The book of Toon Tales

In this project, I wanted to create a set of stories about Newcastle upon Tyne that share both real historical locations and a bit of imagination. Each location has its own story and a character telling the story. This playful, heart-warming illustrated book captures and represents the essence of the culture and community of this lively North East city.

The process started by writing stories and followed by researching each historical and cultural location mentioned in the book. The next step was a sketched visualisation of the book, making the composition of the text and illustration balanced on each spread. In the final stage I illustrated each spread and completed the layout by adding the titles and text. Once this was done, I created the cover and prepared the file for print.

As an addition I created a hard book cover for each book after they were printed.


"Not so far away up north is a place, where life moves at an exciting pace. Past an angel on a hill, with seven bridges standing still, a Quayside on the horizon that looks pretty, where stories can be found all around the city.

From St James’ Park and the metro line, to grabbing a sausage roll at noon. Meet the residents, who will share their tales of the Toon. This is where the blurb will end, take a look inside and meet everyone, including Horatio and his new friend."

The Book of Toon Tales Published in 2025 by Sima in Stripes
www.simainstripes.com. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, without the prior permission of the author and illustrator. ©Sima in Stripes 2025 ©Simona Hodoňová