Nuno is Unicorn Crazy!

Zoe can't wait to visit the Frost Fair with her best friend, Astra, the fairy unicorn. But when cursed snowflakes begin falling, the unicorns are all turned to ice! Nuno’s enchanting illustrations transport us, once again, directly to the beautiful but troubled Unicorn Island in these, the 5th and 6th books in the thrilling Fairy Unicorns series for Usborne. Subtly contrasting the characters of Astra and her friends with the evil Shadow, Nuno’s great skill lies in his creation of a completely tangible world in which good and evil battle for control of the unicorn kingdom and where Zoe faces a race against time to save her best friend!

Perfect seasonal reading for newly fluent readers, Frost Fair and Star Spell are both out now!

Gareth Lucas is Dino-mite!

Stomp, roar, doodle and draw with more than 100 brand new, hilarious and unusual dinosaur activities in this bumper activity book stunningly illustrated by the fabulous Gareth Lucas! It is clear from the gorgeous results that Gareth was in his element working on this project - sparking childrens’ imagination with his bold and distinctive style and inspiring the next generation of illustrators with some truly unique activities!  From doodling a dinosaur’s dinner to drawing the adorable inhabitants of some newly hatched dino eggs alongside a huge variety of colouring and puzzle activities - there is just so much for the budding artist to explore in this ROAR-some book!

Out now from Parragon!

Javier Joaquin Returns to the Jungle!

Javier Joaquin’s arresting monochrome illustrations beautifully compliment this thrilling sequel! Bear Grylls’ fast-paced text telling the harrowing story of a captured young elephant, combined with the adrenaline pumping intensity of Javier’s realistic depictions of the challenges Mak and his friend Diya face in the jungle to set the terrified animal free, make this a real thrill ride for young readers! Javier says:

"Drawing for Return to the Jungle was an adventure in itself. When I knew I was to work on the second book in this series, I got really excited as I really enjoyed working on first Bear Grylls story - full of action and suspense. Drawing animals is always a great assignment for me. In this marvellous story I tried with the different textures to convey the atmosphere of the jungle, even its sounds!"

Inspired by Rudyard Kipling's classic The Second Jungle Book, Return to the Jungle is an exciting contemporary action-adventure and is out now from Macmillan Children’s Books!

Barbara Bongini's Winter Wonderland!

Barbara Bongini brings the magical story of the Snow Queen to life in her latest stunning magic painting book for Usborne! Can Gerda save her best friend from the icy clutches of the Snow Queen? Simply dip the brush into water and gently sweep it over the complex black and white patterns to reveal the story and see Barbara’s stunningly intricate illustrations magically burst into vibrant colour! From ugly trolls and ornate magic mirrors to friendly crows and beautiful princesses, this is a must for art lovers and fairytale fanatics alike!

The Snow Queen Magic Painting Book is out now from Usborne!

Sophie's Bewitching work for Fleurus!

These gorgeous images, in their radiant blue colour palette, are from Sophie Rohrbach's latest collaboration with Fleurus Presse and feature in this month’s edition of their hugely successful children’s magazine ‘Les P’tites Princesses’. Sophie’s playful humour and wonderful characterisation, combined with her instinctive use of colour, bring this adorable little tale to life as we root for the hapless witch to save her examiner from the testy dragon and pass her driving test! To see more of Sophie's beautiful work, click here!

Win Win Win!

To be in with a chance of winning this stunning set of 4 fun pop-up books with magical sounds illustrated by the hugely talented Richard Johnson Illustration, hop on over to our Twitter page, follow us and re-tweet the pinned post! Good luck! 🍀🍀🍀 

A Warm Welcome for Oliver Averill!

We are so excited to announce another wonderful new addition to the growing Organisation family and are sure you will join us in giving a warm welcome to the fabulous Oliver Averill! Oliver is a Falmouth university graduate and his delightfully innocent style is sure to make him a huge hit with young and old alike! Inspired by real events and with a passion for history and vintage vehicles we think he is really going places!

To see more of his amazing work click here!

Clementine Derodit - Illustrator of the week!

We are thrilled to see that our new artist Clementine Derodit has been selected as artist of the week on the childrensillustrators.com web site!

Ella's Charity Christmas Card Cuties!

