Elish and the Wicker Tale Comic

by Timur Akhmedjanov

Earlier this year we started two campaigns to help co-fund our charity project for children with autism.

‘Elish and the Wicker Tale’ is a graphic novel based on the orginal story by Kamran Salayev. It follows the life of Elish, a young boy who has trouble communicating and coping with the world around him. Elish would rather keep to himself, doing what he loves more than anything, crafting wicker artifacts. Once trouble stirs in his world, however, Elish is set on the path of adventure, forced to step outside his comfort zone and confront his fears in order to help those around him.

Elish’s behavior and insecurities mirror those of children from around the globe who suffer from autism. Just like Elish, children with autism find it hard to understand and relate to people, so they end up devoting their time to something they can understand, usually a hobby or craft such as wicker-making. Kamran Salayev’s goal is to promote awareness of this subject through his book and Timur has decided to join him in that endeavor.

As of spring 2020, Timur has been working on a comic/graphic novel adaptation of ‘Elish and Wicker Tale’. With support from the crowdfunding campaigns, we are able to publish the graphic novel, allowing children both with and without autism to access this story in a more visual and engaging form. Sales will also contribute to the cause, with 20% of profits going directly to charities and organizations that tackle autism and make the lives of children affected by autism easier and happier.

The main objectives of the project:

Draw attention to the social inequality of autistic and healthy children.
To create a new tolerant look for children through the illustrations.
Show the main opportunities of children with autism through the character of “Elish”
This crowdfunding project will help to take a fresh look at the whole social problem and change the established human worldview of the issue.