“For someone who thinks visually, text can often come in the way of telling a story. The lack of words can sometimes be liberating. It presents a different challenge and excitement. You don’t always need words,” said Naga illustrator Canato Jimo, speaking at Lit for Life Unplugged x Zhouyu Hosts on Friday at Zhouyu in Alwarpet, Chennai.

The event involved a scintillating conversation between the award-winning picture book creator and Rosella Stephen, Editor, The Hindu Sunday Magazine.

The two panellists discussed creating whimsical, rooted books for children. The conversation further veered into an in-depth discussion about artificial intelligence’s presence steadily creeping into the world of illustration and design. This was followed by a meal dominated by Meghalayan flavours by Chef Ahmedaki — founder of A’Origins, a boutique dining experience in Shillong.

Mr. Canato said people often infantilise the process of creating books for children. While it may seem easy, books for children are often layered. Verbose sentences that adults tend to write must be distilled into crisp, single sentences for children, he said. “It is not just an art project. It is intentional. Illustrators often think about how they can take the narrative or tension forward in a book,” he said.

Asked what makes a truly Indian picture book, he answered with a corollary, adding it was futile to view India as one and paint the people in the picture book as those wearing salwar kurtas and riding elephants. “There are so many Indias,” he said. The author of the popular book Snip, also added the representation of the Northeast in Indian children’s literature could not be limited to folk tales. “That lens is dangerous and just checks a box,” he said. Mr. Canato added that despite more indigenous books from the country, things hadn’t changed much for them. “The priority must be on telling authentic stories with lived realities,” he said.

The author and the moderator then moved on to discussing AI and its interference into the world of children’s book literature. This is when Mr. Canato said prompts copying the styles was not just unethical but also immoral. “[Studio] Ghibli took years to create their visual style. I will draw the line there. AI is stealing from us to create. It is nothing more than theft,” he said. He added that artists tend to have distinctive style and the focus should be on furthering a deeply individualistic artistic vision while collaborating with different authors, publishers, and editors instead of further reliance on AI. Ms. Rosella suggested that the audience “know their artist”, while Mr. Canato ended the talk asking people to hire “real people who can experience nature to write and draw their books.”

“Support your local artist,” he said at the end of the talk.