This year, our fabulous artist Ella Okstad is hugely proud to be one of the illustrators contributing a Christmas card design for the UK based charity THREE PEAS!

Three Peas do amazing work supporting and helping refugees who have lost everything and are fleeing from war and Ella is in the excellent company of these fantastic illustrators: Emily Gravett, Alex Scheffler and Satoshi Kitamura.

You can buy the gorgeous little packet of cards here and start making a difference to the lives of people fleeing war or persecution.

David Dean & Sandi Toksvig team up for book 2!

This week we have had a particularly nice present drop through the door at The Org HQ. The amazing new novel from Sandi Toksvig featuring the beautifully vibrant cover art from David Dean!

The book is out now and follows the adventure of 11-year-old Slim Hannigan and her family as the leave their home in Ireland to travel to America - in search of a better life. It has been so long and such a journey that Slim Hannigan and the rest of her family can't even imagine what home looks like anymore. And there are many, many miles across America for them to travel before they reach their destination.

Between them and the home of their uncle lie thousands of miles of dangerous land, wild animals and strangers who do not wish them well. Slim has to draw on bravery like she's never known to keep her family together and to keep them moving forward.

Get your copy now!

Boyds Mills Press feature from Alison Jay

If you come across the 2018 catalogue for publishing house Boys Mills Press, you'll be greeted with the lovely artwork from Alison Jay for her recent collaboration with Kate Hannigan for the stunning picture book 'A Lady Has the Floor'. The book is a non fiction biography of the pioneering advocate for women's rights, Belva Lockwood. As an activist, Belva never stopped asking herself the question: are women not worth the same as men? She had big dreams and didn't let anyone stand in her way - not her father, her law school or even the U.S. Supreme Court. She fought for equality for women in the classroom, in the courtroom and in politics. In her quest for fairness and parity, Lockwood ran for President of the United States, becoming the first woman on the ballot. In this riveting non-fiction picture-book biography, award-winning author Kate Hannigan and celebrated artist Alison Jay illuminate the life of Lockwood, a woman who was never afraid to take the floor and speak her mind.

Gareth Lucas for Ranger Rick Junior magazine

In this month's Ranger Rick Junior magazine for kids you'll find the wonderful double page spread by Gareth Lucas, featuring a host of Africa's most iconic animals! Can you spot the 5 things that are wrong with the picture? Maybe there's a big cat on a mobile phone, or is that a canoeing monkey I can see? Gareth's charming and humorous artwork makes for a joyful activity page, introducing children to the wonder of nature!

Bag a Beautiful Set of Alison Jay Books!

Hurry on over to our Twitter page where we are giving away this stunning set of books illustrated by the brilliant Alison Jay! Simply follow us and re-tweet the pinned post to be in with a chance of winning! What are you waiting for? 

Eunyoung's 'Beau-tea-full' New Work!

Here is a small sample of the sumptuous, richly patterned new work from the wonderful Eunyoung Seo! Based upon the theme of 'tea time', each intricate scene speaks volumes about the inhabitants of these colourful homes. 

Which one is most like afternoon tea at your house?

To see more of Eunyoung's new work, click here!

New Artist! Clementine Derodit!

Welcome to the wonderful world of super talented Clementine Derodit! A French illustrator and graphic designer since 2002, we just fell in love with her bold and colourful creations, bursting with so much fun! She has worked with many top publishers, including Hachette, and also big brands such as Chupa Chups, Oberthur and the WWF. But, not content with just illustration, she also works under the name of Bupla with her fiancé Mathieu Quiblier on motion graphics projects! She really is multi-talented and we are proud to have her as one of our team!

Alison Jay Illustrator of the Month!

The wonderful Alison Jay is the Childrensillustrators.com illustrator of the month!! Check out her fact-packed bio on their website! 

Barbara Bongini's Technicolour Wizard of Oz!

