My Interview with Libros para Niños

I'm honoured to share that I was recently interviewed by Libros para Niños, a Central American foundation that promotes children’s literature and reading across the region. In the interview, we talked about how books can help children celebrate their heritage and identity, and how fantasy and folklore form a part of that.

You can read the full interview here:
lpninos.org – Ian Gibson Interview

Muchas gracias to the team at Libros para Niños for the thoughtful conversation and for the work they do to bring meaningful stories to young readers throughout the region.

Character Designs by Students of Hummingbird Elementary

Back in February, I had the pleasure of leading a Drawing and Writing Workshop at Hummingbird Elementary, where students created original characters to fit into the fantasy world of my book, The Land of the Night Sun.

At the school’s Expressive Arts and Book Fair, they proudly showcased their drawings and short scenes featuring their unique creations—which ranged from heroes and critters to ghosts, monsters, and even a talking lantern!

A huge thank you to the wonderful teachers who supported the workshop, and of course to the students, for making the experience so inspiring. I can’t wait to see where their stories take them next!

Snapshots from FILEY 2025

I made a trip up to Mérida, Mexico to attend the 2025 FILEY Book Fair, where the Belize Book Industry Association and Cubola Productions had a booth featuring Belizean books, including my latest fantasy novel, The Land of the Night Sun.

I’d like to thank Cubola for giving me the opportunity to attend the fair and for showcasing my book and its illustrations, and all the wonderful people I met there. ¡Los yucatecos son muy amables!

Look forward to going next year!

Drawing & Writing Workshop

I recently held a workshop about character design and creative writing for Standard 5 & 6 students of Hummingbird Elementary School in Belize City. The students are reading my book, The Land of the Night Sun, in their Reading & Comprehension class, and the school asked me to hold a workshop where the students could design their character to fit into the story.

Needless to say, it was a blast seeing what their imaginations came up with. We also held a couple of group activities, one being the “Character Hot Seat”, where a student pretended to be their characters while being asked questions from their classmates. They also went around examining each other’s drawings and tried to guess something about a classmate’s characters solely based from visual clues. I participated myself with my own character, Hap Hap the cowardly potoo (pictured below), and read a short scene featuring his encounter with the protagonist, Itzel.

 

The Twins: Itzel and Miguel

I’ve realised I actually have very few drawings of the twin protagonists of The Jade Necklace series together! So here are little Itzel and Miguel.

 

Meet the Author

In February, I had the pleasure of visiting several libraries across Belize City for a series of Meet the Author events to celebrate my novel, The Land of the Night Sun.

I had the opportunity to discuss the history behind the book, my creative process, and answer questions from students and teachers.

These events were only made possible by the support of Cubola Publishers, the welcoming staff at each library, and of course the students and teachers who came out to participate.

I’ll be holding similar events in other parts of the country soon, including San Ignacio and Benque Viejo del Carmen. I look forward to continuing these conversations and meeting more readers across Belize.

 

FILEY Book Fair 2025

Excited to announce that Itzel and I will be attending the 2025 FILEY book fair in the colourful city of Mérida in Mexico, from 22-30 March!

 

Decodable Reader

I illustrated a decodable reader now used in schools to teach children how to read. Here are a few of the pages!

Book Launch for "The Land of the Night Sun"

We held the book launch for The Land of the Night Sun at the Imagination Factri in Belize City, which doubled as an exhibit showcasing illustrations from the book.

A special thanks to all those who attended, including the students of St Mary’s Anglican Primary School, for lending me their ears as I discussed the ideas behind my book and read an excerpt about Itzel getting harassed by a very persistent peccary flogging his perfumes.

The book launch was also covered on Channel 5 and Channel 7 Belize evening news. You can watch the full segments here.

New Map of Xibalba

I’ve drawn up a new map of Xibalba, reoriented so that north points upwards.

 

New Book Trailer!

Put together a new trailer for my book, The Land of the Night Sun, formatted for best viewing on mobiles and tablets. You can check it out below!

“The Land of the Night Sun” was featured on TV!

I recently appeared on Channel 5’s Open Your Eyes to discuss my book, The Land of the Night Sun!

You can watch the full interview here:

Launch of “The Land of the Night Sun”

I’m excited to announce that my book, The Land of the Night Sun, the first book in my fantasy-adventure series The Jade Necklace, will be available in stores in Belize from December 2024! To celebrate the launch I put together this trailer for the book (because if films can have trailers, why can’t books?).

Looking Across the Lake of Tears

Thought of a scene in The Land of the Night Sun where the heroes Itzel and Quashy are looking across the vast lake in the centre of Xibalba. The painting Wanderer above the Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich came to mind, so I decided to make this little homage to one of my favourite classical painters.

 

The Jaguar and the Coati

Illustrated a scene from my book in which a jaguar (Kinich Ahau) and a Coati (Quashy) are debating the aesthetics of spots versus stripes.

 

New Sounds & Letters book

Another book in the Sounds & Letters series will be released by the end of the year and used in schools across Belize. Here are some of the stories I got to illustrate for it!

New Children’s Book: “Caspian the Salty Sailor”

I illustrated a children’s book about a boy who competes in a regatta by sailing on the back of a big turtle. Naturally it made for some fun scenes! Here a few pages from it.

Book Week 2024

We’re celebrating Book Week in several locations across the Cayo district in Belize. I designed this poster for the occasion!

 

Illustrations for "Living Together"

Here are some samples of the illustrations I’ve been doing for the updated versions of the “Living Together” textbooks for primary schools in Belize.

New Children’s Book: “Charlie’s Adventure”

A new year and a new book illustrated! This was a short one about a boy’s adventure through his dreams, written as a song.