History of Cars by Elliot Kruszynski

History of Cars is a new book written and illustrated by Elliot Kruszynski and Published by Cicada Books. It is a brilliant, brightly illustrated look at the history of cars, from BC (before cars) through the age of steam and into the modern cars we use and those we may see in the future. Read on for a charming guest post from author/illustrator Elliot Kruszynski.

Join Professor Wooford McPaw and friends on an
exciting journey through the history of cars! Learn about the very first car
prototypes, how they have developed throughout the years and some of the mad
and interesting people who designed them. Want to know how a cars engine
actually works? Or what about seeing some of the weirdest cars on the planet,
then this is the book for you.

Working with my amazing publisher Ziggy at
Cicada Books to create this first book was a lot of fun. The initial structure
of the book was formed through the historical timeline of cars creation up
until modern day, then visual ideas and drawings were brought in! The tone of
the book and lead characters developed naturally as the writing and drawings
evolved. We wanted every spread to be as engaging as the last, and keep up a
good consistent pace which was a bit of a challenge with some of the less
obviously fun topics but I think we (Ziggy) did a good job. It was my first
time creating something of this scale that had to maintain a constant look and
feel, but we are both super happy with the final book.

Professor Wooford Mcpaw’s History of Cars and
the rest of the upcoming books in the series were something I’d been thinking
about creating for a long time. I thought about the sort of books that were my
favourite as a child, books that could be thumbed through and looked fun but
also catered to a more meticulous child (me) interested in reading and
rereading facts till I knew them off by heart. My ideal outcome was to make
something that all children could engage with, if they aren’t extremely keen on
learning the facts then there are still lots of good visuals and jokes to
hopefully keep them turning the pages.

The Professor is the star of the show, an
enthusiastic, talkative and slightly know it all professor who is also a dog.
Why is he a dog? Because dogs are fun and everyone knows that. The Prof also
has a trusty smart tablet called Mrs Tab that pops up and drops hard facts
throughout the book, we liked the idea of having a bit of technology in there
to go side by side with some of the more historical pages to give it all a
modern feel. More sidekick characters will be slowly introduced  with every new book released and as the book
series grows so will the chance for characters to return and the world to
expand. Ultimately I would like the books to be quite self-referential and
reward any readers who pay attention to the little details, something I know I
loved as a child.

Least important of all who I am? My name is
Elliot Kruszynski, a London based illustrator and author. I like to draw,
paint, print and generally make lots of fun things. Well there really is
nothing else left to say except to go and get your hands on a copy of the book
and to get reading!