Taking a well-loved tale and making it your own is no mean feat, but we think the fabulous Barbara Bongini has done just that with her sublime technicolour illustrations for the Italian publishing house Emme’s new illustrated and abridged version of ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’! Aimed at a slightly younger target audience than previous editions, Barbara says of working with Emme for the first time:

“This publishing house is one of the most renowned in Italy for the quality of its publications. I was given the freedom to express my creativity with this project and was pleased with the confidence they had in me! I was inspired by the old movie with Judy Garland for the atmosphere and colours: using grey for the representation of the ‘real’ world and super-coloured hues for Wonderful Oz! The most fun thing in the book is the brightness of the colours that make Oz a truly magical world. I hope this book will be able to convey this joy to those who read it - this is my greatest desire.”

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is out now!

Gareth Lucas Look and Find Jungle!

This brilliantly colourful ‘look and find’ book is teeming with jungle life! With bold and beautiful scenes to pore over and talk about as well as fun activities such as counting crafty crocodiles, spotting an adorable slipper-wearing sloth and matching pompous toucans’ beaks - what more could you wish for! Gareth Lucas has once again created an absolute show-stopper for Usborne, who loved his gorgeous work for this book so much that at this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair their stand was transformed into a magical jungle festooned with Gareth’s fantastic creatures! So what are you waiting for - swing by and get your copy today!

Bistra is Walking with Elephants!

Bistra Masseva’s sensitive portrayal of these gentle and intelligent creatures is what makes this book so very special - from pure joy to utter despair and many emotions between experienced by Precious and Baba over the course of this sweet story. Bistra says of this stunning work:

“I have long been fascinated with elephants, despite being relatively familiar with them, the book still presented a twofold challenge. The first was to find a sensitive and appropriate visual tone for the illustrations, which was in tune with the seriousness of the subject, but without making them too depressing or frightening for children. The second challenge was to draw two elephants of the same species which are still distinguishable from one another. 
It was a pleasure to work on Cheryl’s story and I felt part of a good cause – promoting elephant conservation awareness and showing children the value of friendship."

A heartwarming, sweet and evocative story, ‘Elephants Walk Together’ is out now from Albert Whitman and Co.

Princess Kitty Gives Ella Another Hit!

Princess Kitty’s ‘palace attendants’ are throwing her a surprise party, at least, that’s what she thinks! But when the guests start arriving and no one is paying attention to the kitty of honour, fur is bound to fly! Featuring the whimsical and vibrant illustrations of Ella Okstad (a seasoned professional at illustrating all things feline!!), here comes Princess Kitty, a sweet and silly story about a kitty who learns to share the spotlight. Ella says of this cute project:

“Princess Kitty is a royal cat, (or rather she thinks she is). It took me a long while to figure out how she would look but, I think I captured her personality rather well in the end. She is posh looking but she still has the same mischievous look Squishy McFluff has. In that sense they are quite similar. I really enjoy drawing cats both visible and invisible ones.”

Out now from Harper Collins, the puuuuurfect gift for the cat lover in your life!

Victoria Assanelli's Fairytale Treasury

After last month’s segway into the gothic realms of growing skeletons in your back garden, the wonderfully versatile Victoria Assanelli returns to her roots this month with some beautiful work that reflects her unwavering love of the traditional fairy tale. These two new titles for Parragon’s ‘A Treasury to Read with…..’ series - Mummy and Grandma - see Victoria in her element tackling everything from cunning wolves and clever lambs to flying tortoises and vain crows in wonderfully rich detail and with her usual aplomb! 

Both treasuries are profusely illustrated with over 80 stories to share. From traditional favourites like The Three Billy Goats Gruff and the Ugly Duckling to new tales, this treasury is perfect for reading together!

David Dean's Latest Covers!

Experience epic journeys this month as David Dean's latest three gorgeous book covers hit the shelves! From a magical land where toys come alive, to the trenches of World War One and a great sea voyage from Ireland to America - these three beauties have all the adventure you could wish for so why not visit new worlds from comfort of your own home this Autumn? All out now from Penguin Books and Faber & Faber!

Richard Merritt helps us De-stress!

Enjoy a moment of pure calm with nothing more than paper and crayons! Just found this Fab little article about the wonderful world of adult colouring, featuring none other than our very own Richard Merritt! 

Read it here!

Alison shares her story!

What a wonderfully intimate interview with our super artist Alison Jay! The Book Activist blog is designed to empower and encourage children and young people to discover the joy of reading for themselves and said of our fabulous artist:

"How I’ve missed her all this time, I have no idea. I absolutely love Alison’s artwork; her illustrations are beautiful as is her storytelling – whether through pictures, words or both."

