Ruby Elliot

Part One - Silly Me

We asked illustrator Ruby Elliot, aka Rubyetc, to share a month of diary drawings.

The result is Silly Me.

Adventures into the absurd, animals with attitude, frank stories of an anxious brain, Ruby's incredible cartoons have featured in The New Yorker, the BBC, the New York Times and many more.

Now, a selection of her new work is brought together in this one-off collection, which reminds us...

Sometimes it is OK to be silly.

Silly Me is The Pound Project's first book written and drawn entirely by an illustrator.

Words on Silly Me

“I loved drawing as a kid, hated it at school and then found it again after I became unwell in my teens. Drawing gave me a way to communicate the difficult things that were going on for me when words felt too much. It also made me laugh when very little else did.

“Words are excellent. Pictures are great. And marrying the two is, for me anyway, one of the best things in the world for conveying thoughts and emotions to others in a way that is easy to understand.

“We need things to read and look at that reflect us personally, or else reflect something universal. These things tether us together when everything else seems relentlessly fraught.”

Part Two - Silly Us

First, there was Silly Me. Then, there was Silly Us.

In an exclusive sequel for The Pound Project, illustrator Ruby Elliot (aka Rubyetc) explores relationships – where they start, where they get muddy, where they end up.

Partners, pets, people you'll know only for the bus ride into town. Why do we all need each other so much?

This book might have a few answers...