Milena Godoy is a 25-year-old Brazilian illustrator. Living in São Paulo and with a degree in animation, Milena found herself as a children's book illustrator and likes to bring to life day-to-day situations, fantastic moods and cute animals. School of Fish (releases Sept. 5 from Albert Whitman & Co.) marks her debut in the KidLit market. Visit Milena's portfolio and check out her social media (@milenabezg) to see more of her work.
1. How did you begin your journey as an illustrator?
It was not a planned thing, honestly. I had just finished high school and was feeling a little lost, so I started taking drawing classes and then I found out that this is what I actually liked and needed to do. I've always been passionate about illustration (and picture books!) and I never thought I could do this for a living until then, but I'm glad that everything turned out the way it did and I'm able to communicate with the world through my art now.
2. When you’re not illustrating, what are your favorite things to do?
Oh, I just love spending time with my husband and our pets, Lola and Tito - we binge watch a lot of tv shows and films haha! But I also enjoy taking a little time to myself and cook a nice meal, sew my own clothes, knit a little, play my bass. I'm always trying to learn something new.
3. What are you working on? What’s next for you?
I'm just coming back from a short break, I had to take this time to take care of my health and try to relax a little. But I'm opening my own illustration studio with my best friend - who's an incredible illustrator. It's called Gami Studio and we plan to keep on doing editorial work, especially children's books.
4. If you could tell readers one secret about School of Fish, what would it be?
Most of the kids I illustrated for this book are based on children I know. I like drawing what I see and what I live, so I took inspiration from kids that were in school with me, cousins and so on. I think it is a form to immortalize these people and cherish all the time we spend together.
5. What was the most challenging thing you faced while illustrating this book? I think the hardest part was finding the in-between. I had to mesh my style and a more realistic way to illustrate things that are scientific - like all the fish and their life cycle. I needed the illustrations to be clear for the kids who will read this book, but I still tryied to make it fun.
6. If you read this book to a room filled with kids, what message would you want them to leave with?
I'd like them to understand how important it is to value culture and nature and how both things mix. I'd want them to embrace ancestrality in a way to preserve our environment, with respect to all living things and the cycle of life.
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