From Alison's view of creepy crawlies to her advice for those just starting out, read this gorgeous little piece for all you need to know about this remarkable lady!

Gareth Lucas at Frankfurt Book Fair 2017!

Although not in attendance in person, the wonderfully talented Gareth Lucas' work was to be seen all over the fabulous rain-forest themed Usborne Books display at this year's Frankfurt Book Fair! This stand, festooned with work from Gareth's most recent books in collaboration with Usborne UK, was at the big Autumn five day trade event for the worldwide publishing industry with loads of massive deals being done! How thrilling! To see more of Gareth's gorgeous animals and lots, lots more click here!

Alison Jay Being Brave!

Here is the fabulous Alison Jay at Guildford Book Festival showing an enraptured crowd the process of creating her stunningly evocative art! Well done Alison for overcoming your fears and doing your first public drawing!

David Dean's Morpurgo Finale!

This month sees us showcasing the last, but by no means least, thrilling batch of Michael Morpurgo covers stunningly illustrated by David Dean! This supurb final selection includes perhaps Morpurgo’s most famous novel, War Horse, told from the unusual point of view of Joey, a young farm horse sold to the army and thrust into the midst of war on the Western Front. This concept of unconventional perspectives runs pleasingly throughout this final collection of stories and is subtly reflected through David’s dynamic use of angle to create an exciting and unexpected view of each intriguing cover scene. From the boggy trenches of the Western Front to the crisp snow-capped Himalayas, David’s skill lies in depicting a world the reader is compelled to enter! So why not give in to temptation, pick a cosy spot and immerse yourself in a new landscape! All 7 titles are out now from Egmont Publishing!

Livia Coloji's Down on the Farm!

Livia Coloji’s vibrant new reading book ‘Morning on the Farm’ is released this month by Heinemann and is simply bursting at the seams with adorable animals of every shape and size, with their day brought to life at each turn of the page through her adorable artwork! Children will learn the workings of a small holding as well as lots of farm and animal vocabulary, so why not indulge yourself with a morning on the farm? You’d have to be quackers to miss it!

Victoria Assanelli's Haunting new work!

Get in the mood for Halloween with this beautiful, bittersweet story of love, loss and acceptance powerfully illustrated by the wonderfully versatile Victoria Assanelli! When Stanley Stanwright finds a bone poking out of the earth in his back garden, he is determined to take a picture of it and send it to the Young Discoverer's Competition, but soon the bone begins to grow into a skeleton with an unusual interest in his unwell younger sister Miren.

Victoria’s haunting illustrations are exquisitely on point for this unique contemporary folk tale, with her skeleton, Princy, striking the perfect balance between appealing and sinister. Her bold monochrome interior illustrations similarly echo the stark reality of a family in crisis whilst also skilfully managing to convey a quiet optimism, as she helps children navigate this story of humour and tragedy with a subtle and gentle hand.

Victoria says of the commission:

'Working on the Skeleton Tree book was such a wonderful experience. I enjoyed the story and the characters immensely, and I loved having the chance to do something different from my normal type of work. I love princesses and fairytales, but I also really love creepy things and I was very pleased to have the chance to work on something a bit darker than usually do!'

Ultimately a story of love, and realising when love sometimes means saying goodbye, we make no bones about saying that Skeleton Tree is an Autumn ‘must read’!

Get your copy here!

Alison Jay is Looking for Yesterday!

We are hugely excited this month to bring you news of Alison Jay’s latest sensational picture book! Hot off the press and full of all the intricate details and wonder we have come to expect from Alison’s unforgettable, dream-like work, ‘Looking for Yesterday’ tells the delightful story of a boy whose grandad helps him to embrace happy memories of the past whilst learning to look forward to new adventures. Alison says of her second book for Old Barn Books Limited that she has conceived as an original story-

'The book Looking for Yesterday was inspired by a radio program I was listening to about space travel. I was thinking how wonderful it would be to go back and re live our best days, and all the different way we could possibly go back in time. The story concludes however that if you spend all you time "looking for yesterday" you will miss any new experiences and ultimately today is the best day.'

