The girl who spoke to the nile
Picture Book Project by Shiroug Idris
This page presents the picture book project written & illustrated by Shiroug Idris currently in development.
All texts and illustrations are unpublished and shared for review and potential collaboration purposes.
© 2026 Shiroug Idris & Illustrated Arab. All rights reserved.
You can be small, with no power, no army, and still change the world. You can save, not through strength, but through intelligence.
And you can listen to the past not to repeat it, but to honor it differently, and allow it to evolve.
This project is Shiroug Idris’s first work as an author and illustrator. Grounded in an ancient Nubian mythology. It marks the emergence of a new voice while paying tribute to the stories of Sudan that have traveled across generations, often unheard.
- Illustrated Arab Team
The selected storyboard pages
Synopsis
Inspired by a Nubian mythology from the ancient Kingdom of Kush, the story starts in the village of Nab, nestled along the banks of the Nile near Meroe. The villagers, dependent on the river’s floods to grow their crops, once held deep reverence for Hapi, the god of the Nile.
Once benevolent, Hapi has become a wrathful and vain deity. For humans no longer respect the waters, and take without gratitude. Wounded and offended, Hapi now demands a cruel tribute: each year, a young girl must be sacrificed, so that the river continues to nourish the land.
When her younger sister is chosen, the clever and determined elder sister takes her place in secret. Guided by a silver crocodile, she reaches Hapi’s sunken temple. There, she faces the angry god not with fear, but with truth: the people have not turned away from the nature, they have simply lost their way, lost the meaning. And if nothing changes, even gods will fade into silence.
She offers a new gift: not a life, but golden dates, the fruit of Nab’s palm trees, rich with meaning. Hapi accepts. And when she returns, the sacrifice is no longer asked. She saves her sister, and opens a new path, where humans, their beliefs, and the nature around them may begin again.
Technical details
Target Audience: Children aged 6+, along with parents, educators, and readers interested in culturally rooted, symbolic storytelling.
Trim Size: Leporello
Length: 32 pages
Tone: Mystical, contemplative, and symbolic.
Original Language: English
In-House Translation Available: All languages.
Shiroug Idriss
Sudanese Author-illustrator
Shiroug is an artist and medical doctor based in Sudan, with over 5 years of experience as a freelance illustrator. She worked in a diverse range of projects including graphic novels, comics, editorial illustration and children’s books. Her work is deeply inspired by African folklore and mythology, with a strong emphasis on representing Afro-Arabian heritage. Through her illustrations, Shiroug seeks to highlight and preserve the rich narrative of her roots, creating art that resonates with both historical depth and contemporary relevance. She has additionally received the Mahmoud Kahil Award 2025 in the children’s illustration category.