ATLANTA – Award-winning illustrator Nicole Tadgell brings words in a book to life through images she creates by hand.
“Ever since I was a little kid and could hold a crayon is how I started loving art,” she recalled.
Tadgell has created the artwork for more than 30 children’s books.
“I really immerse myself as much as possible into the author’s words and the world that the child is experiencing,” she explained.
Tadgell’s most recent work is “We Dream A World,” a children’s book written by Yolanda Renee King, the only grandchild of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Corretta Scott King.
“When you open the book, you’re going to see, really, just images that are so beautiful,” King said.
This 15-year-old social justice advocate calls the book a letter to her celebrated grandparents and a call to action. The sense of inspiration rang true for the book’s illustrator.
“After I read the manuscript, it is really what inspired me,” Tadgell said. “Her words are very moving, very poetic, very inspirational.”
Tadgell used watercolors to create whimsical characters, scenes and portraits, realizing this picture book captures Dr. King’s legacy and his dream through his granddaughter’s eyes.
“A lot of her words are very visionary, and I knew what she was about is inclusiveness and empowerment, and I wanted to pull images of children being themselves, playing and envisioning what their future can be,” Tadgell explained.
The book is just the latest way King is trying to impact the world. A teen now, she has given speeches to large crowds since she was 9. Her passion and determination showed when she spoke at an MLK event at Clemson University a year ago.
“Like my grandparents and my parents, I believe that we must do more to create a culture of non-violence in America,” she told the crowd.
Tadgell hopes “We Dream A World” will help spread that message and more.
“It gives me great hope and inspiration to see young, strong people like Yolanda rising up and taking the mantel and pulling young people into the future,” she said.
