Once Upon an Island: stories from the mapmaker

Maps influence how you see the world. They’re powerful images but they never show reality in its entirety. When a mapmaker designs a map, decisions are made about which features to include and what to leave out. This decision boils down to the mapmaker’s interests or agenda (or indeed that of the mapmaker’s patron!) so it’s important to understand who the mapmaker is and that any map they make comes from their particular perspective.

Historically, most mapmakers and those who commissioned them have been men and the shape of the world is very familiar to us through their eyes. Alternative viewpoints are important though and it’s refreshing when you find a book about land written from a female perspective. Award-winning author, Alice Albinia has written Once Upon an Island for which I was commissioned to create twenty maps.

As part of her research for the book, Alice interviewed women from around the world about where they live. This atlas for children shines a light on small islands from Chiloe in the South to Baffin in the North, giving us an insight into lesser-known parts of our planet. Each double-page spread shows a unique island home reflecting a woman’s take on their culture, food, history and language.

For example, there’s sunny Vis in Croatia with the white sands that tourists love, magical coastal caves and a pirate-queen history.

There are tiny islands floating in the rivers of the Amazon Rainforest. Here the women of the Saracá community lead the fight against the climate catastrophe in a place where water levels are dropping and illegal logging threatens the homes of all.

And the islands of Tiwi in Australia where turtles lay their eggs on red beaches and marriages are influenced by the lineage of the mother’s family…

The surrounding water gives heart to the character of these islands but it’s the voices of women that have given heart to these maps. This big atlas of small islands was made by and for daughters of the world and I’m proud, as a daughter of the world, to have my illustrations included in it. We live in a wonderful place with much still to explore – sometimes you just need a different perspective to see the planet afresh.

Helen Cann is the illustrator of Once Upon an Island - out now!