Belly Kids’ surreal take on the story of Osiris

In a string projects that have included a Bill Murray Colouring Book and a collection of Kurt Cobain stickers, the arts label has now unveiled the illustrated Osiris book, written by Belly Kids founder  Michael Coley and illustrated by Nick Alston.

The charming book tells the tale of the Egyptian god of the afterlife. Described by Belly Kids as ‘a drama of true adventure, lust and betrayal’, the story is given a cute twist by Alston’s colourful illustrations and Coley’s surreal take on dialogue.

Peppered with wonderful exclamations – ‘she was hella busy!!!’, of Osiris’ mother, Nut, on giving birth to five children in as many days; ‘he was a real dude!’, on Osiris himself – the book makes for a hilarious read, and one that’s rather informative to boot.

‘I’ve always been obsessed with ancient Egypt. It’s in if the first truly exciting things I learnt of at school!’, says Belly Kids founder Michael Coley.

‘It was such a different world. Sitting in my dull classroom, I drifted to a land of death and adventure.’

The book is the first in Belly Kids’ Ancient Egyptians series, which will explore the gods, the goddesses, the myths and the rituals of the ‘ever awesome’ period in history, it says.

Osiris is the first in a series of four or five books, all penned by Coley.

He says, ‘Hopefully they’ll all be funny as well as fun! It was always my intention to write a series like this, it just fitted so perfectly with Nick’s work.’

Alongside Osiris, other featured characters will include Horus (he’s the one with the falcon head), Bastet, the cat goddess, and Ra, the Egyptian solar deity.

The project will culminate in an exhibition in October at an east London gallery, where a series of Ancient Egyptian-themed prints, paintings, 3D cut outs, cut-outs, ceramics, t-shirts, pillow cases, masks and banners will be on show.

Osiris is released in September can be ordered from Belly Kids priced £6. It comes with a free print if ordered now.