The Kraken's Itch: When Kraken has an Itch, everybody gets sca...

The Kraken's Itch follows the fantastical classic tale of the terrifying legendary sea monster. In this children's book adaptation the Kraken still attacks ships and strikes fear into sailors but this Kraken does so for a different reason. Kraken's motive is not to get to the sailors but to relieve a persistent itch he is bothered by. As the story progresses Kraken explores ways to rid himself of this affliction deciding finally that barnacles on the hulls of ships be the best remedy. This results in disaster for sailors and their ships. Captain John and the crew of the cargo ship 'The Jenny' hatch a plan to solve the Kraken's itch once and for all. Using traditional watercolour and ink on paper, this brightly coloured picture book is set mostly at sea and underwater and features recognisable icons of the coastal town of Fremantle, Western Australia throughout the book.

About the Author

Darren Willans was born in London in 1967 and migrated to Perth with his family in 1985. Whilst always having a love of all things art, he worked for many years as a Signwriter for iconic Fremantle signwriting company Parnell Signs. Following formal study, he then turned his attention to pursue a career in graphic design and illustration. Darren now works as GM Creative at a growing digital marketing agency in Perth. "My love for children's books was established after a school excursion to The Literature Centre with my son. We saw and learned all about the process of making kids books. Although the day was for the kids, I was blown away with what I saw and knew then that was what I wanted to do." "Whilst having many influences, from a conceptual level Shaun Tan has been a great influence on my work. Tan said, "When words and pictures are put together they can produce something larger than the sum of its parts." Aiming to bring these two elements together to make something magical is a constant driving factor in my work." Darren lives in the Fremantle area and can often be found scribbling ideas at his favourite Freo coffee shop.

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