Lou is a little sparrow. He is the main character of a series of bilingual books, that I am both writing and illustrating.

Why bilingual?

It all started when Loulou was born. I wanted to do something creative from home, while still dedicating as much time as possible to her. Therefore, competitive freelance writing with tight deadlines wouldn’t work. So I decided to write a children’s book instead, inspired by her. I shared it on mom groups on facebook and people really liked it. I wanted my foreign friends to be able to understand Lou’s adventures too, so I decided to make it bilingual.

It turns out there is a great gap in the book market, regarding bilingual quality books for children. And that’s why I got proposals from parents (who also happen to be translators) to translate Lou to more languages. Those versions will be available soon as well. You can find all the relevant updates on Lou’s facebook page, here.

About the illustrations

Another important aspect of the book series, apart from the bilingual element, is the aesthetics of the illustrations. I really dislike those aggressive children’s book illustrations, with colors that “pop” and are supposed to be “bright/fun/vibrant”. In my humble opinion, children should not become hyper-stimulated by images. Tranquil, serene warm and earthy are the key words that I have in mind, when I create my illustrations. I also believe that kids are totally able to admire beauty, even if they do not grasp all the details of an image, the way adults do. Therefore they deserve to be presented with images that would please adults as well. Of course, we do not all have the same taste, so have a look at the book preview, and judge for yourself 🙂

The first book of the series is available here. By ordering it, you are not only supporting a work-from-home-mum/penniless artist, but you are also helping create more quality material for bilingual kids everywhere! I made sure that there is a budget-friendly soft cover version available, but if you want something more sturdy, a hard cover version is available as well. In case you live in a country where blurb does not ship, I can order a copy and ship it to you. So don’t hesitate to contact me at alexia.symvoulidou@gmail.com.

You can also contact me if you live in the Netherlands and want to schedule a reading at your school, library or toddler group!

There is a permanent link to Lou’s news on here as well, next to the “About” page 😉