Exhibitions

West Bristol Arts Trail October 2012

Simon James was in residence during the weekend of the Arts Trail and captivated hoardes of art lovers with his live illustration.

Visiting information

He's now returned to Devon but you can view his work here.

You are very welcome to come and see Simon's artwork (or indeed any other illustrators) here at any time. Please ring to make an appointment.



Latest news

Salvatore Rubbino shortlisted for Kate Greenaway Medal 2013

with his fabulous Just Ducks! We have all the original published as well as some unpublished artwork from the book. See Just Ducks! here

Tilly and Friends website launched

For all fans of Polly Dunbar's series of books about Tilly and her friends this website is irresistible! www.tillyandfriends.com

Axel Scheffler and The Gruffalo at Peter Jones, Sloane Square, London Sat 3rd Nov

Story time begins in the Toy Department at 11am and Axel will be signing books from midday. See The Gruffalo website for more information and www.childrensbookillustration.com for his original artwork.

Simon James in residence this weekend

as part of the West Bristol Arts Trail 2012. Come and see him here at 3 Hurle Crescent, Bristol BS8 2SX 11am - 5pm on Saturday & Sunday. See www.westbristolarts.com for more information about the trail.

Illustrators at the Literature Festivals this autumn.

So many of our illustrators are taking part in the literature festivals this autumn including Axel Scheffler, Polly Dunbar, Petr Horacek, Sue Heap, David Roberts, Simon James, Penny Dale, Anthony Browne and Chris Fisher, to name a few. See them in action in Bristol, Bath & Cheltenham.

Tilly and Friends - BBC interview with Polly Dunbar

The third in the animated series of Tilly and Friends will be shown at 8am on Monday 17th September on Cbeebies. Read this interview with Polly in the meantime!

A Walk in London at Foyles Bookshops

Salvatore Rubbino's A Walk in London has been selected to be the face of Foyles during the Olympics. The original artwork is beautiful too!

Celebrate the Jubilee

with Sarah McMenemy and Salvatore Rubbino!

Kate Greenaway Medal 2012 shortlisted illustrators include Petr Horacek and Viviane Schwarz. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for both of you!

Congratulations to Peter Sis from the Czech Republic for winning the Hans Christian Andersen Award for illustration 2012. John Burningham was one of the four finalists and Children's Book Illustration artist Bob Graham was also shortlisted for this very prestigious award.

Guess How Much I Love You illustrator, Anita Jeram...

has sent a dozen rabbits (and hares!) to Children's Book Illustration. Take a look quickly before they hop away!

The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark

Paul Howard's enchanting artwork from this book, and from The Penguin Who Wanted to Find Out, is now available on the website! Paul has won numerous awards for his work and has a new book, which he has written and illustrated, published just this week.

I want to take this penguin home with me!

Paul Howard's artwork from The Penguin Who Wanted to Find Out by Jill Tomlinson is just gorgeous and will be available shortly from www.childrensbookillustration.com

Dickens artwork

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 Horacek's blog

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

Axel Scheffler's Paw

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

Roald Dahl's first illustrator, Jill Bennett

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.

Paul Howard's The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark

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.

Roald Dahl Funny Prize

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.

Fabulous give away during July & August 2011!

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!

Julia Donaldson becomes the seventh Children's Laureate

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!

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

Charlotte Voake beats Sir Paul McCartney!

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!

A Walk in London

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!

The top five rabbits in art

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!

Best New Illustrators Award 2011

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.

Book Sniffer

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

Penguin & Tilly - to eat!

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!

Polly's Exhibition

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...?!

Off to the slopes...

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)

Paul Howard's Mockingbird gets Royal treatment!

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.

India

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.

George Flies South by Simon James

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...

Polly Dunbar, Writer in Residence at Booktrust

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!

Welcome David Roberts

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.

How to Keep a Pet Squirrel

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!