Sybil is physically no more. Yet she will continue to live within our hearts for many more decades.
She made such an impact through her books. She was also a fine human being. Her books were meant for children but adults too enjoyed them. She had her own unique style of drawing and designing.
Sybil was a journalist and so was her husband Dharmapala Wettasinghe ('Wette' as we called him). They met at
In our case, in addition to being at
Starting her career as an illustrator for newspapers, Sybil moved on to writing children's stories. She wrote her first story, 'Kuda Hora' (Umbrella Thief) in 1952. It was published three years later and turned out to be a most popular book among children. Many years later it was translated into Japanese and won its first award at the Bologna Book Fair, and was published in more than 13 countries including
Sybil next wrote 'Duwana Revula'. Many more followed. They were beautiful stories which children loved, presented in her easy style of writing.
Being bilingual, Sybil was able to reach children with a preference for reading in English. One of her books - 'Hoity the Fox' won two awards in
In
Sybil was chosen as one of 60 of the world's best book illustrators in a survey conducted by book clubs in
Apart from her own books, she illustrated other authors' work and was always in great demand. Her most recent project, a children's book written by
Sybil was often invited to serve on international panels. Once she was the sole invitee from
When
Two colourful books - 'Mallitai Matai' and 'Punchi Lamai Rattaran' - she wrote and illustrated for
As the much respected filmmaker Dr Lester James Peries wrote in 'Crystal and Clay', Sybil entered into the universe of children when she wrote a story. 'In her work there is serenity, a tranquillity which one hesitates to refer to as being influenced by a pervading Buddhist ethos but one does discover over and over in her stories the traditional pieties of rural life.' He also noted a special quality in her writing for children - the absence of violence and horrors.
Sybil was a rare combination of talent: a fine illustrator; a clever creative writer; an excellent story-teller and teacher; a good conversationalist and above all, a caring human being.
The children will continue to remember her.
© Pakistan Press International, source