Tiana Khalia Elijah is a dynamic artist from Alafua and Papua New Guinea, whose work is featured in Samoa’s First 10 Book Series for children launching this Saturday 28 September.

This initiative is called Tatou Faitau or Let’s Read by Asia Foundation in partnership with Samoa Early Learning Foundation, a local charitable organisation dedicated to enhancing children's learning, especially literacy and reading. Tatou Faitau or Let's Read, aims to foster a love for reading among young children while preserving and promoting Samoa’s rich culture.

Samoa’s first book series is part of a 10,000-book electronic library from across Asia and the Pacific, translated into 60 languages. This collaborative effort brings together the talents of 12 local authors and illustrators. Each book in the series is designed to resonate with Samoan children, featuring stories that reflect their everyday lives, cultural practices and unique environment.

As a child, Tiana wanted to be an archaeologist or character design artist.   

“I started drawing at the age of two years and progressed over the years. My main inspiration for drawing is my love for all of God’s creations, he is the best and only Master artist in my opinion,” she said.

“I also used to be a maladaptive daydreamer, so drawing was a way I could showcase my imagination.”

Another inspiration includes old Disney cartoons. Tiana is on her way to achieving more of her goals.   She also loves designing and fashion. She hopes to one day attend fashion design school to learn more.  In addition, she’d like to contribute to the fashion world after studying for a law degree starting next year.

Tiana illustrated Going to the Market and Unbuttered Bread, stories many children will resonate with.   These stories are significant to the young artist as they allow her to explore Samoa in different ways and help Samoan children relate to the stories through art.

“The best part about this project was getting to work with talented people who have similar interests to me and being able to create something for the children of Samoa,” she said.

“Balancing school and illustrations were my biggest challenge, I love drawing, but I also had to prioritise school work and other things”.

Although this is not the first time being published, Tiana recognises the value of experience. She hopes that children see the details of her work and how they each tell a story, especially how authentically Samoan the illustrations are.   

Her previous work was published as a collaboration between the National University of Samoa and Auckland University in 2023. Her illustrations were used as a poetry anthology, a book, and a collection of poems from different teachers and lecturers from both universities.  

Tiana encourages artists to have fun with art, and experiment with different art styles whether they think it looks good or not.

“Art doesn’t need to be professional or look amazing, it’s all about the imagination and creativity of the creator,” she said.

The official launch of the Samoa 10-book series will take place on 28 September, with events scheduled at various schools, early learning centres and community reading programs across the country.

More than 2000 copies of the book series will be donated to schools, organisations and groups in Samoa.