The Invisible King

Author: Chrissi Nerantzi; Art Director: Louise Batchelor; Designer: Benjamin Greenhalgh

Illustration contributions by the following > The Manchester School of Art, Foundation Art & Design students: Evie Hurst, Lucas McCoy, Lucy Waterworth, Ellie Kilshaw, Lisa Silva, Will Fairbrother-Clarke, Marianne Storer, Georgina Moore, Ted Bain Smith, Luisa Ventisei & Phaedra Maria Chatzidamianou, a 5 year old girl

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The invisible king is a story written in March 2020 when the United Kingdom and almost the whole world, went into lockdown due to COVID-19 and the pandemic it caused.

The story became a picture book project in collaboration with academics and students from the Manchester Metropolitan University who embraced this idea. Together, we wanted to create an open-ended picture book for children around the world that invites young readers and their families and carers to engage with the story creatively and critically during these challenging times, to problem solve and bring hope.

How will this story end? The readers will decide. Print/Download the book and use your imagination to draw on the pages with pencils, markers, an app or cut things out and stick them on to take the story into new directions. Use your imagination. Share your creations with your friends and with us if you like via Twitter using the hashtag #invisibleking.  

Everybody in the team has contributed on a voluntary basis to create this book and has worked with great commitment and creative energy. We would like to thank Tessa Strickland and Prof. Malcolm Press for their thoughtful advice during the making process.

We are making this picture book freely available under a creative commons license so that it can be read by children around the world.

We would be grateful if you are in a position to do so, make a donation to the Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity at https://www.justgiving.com/mayorofgreatermanchesterscharity to support the most vulnerable during this pandemic. Thank you for considering this.

Happy reading and stay safe!

The #invisibleking picture book team