Most of you should be familiar with the book by the English writer Rudyard Kipling titled "Mowgli". It constituted the first part of "The Jungle Book" depicting Mowgli's childhood and the early stages of his adult life in the jungle.
I received an offer from the largest children's publishing house in Moscow to create illustrations for this book, and after a year and a half of work, it was published in 1976. Since then, it has been reprinted numerous times, with millions of copies in circulation to this day.
For me, it was an incredibly intriguing subject. I firmly believed that a book should not only entertain children but also instill values of kindness, nobility, and the willingness to uphold these ideals. In short, it should inspire them to become worthy individuals in their adult lives. As I interpreted the author's intentions, his book perfectly encapsulated these ideas. Thus, I saw my role as an illustrator to visually convey the essence of this book to children.
However, even at that time, I felt a sense of sadness that the book was not in color, and I yearned to create colorful illustrations.
As fate would have it, almost 45 years later, while living in Germany, I had the opportunity to fulfill my long-cherished dream. The same publishing house decided to republish the book, this time with color illustrations. I dedicated over a year to this endeavor, and upon reviewing the outcome, the publishing house expressed its enthusiasm and urged me to complete the illustrations promptly.
I had three months left to finish when, unexpectedly and without explanation, the publishing house withdrew its agreement at the end of 2021.
It's a rather sorrowful turn of events, but I am relieved to be nearing the completion of these illustrations.
