Trish Cooke is the author of So Much! illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, as well as many other books for children. She is also a playwright who has created various retellings and adaptations of children's fairy tales, including the Olivier Award-nominated Cinderella. Trish Cooke lives in northern England.

Sophie Bass is the illustrator of Windrush Child, written by John Agard. She draws inspiration from her mixed British and Trinidadian heritage and from music, social justice, mythology, and symbolism. She works by hand, employing traditional techniques with gouache and pen to create contemporary images characterized by strong figures, vivid colors, and a distinctive style. Sophie Bass lives and works in London.

Cooke's narrative. . . along with Bass' colorful, swirly gouache illustrations, evokes the oral storytelling style of classic fairy tales through repetition. A vibrant, culturally specific look at a classic fairy tale.
--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Bass's vibrant gouache illustrations conjure a lush and fanciful landscape, befitting this moving work that twines magic, map, and story.
--Publishers Weekly

While its bright gouache illustrations evoke the swirled coordinates of the fairy tale, THE MAGIC CALLALOO. . . is also firmly rooted in the history of enslaved Africans braiding escape routes into their hair. . . The twists and turns of Cooke's brilliant storytelling feel as dexterous as the wise woman's fingers braiding Lou's hair. Each line has the possibility of a seed. And each seed has the possibility of rooting to a place as faraway as it is close. The first time I opened the book, I could have sworn I saw the speck of a seed caught in the spine. I tried to shake it out as one might shake a mysterious tree for unknown fruit. I closed the book. I opened it again. The seed was gone, but something almost forgotten took root again.
--New York Times

Publisher: Bound to Stay Bound Books

Pub date: 2024-09-03

Length: 32 pages