Life of Pi needs little introduction. Since it was first published in 2002 it has entered mainstream consciousness and remains one of the most extraordinary works of fiction in recent years. In October 2005 Canongate launched a competition with "The Times" to find an artist to illustrate Yann Martel's international bestseller. Soon the competition expanded as the "Globe" and "Mail" and "The Age" newspapers also launched a search in Canada and Australia. From thousands of entries, Croatian artist Tomislav Torjanac was chosen as the illustrator for this new edition of Life of Pi.

'My vision of the illustrated edition of "Life of Pi" is based on paintings from a first person's perspective - Pi's perspective. The interpretation of what Pi sees is intermeshed with what he feels and it is shown through use of colours, perspective, symbols, hand gestures, etc. 'The idea behind this approach is a kind of an extension of Mr. Martel's idea as expressed in this quote: "It seemed natural that Mr. Patel's story should be told mostly in the first person - in his voice and through his eyes. But any inaccuracies or mistakes are mine." ' - Tomislav Torjanac.