Dr. Carolina Parada was born in a city perched in the mountains of Colombia. Carolina has a PhD in developmental biology and works as a researcher. She combines her scientific activities with her illustration/writing career.
Her inspiration for both science and art comes largely from the perfection and imperfections of nature.
Carolina loves surrealism, mythology and Japanese food.
She lives in Paris.
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The Story of Girl and Fish is her first picture book.
A fresh Voice
Meet Dr Carolina Parada
What was your inspiration for this magnificent book?
The story was inspired by the beauty and diversity of South American sceneries that I had the chance to see and enjoy during my childhood trips.
This is your first book. Can you tell us about your journey to getting it published?
I made the illustrations and wrote the story for this book some years ago, right after arriving in Paris. It was a very rainy summer, a great excuse to draw and write. I shared a few of the illustrations on social media and received great feedback. I decided then to self-publish it as an ebook, which is not the best format for a children's book. Almost at the same time, I got a message from Red Paper Kite and we started talking about this story. We worked together on it, to make it more suitable for young children. I also recreated the illustrations. And here we are now, very excited to see the book out.
You dedicated the book to 'All the courageous girls of Latin America'. Tell us why this is important to you.
Being a girl in Latin America is not easy. I was one and the default state is being courageous. In developing countries, where the financial and political situation is not stable, kids are usually in the worst position, especially girls. I wish I could do more to change the challenging circumstances that some girls have to endure. Until I can do more, I hope this book will be a hug at least to some them.
What do you hope your readers will take away from Girl and fish's story?
First of all, I hope they have a lot of fun with the adventures of Girl and Fish. Then, the main message I wanted to convey is that of the beauty of helping others selflessly.
Find out more about Carolina here.