Alison will be at this year’s Guildford Book Festival where she will help you illustrate your own best days on a postcard to the future! Out now from Old Barn Books!

Get your copy here!

David Dean has it Covered!

Ted Spark is 12 years and 281 days old and his aunt has just been accused of stealing a priceless painting from her workplace! The Guggenheim Museum in New York is the imposing setting for David Dean’s glorious cover artwork for the sequel to ‘The London Eye Mystery’ and his instinctive sense of scale once again evokes a feeling of Ted being a very small boy in another very big city! David’s striking depiction of the towering Frank Lloyd Wright designed building with mysterious thick smoke billowing from inside makes this incredibly eye-catching book, and one that begs to be picked up and read! 

Grab your copy here!

Gareth's success not in the least puzzling!!!

Gareth Lucas’ latest creative collaboration with Usborne has resulted in these beauties hitting the shelves this month! Packed inside each technicolour box is a whopping 100-piece jigsaw and a stunning 24-page picture puzzle book bursting at the seams with things to spot and talk about! ‘Dinosaurs’ boasts bountiful bold beasts playing prehistoric pranks, ‘Under the Sea’ is teeming with colourful aquatic antics and ‘On the Farm’ unleashes a menagerie of mayhem! As always, Gareth injects humour and personality into each and every scene and with so much to look at, we think these will keep you occupied until at least October when his brand new Look and Find book ‘Jungle’ will be swinging into bookshops too! 

Get your copies here, here and here!

2nd Book of the Month for Javier!

Not content with one stunning book out in August, Javier Joaquin has also been hard at work on another release, this time having closely studied the animal kingdom for the wry Brazilian folk tale ‘Monkey and Rabbit’! Once again, Javier’s fine attention to detail shines through on every vibrant page. In these wonderfully evocative images, Rabbit dreams of living up in the tall tree like monkey and so one day decides to move in with his friend... with some dire consequences! ‘Monkey and Rabbit: A Tale from Brazil’ is a gorgeous little fable about friendship and the importance of knowing where we come from and is out at the end of this month from Heinemann Publishing. Quite frankly, you’d be bananas to miss it!

Get your copy here!

Fred's French Road Trip!

If you were cruising down any of the autoroutes in France on your hols this year, you will no doubt have noticed that they all boast the most gorgeous illustrated signs to highlight places of cultural or historical significance (which quite frankly in France, is most places!) to the weary and bleary-eyed motorist! Well, this summer, our very own Fred Van Deelen was commissioned by APRR - Europe’s fourth largest motorway group - to create these stunning scraper board style works for their extensive route through Burgundy. The sublime golden tones exude a restful warmth whilst the burgundy subtly hints at the region’s best loved export! For an area so steeped in history, and with the signs standing whopping 6.5 metres high, this is a hugely prestigious commission for Fred - especially as they are planned to be in situ for the next 20 years! With work coming from all directions, Fred has had a busy year, so next time you are passing through, why not raise a glass or two to him!

Tiny Tantrums and Big Talent!

When it's time to clean up, or take a bath, or put on her coat, Tiny throws a terrible tantrum! Her parents are at their wits’ end, then one day, some friendly monsters show up... could they be just what this little girl needs to tame her tantrums?

Ella Okstad is in her element illustrating this adorable book designed to help children to better understand their emotions and hopefully stop ‘windows wobbling and birds falling out of trees’ when things don’t go their way! Her exquisite and playful artwork beautifully compliments this simple story of friendship. The whimsical settings and her on-trend Scandi colour scheme combine to create a serene and dream-like world while subtly reinforcing the overall message of the book - to remain calm, to share and to not waste time on such silly things like tantrums! Ella says:

When I first received Caroline’s text, I was very charmed. It has lots of energy to it. I had great fun drawing the fluffy monsters, making them move around on the page trying to ease Tiny whenever she has a tantrum. I had a few rounds with Tiny getting her just right. She had to be cute, but at the same time have a naughty and stubborn look behind that cute facade. I am very pleased how the colours turned out. I think that soft pastel suits the paper quality so well. It’s been a pleasure working with both the lovely people at Little Tiger and Caroline Crowe.

Told in bouncing rhyming text, this little lifesaver is sure to get the thumbs up from frazzled parents everywhere! 

Get your copy here!