals Children's Literature Award with Elspuntentsbrillants del cel (2015) y The flying pet (2018). For your part, Sergio Montal is a graphic designer and illustrator. He studied design at the School of Arts and Crafts of Valencia and, later, He studied image and sound at the Almàssera Workshop School and a Master of Graphic Arts at the UPV. He has more than fifteen years of work experience in printing., photomechanics and graphic design studio with extensive experience in the field of exhibition design, book and catalog layout. From 2006 He begins to take his interest in the field of illustration more strongly.. His style is naïve, naive and spontaneous, is inspired by children's art, often alien to academic learning. GINÉS J. VERA.
The police arrived and Quim the supermarket cashier It is the second adventure started with The firefighter arrived and Pau the nurse. How did the idea of telling these stories about two characters, a girl and a boy with such striking occupations, come about??
Miguel Alayrach: The idea arose with the intention of narrating an adventure, an entertaining story for the little ones, always respecting the classic structure that I prefer, but, at once, innovating with contemporary features such as, in this case, unusual protagonists who dedicate themselves to professions that, both in real life and in children's stories, They are not in any case frequent.
Beyond this eradication of the stereotype in professions and jobs, Both this book and the previous one deal with topics such as companionship, gratitude or respect for older people. What message can we send to mothers, parents and guardians when choosing a children's book for young readers in this co-educational line?
Miguel Alayrach: My stories are based on classic narration in which a problematic issue arises that must be resolved., but with a sensitive background, metaphorical and didactic. My message is that, first of all, the book is selected by the final reader, no matter how small it is and, in any case, let the story entertain. I am not a fan of 100% emotional children's books that tell nothing... I think that from a great adventure, fun and exciting, Boys and girls can feel those same emotions without having to present them so explicitly.. Yes indeed, for me, a final pedagogical message is essential.
As in the previous book, The police arrived and Quim the supermarket cashier, It is also published in a parallel bilingual Valencian-Spanish edition.. Tell us how you value this proposal for children and the offer of books in both co-official languages..
Miguel Alayrach: Whenever possible –since there are situations that for illustrative reasons, typographic, of rhymed texts, etc. cannot be given- I try to publish in both languages, not only for the necessary respect for the geographical and cultural environment to which I belong, also because I consider it a qualitative advantage that the final reader can select the language and enhance, in many cases, the language you least master thanks to an attractive read.
Sergio, you illustrate this co-educational book with Miguel Alayrach. How has this collaboration been?? I think you already shared an award recently, tell us about it too.
Sergio Montal: Yeah, Miguel and I collaborated together for the first time on the illustrated album The flying pet who won the 19th Tombatossals Prize for illustrated children's literature in 2018 and edited in 2019 by the Excellency. Castelló de la Plana Town Hall. The collaboration was perfect, Miguel, as the author of the text, gave me only a few small guidelines about the story and left me complete freedom when doing my work.. That's why when he called me to make the illustrations for The police arrived and Quim the supermarket cashier I didn't think twice.
This book, In addition to entertaining, it carries several messages in the form of values., something that highlights not only the title breaking gender stereotypes at work. From your work as a children's illustrator, How do you see these proposals to include ethical and coexistence values in children's readings??
Sergio Montal: that things are changing, fortunately, it's true. It is important that we get rid of archaic and stale clichés. New values must be presented and, above all, models of characters and relationships developed in diversity and equality.. in that, Miguel's texts are very rich and it is one of the reasons why I like to work with his texts..
Tell us about the drawings of The police arrived and Quim the supermarket cashier. What would you highlight about your work in this book??
Sergio Montal: Well, if anyone knows my work, they will know that I like to work collage. However, these illustrations are one hundred percent digital., there is no such thing as cutting and pasting paper. I like to take each project as a challenge, not to stay in what is most comfortable for me and see what can be best for the album. In this case I wanted illustrations full of many details and color., and digital illustration allowed me. I had worked on other illustrations like this too., but not a complete illustrated album. And I'm happy with the result.
