The Kind Mage

'The Kind Mage' is a gateway dark fantasy pop-up book, incorporating a simple, find the missing pieces puzzle. It follows the story of a kind mage as he travels the lands of the Suvarna Kingdom, collecting dismembered body parts to exorcise a spirit, at the request of the King.

The story embraces themes of willingness to help, healing, the necessity of sometimes asking for help and how that is alright. It is a perfect journey for early picture book readers transitioning to consume more complex and expressive phonetics. The book also includes a map with names derived from the classical language of Sanskrit, providing an opportunity to interact with words and multicultural composite pronunciations. The rich imagery a nod to ancient South Indian cultural influences provides a refreshing visual feast that helps introduce historical and cultural nuances while bits of paper engineering bring a sense of tangible interaction and fun.