Meet the Creators: Chitra Soundar and Poonam Mistry on You’re Strong With Me

Last month, we were thrilled to release the paperback edition of You’re Strong With Me, written by Chitra Soundar and illustrated by Poonam Mistry. Part of the acclaimed You’re Safe With Me trilogy, the story follows Mama Giraffe and Baby Giraffe as they journey across the grasslands, exploring themes of courage, learning, and the bond between parent and child.

For this edition of our ‘Meet the Creator’ series, we spoke to Chitra and Poonam about their favourite moments in the book, their creative processes, and their advice for aspiring writers and illustrators.

Meet the Author: Chitra Soundar

Do you have a favourite scene or line from You’re Strong with Me? What makes it especially meaningful to you?

Chitra: Poonam Mistry’s illustrations in the series and in this book in particular are stunning. So it’s really hard to choose a scene that I love most - I love all of it.

From the way the words and the illustrations work together, my favourite scene would be the page where the baby giraffe learns about sounds.

“Pay attention,” said Mama Giraffe. “Every noise and every quiet could be a warning.”

What do you hope children feel—or take away—when they read You’re Strong with Me?

Chitra: Young children especially under 10s learn a lot from their grown-ups. And it’s true for animals and it’s true for humans. I did, and still remember little things I learnt as a kid. I hope children take to heart that grown-ups will be there to support them, protect them and teach them things while they are still growing up. There is space to grow and be whoever we want to be when there are people around us who love us, protect us and teach us the ways of the world.         

Where do you usually write, and are there any essentials in your workspace or in your routine that you couldn’t do without?

Chitra: I write in my study mostly and I write most days when I am already working on a story. When I’m planning a story, I write in a notebook and that could be anywhere - from my sofa, to a cafe or on a train.

I need my liquid ink pens for sure, a lovely leuchtturm1917 notebook in  bright colours and some fine-line pens in many colours so I can write notes on what I’ve written, edit and doodle.

Having published over 60 books for children across different age groups and genres, what are your top three pieces of advice for aspiring children’s authors?

Chitra: I’ve made a number of reels and videos on these - these are my three golden rules:

a)    Read widely in the space you want to write in

b)    Write lots of different things and many stories - work on the craft always.

c)    Read aloud every story at every stage to check if the story is working.

What do you think is an underrated or often overlooked element in children’s books?

Chitra:

●      We need more inclusive baby books - board books, novelty books.

●      Funny and irreverent stories by authors from diverse backgrounds - it seems that WoC are often expected to write about their lived experiences rather than funny ones.

Meet the Illustrator: Poonam Mistry

What was your process like creating the illustrations for You’re Strong With Me. Tell us a bit more about designing the spreads and working with the text.

Poonam: You’re Strong With Me was my third book from the series written by Chitra Soundar so the format and layout of the book was already familiar to me. I hadn’t really drawn giraffes before so I spent most of the research phase looking at the patterns and forms of them.

What I loved most about illustrating the book was working with Chitra’s beautiful text. There was one spread (the one with the Zebra’s) that I was so excited to illustrate because it opened up so many different ideas and interpretations on how the line ‘the birds bring stories of the grasslands’ could be represented. I just had so much fun being able to decide what would be interesting to illustrate- hopefully I did her words some justice.

I initially created a visual mood board for the book filled with lots of African textile patterns and art and sketched the roughs of the spreads. My roughs only really focused on composition and didn’t have much detail involved. Once the spreads were given the go ahead, I drew the neat versions of the artwork using black ink pens. I usually work larger than the final artwork size so I can add lots of details and intricate patterns. Once they were finished, I scanned these and added more details on Photoshop till the final spreads were complete.

The first image I illustrated was actually the cover. Since I had already illustrated the previous books in the series, it made the most sense to start there.

Is there a particular memorable response from a young reader (or parent or educator) to You’re Strong With Me that has stayed with you?

Poonam: I recently had a parent tell me You’re Strong With Me was their daughter’s favourite story to read at bedtime. She told me her daughter loved spotting hidden things in the pictures like the birds in the trees when mama giraffe and baby giraffe are escaping the blaze. I love how children really take time to absorb the artwork and Chitra’s gentle text. The spreads have the text integrated in the illustrations in the hope the audience takes the time to linger over the pages.

What inspires your art practices?

Poonam: I am obsessed with patterns and textile designs. I adore Kalamkari art, especially as it is created by hand, contains so many intricate patterns and details and uses natural inks. I love patterns that are found all around the world and in nature.

More recently I have loved experimenting with traditional art materials like graphite pencils and acrylic paints. The longest part of my art process is usually on the computer so it’s been a lovely change trying new things and being able to experiment in my style without using digital editing tools.

I’ve also really enjoyed playing with texture in my work, something I’ve never really done before. I enjoy reading folktales and fables around the world, which inspire me to write my own stories.

What are your top 3 pieces of advice for illustrators for children’s books?

Poonam: I would say the top 3 pieces of advice I would give illustrators is:

1. Try and draw every day, even if it’s just a quick sketch of something that isn’t related to any book projects. Keep a sketchbook with you and draw anything that inspires you. It can be quite intense working on children’s book artwork when you have deadlines and having the quick break to draw something fresh and different can help keep you inspired.

2. Don’t be afraid to experiment. Have fun playing around with new materials and methods of working. Don’t be scared to try something new or make mistakes.

3. Be true to yourself and what you love to draw. Your best art will come from this.

Through Chitra’s thoughtful storytelling and Poonam’s richly detailed illustrations, You’re Strong With Me offers young readers a comforting and empowering story about growing up, learning from those who care for us, and finding strength in the world around us.

As the paperback edition reaches new readers, we hope that the warmth, creativity, and care behind the book will continue to resonate with children, parents, and educators alike.

Want to learn more about the creative processes behind our books directly from our authors and illustrators? Explore our ‘Meet the Creator’ interviews here!