I'm currently scanning in Jill Bennett's fabulous Dickens artwork, which will be available to view and buy in a week or so!

Petr's just started a blog in which he reveals the sketches and pictures he's currently working on. Fabulous!

Axel has donated a piece of artwork to the Celebrity Paws 2011 auction to raise funds for Cats Protection. It runs from 8pm on 1st Dec - 8pm 11th Dec. To bid you need to go to target="_blank">www.cats.org.uk/celebrity-paws

Jill Bennett was the very first illustrator to work on Roald Dahl's  Fantastic Mr Fox and Danny The Champion of the World and I remember her illustrations well in the mid 1970's. Her artwork from these books was snapped up by a museum and collector but we've managed to make some limited edition prints of our favourite illustrations. They are now available on Jill's prints page.

An audio cd is being given away in The Guardian today! Collect one whilst you can. We don't have any Owl artwork left, but we do have others. Click her to view.

Two of our illustrators, Viviane Schwarz and Chris Fisher, have books on the shortlist! They are A Place to Call Home (age 6 and under category) and The Wrong Pong (age 7 -14 category) respectively. Congratulations and fingers crossed for when the winners are announced on 8th November. See The Book Trust for more details.

We're giving away 20 of our fabulous Elsie Piddock Skips in Her Sleep limited edition prints (by Charlotte Voake) with orders over £350 (incl. VAT) during July & August 2011. To claim your free print, you just need to make purchases totalling £350 (incl. VAT) or over and the print will be sent along with your order!

Congratulations to Julia Donaldson on her appointment as the seventh Children's Laureate. Julia is the author of many books on our website including those illustrated by Axel Scheffler and David Roberts. Further information on her appointment can be found on the Booktrust website.

Come on, Daisy! by Jane Simmons. The original artwork from this book will be available shortly - and it is beautiful!

At the Bristol Grammar School massive book sale & auction last night, Charlotte Voake's print raised nearly 6 times as much as Sir Paul's signed book! Well done Charlotte!

Popped into Daunt Books on Marylebone High Street yesterday and saw this lovely display in the window. They tell me that Salvatore's book is just flying out. Great news! Great book!

Jonathan Jones's Guardian blog is well worth a read but what about Miffy or Anita Jeram's rabbits? Of course her Guess How Much I Love You features hares, which as every rabbit lover knows, are very different!

The top ten rising stars of children's book illustration were announced this week by the Booktrust and included our very own Viviane Schwarz and Salvatore Rubbino. Well done to both of them!

See the Booktrust for further information.

Well I couldn't agree more! http://booksniffingpug.blogspot.com/

Jane, my fabulous friend who is the most wonderful cook, has managed to design some biscuits in the shape of Tilly and her friends...just too delicious to eat methinks!

It's fast approaching and we're just running round sorting out a few last, but very important details like what dress should I wear and can we make little Penguin shaped cookies to serve with the drinks...?!

I'm off to Switzerland tomorrow. Nothing much will be happening here whilst I'm gone but you can still make online purchases and they'll be sent out on Monday 28th February. Apologies for any inconveniece. (Illustration by Christopher Corr)

Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, popped into Dundonald Library last week and selected Mockingbird, illustrated by Paul Howard, to read to visiting children. Paul was on hand to help turn the pages...See Paul's work on his page on the website.

I've just come back from a wild and crazy couple of weeks in India with my family and am re-reading Christopher Corr's Indian Tales to my children. There are few pieces left from this book. Take a look.

Simon's much anticipated new book about a young bird's first flight south will be coming out later this year. Here's a sneak preview of the cover artwork...

Follow Polly's blog whilst Writer in Residence at Booktrust. She's started a game of consequences which involves other illustrators adding drawings to create a story in pictures. Petr Horacek is the first illustrator to make his addition and it looks set to become something very special indeed!

Much excitement has been generated by the arrival of David Roberts and his original artwork from The Troll, written by Julia Donaldson. He's also known for Tyrannosaurus Drip (again written by Julia Donaldson) and the Dirty Bertie series of books which he "performs" around the country.

While dipping into The Children's Encyclopedia of 1910, Axel came across a guide to procuring and caring for a pet squirrel. Intrigued by the unlikely notion of a child attempting to keep so wild an animal, Axel created a series of delightful, beautifully finished illustrations to accompany the original 1910 text. We have just 2 pieces of artwork left from the book!