Few illustrators have shaped contemporary South African visual culture quite like Karabo Poppy Moletsane. Known for her bold graphic language, vibrant colour palettes and unmistakable line work, the Johannesburg-born artist has long occupied the intersection of art, fashion and design. From murals and brand collaborations to global campaigns, her work is instantly recognisable. Now, she turns that striking visual vocabulary toward children’s literature with Hugged by the Night, a poetic picture book written by American poet Harold Green III.
The project marks a meaningful first: Poppy’s name attached to a children’s book. While the illustrator has spent years crafting visually arresting work across disciplines, entering the world of children’s publishing was not something she initially imagined for herself.
“It feels really incredible,” she says. “I didn’t think I would be the typical choice for a children’s book. But clearly they wanted to do something different, so I feel really honoured that they chose me to bring the story to life.”
The collaboration began with a minimalistic brief. Rather than a detailed concept or visual direction, Poppy was given a single prompt: interpret a poem that had been adapted into a children’s book. What she did receive, however, was a voice note of Green reading the poem aloud. The poet’s delivery left a lasting impression.
“He has this really thick, textured voice,” she explains. “I wanted the illustrations to capture that same feeling.”
The result is a series of richly layered visuals where line, colour and movement create a sense of depth and rhythm, almost echoing the cadence of spoken poetry across the pages.
At its heart, Hugged by the Night gently challenges a common childhood fear: darkness. The story reframes nighttime not as something ominous, but as a space of wonder and discovery. For Poppy, the theme struck a deeply personal chord.
Growing up, she was intensely afraid of the dark. Bedtime often meant storytelling sessions with her father, who would cycle through everything from Bible stories to African folktales—sometimes inventing tales on the spot when the well ran dry. One evening, in an attempt to ease her fear, he took her outside and asked her to look closely at the sky.
Instead of the pitch black she expected, he pointed out something else entirely: a soft purple hue stretching across the night.
That moment reframed how she saw darkness. Rather than something to fear, night became a space where subtle details and hidden beauty could emerge, an idea that would later shape the book’s visual world.
Despite the story unfolding entirely at night, Hugged by the Night is anything but dark. Poppy fills the pages with luminous purples, electric oranges and deep blues, creating a landscape that feels alive and layered rather than shadowy. Small visual “Easter eggs” appear throughout the spreads, encouraging readers to slow down and look closely.
The intention is to recreate the thrill of discovery - those small moments when a hidden detail reveals itself.
One of the book’s most striking visual choices is the personification of night itself. In Poppy’s interpretation, the sky appears as a woman, an image that carries both symbolic and emotional weight.
For the illustrator, the decision emerged naturally from the poem’s themes of heritage and belonging. She imagined night as a foundational force, something that existed before the world took shape and quietly influences the rhythms of life. From there, the metaphor expanded: just as identity often flows through maternal lineage, the creatures in the story inherit their place in the world through the night. “Women carry identity,” she says simply. “They imprint so much of who we become.”
The visual metaphor transforms the night into a nurturing presence, less a void and more a figure that holds, protects and shapes.
Translating her bold illustration style for a younger audience did come with its challenges. Poppy’s work often embraces dramatic contrasts and strong imagery, so balancing that aesthetic with the sensitivities of children’s storytelling required careful adjustment. Some elements were softened or reworked during the creative process, pushing her to find new ways of expressing mood and movement while keeping the imagery inviting rather than intimidating.
The experience, she says, became an unexpected creative exercise: how to retain the power of her visual language while making space for gentleness and curiosity.
That sense of curiosity also guided the structure of the book itself. Picture books rely heavily on pacing, and for Poppy, designing double-page spreads became one of the most complex parts of the process. Each spread had to function as its own visual moment while seamlessly guiding the reader to the next page. Subtle cues—movement, gaze, direction—lead the eye forward, ensuring the story flows as naturally as the poem that inspired it.
Beyond its aesthetic impact, Hugged by the Night also speaks to a broader cultural conversation around reading and literacy. In South Africa, where many children connect with images before text, visual storytelling plays an important role in building early engagement with books.
For Poppy, that possibility adds another layer of meaning to the project. If the illustrations spark curiosity, if a child lingers on a page, searches for hidden details, or begins asking questions, then the book has already done something powerful.
Ultimately, the message she hopes young readers take away is simple but profound: curiosity is a strength, and individuality is something to be embraced.
“You don’t have to do exactly what society expects,” she says. “Remember where you come from, but create your own path.”
With Hugged by the Night, Karabo Poppy does exactly that, transforming darkness into a canvas of colour, memory and imagination, and reminding us that sometimes the most beautiful discoveries happen after the sun goes down.
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