Isle29 Publishing
Incorporated in Slovakia in September 2022, Isle29 s.r.o. is a publishing business that promotes books authored exclusively by Max Dedikov, Saule Tokenova and their collaborators. Together we produce books for children in the field of fiction and music learning.
Management & Authors
Saule Tokenova
Co-founder, Pianist, Piano Teacher, Composer
Drawing from her brilliant talent as a professional pianist and piano teacher, Saule Tokenova writes innovative piano tutorials for children and adults. She focuses on classical repertoire and selects pieces that are fun to play and exquisite to hear. Saule believes that learning the piano can be made into fun. When something becomes fun, application and effort follow naturally. Saule was born in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Max Dedik*
Co-founder, Writer, Translator
A Kazakh-born writer, translator and a resolute perfectionist, Max is the hand behind the Books’ texts and overall concept. His first success as a writer came with the publication of an illustrated piano tutorial in Slovakia in 2017, which he had co-written with his wife, Saule Tokenova. The genres he enjoys writing the most are Children’s Books, the only and truly free genre.
* A pen name for Maxim Dedikov
Collaborators
Louay Daoust
Illustrator
A French-Lebanese artist, Louay is the illustrator behind the fantastic artwork of Islt29's latest title 'Puppets of Tyre'. Born in Paris in 1991, he had lived in Beirut, Lebanon from 1993 to 2022. He is currently based in Toulouse, France.
Louay Daoust studied at “l’Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts” (the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts), and graduated in 2014 with a Master’s Degree in Illustration and Comic Art. Heavily inspired by a five-year stint in a publishing house for schoolbooks, where he was responsible for the illustration of over 40 textbooks, storybooks and animation, Louay Daoust specialized in whimsical, dynamic and energetic illustrations with an educational purpose.
Some notable works in this field include: Illustrations and co-writing for the first Lebanese Animated Musical Film with Adaimy Studios, “Alwan Beirut”. Illustrations for the “Sense of Tumor” books by Raquel Bahnam. “TR1-X1” a short animation for the ITFS 2019 (Festival of Animated Film Stuttgart) with Noura Kabbani, which was awarded the “ Prix du Jury”.
Artem Sklyar*
Illustrator
A gifted Kazakh-born artist, Artem has collaborated on a number of projects including the Piano Tutorials and some of this website's artwork. In his heartfelt work he follows an ancient principle that genuine art should be pleasure to the eye and be able to cultivate finer feelings in us. The magic of his Illustrations creates a warm, fascinating setting of a fairy tale.
* A pen name for Artem Gorchakov