Ella's Uplifting Unicorn Undertaking!

Sophie Johnson is a self-confessed unicorn expert, bursting with information and knowledge that she is keen to pass on! The dream team of Ella Okstad Illustrator and Morag Hood bring you this wonderfully comic tale of a mythical creature hiding in plain sight! Ella’s pedigree when it comes to illustrating the imaginary, the mythical and the magical is unrivalled - from invisible cats to ghosts, wizards to Sand Fairies, Ella was certainly the only possible choice to bring to life the endearing character of Sophie whilst beautifully capturing the utter chaos of this hilarious story to perfection!

Ideal for fans of unicorns, rainbows and magic everywhere, Sophie Johnson Unicorn Expert is out on 5th April from Simon & Schuster. Get your copy here!

Richard Merritt's Arachnid Antics!

Richard Merritt’s latest characterful work for Pat-a-Cake Books’ Peek and Play Rhymes series - Incy Wincy Spider is out next month! This fun-packed little book combines lively contemporary pictures with a classic rhyme that's easy for parents and toddlers to recognise and recite. Young children will enjoy searching the page for secret flaps to open to reveal Richard’s adorable insects of every kind, unable to put it down until each tiny thing is found! Out now, get your copy here!

Gareth Lucas gets Innovative!

Once you start poppin', there’s just no stoppin'! This new range of delightfully quirky wooden toys from Innovative Kids feature the vivacious and vibrant animal characters for which Gareth is so in demand! Their fabulous ‘Popatronic’ technology has proved hugely popular with toddlers (and adults!), who love poking and popping the buttons of these sturdy wooden toys for hours of fun! Meet Gareth’s adorable safari, jungle and farm animals while exploring fundamental opposites like open/closed, front/back, big/small, and more! With 12 delightful designs to choose from and available now, ‘pop’ over to their website and treat the toddler in your life, or bag yourself an addictive new executive toy!!

Del's Sensational Slapstick Signs!

Pembroke Castle is steeped in history and with a Labyrinth of underground passageways and soaring towers, a health and safety nightmare! That is where the fabulous Del Thorpe has stepped into the breach, creating these bold and playful safety signs featuring a young William Marshall - a knight with strong ties to the castle - pointing out where a host of hapless soldiers have gone wrong! Del says of the unusual project:

“The brief was originally to have the boy falling over but I suggested that it's funnier to have adults hurting themselves while the child is giving sensible advice. The images will be made into warning signs to replace their existing, more utilitarian, ones and the castle thinks they will be a big hit!.”

We have to agree with them, these nutty notices are sure to have kids in stitches!

Ella has a Tantrum at Bologna!

Spotted on the Little Tiger Books stand at Bologna Children's Book Fair - the fabulous 'Tiny Tantrum' illustrated by Ella Okstad! Brand new for 2018 and bursting with bright characters to calm even the most monstrous of meltdowns - you can get your very own copy here!

When life gives you Lemons...!

Here is Richard with his gorgeous books on the Scandinavia Publishing stand! Trying his best to blend in at Bologna Children's Book Fair - today he is mainly disguised as Limoncello! For more Bologna updates, follow us on Twitter and Instagram! https://twitter.com/organise https://www.instagram.com/organise69/

Richard Pops in to Pat-a-Cake!

If you hadn't already gathered, our very own Richard Merritt is at Bologna Childrens Book Fair this week and stopped for a chat with the lovely peeps on the Pat-a-Cake Books stand displaying some beauties from Sophie Rohrbach as well as brand new titles 'Potty Superstar' and 'Mermicorns' illustrated by Richard himself! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram to keep up with all things Bologna over the next few days! 

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Liontree Launches with Gareth Galore!

Not content with having created the gorgeous logo for the brand new Liontree Books Launching at Bologna Children’s Book Fair 2018, Gareth Lucas has no less than 4 new Liontree titles debuting at the fair too! It's hard to keep up! 

Barefoot Beauties at Bologna!

Wonderful to see our fabulously talented David Dean and Alison Jay's work featuring so prominently on the Barefoot Books stand at Bologna Children's Book Fair today! 

Gareth Lucas' Squirrels in Bologna!

Can we just take a moment to appreciate the gorgeous Usborne Publishing stand at this year's Bologna Children's Book Fair festooned with Gareth Lucas' cheeky Squirrels from the fabulous soon to be released 'Look and Find Forest'! You'd be nuts not to fall in love with it! 

😍🐿️👏

David's In the Dog House!

The wonderfully versatile David Whittle has just finished designing and animating the title sequence and key CG shots for a brand new series ‘Andy's Safari Adventures’ made by BBC Natural History for CBeebies! David has been involved with the hugely popular ‘Andy’s Adventures’ franchise, that stars CBeebies favourite Andy Day, since the beginning and, working under the name Doghouse Post Production, has designed many of the ‘beastly’ key props and animal elements of each spectacular show! 

Episode 1 ‘Andy and the Chipmunk’ aired on 12th Feb and you can learn more about what other stuff David gets up to in his spare time here!

Aga's New Venture!

2018 has seen the fabulous Aga Kowalska embark on a brand new venture alongside her hugely successful 10 year illustration career - running fun art classes and creative workshops from her Bailgate Studio! So far this year she has led sold-out workshops on painting on fabric (cotton bags, t-shirts), folk paper cutting, collage, illustration and card making! 

If you fancy nipping in for a quick ‘brush up’ visit her wonderful website here!

We wish Aga lots of luck with her new project and, don’t worry, she is still very much available to put her unique, colourful and quirky stamp on your next commission!

Sophie's Two Mums!

With Mother's Day fast approaching we though we would share with you the work that Sophie Keen has recently been involved with for a self published series of books by author Carolyn Robertson. Sophie has illustrated her fantastic fourth book ‘Two Mums’ with humour and sensitivity - showing young readers how families come in many shapes and sizes and that it can be great fun to have two mums around!! Sophie is currently in the process of updating her portfolio with some fabulous new work so be sure to check it out!

You can buy your own copy of the fantastic ‘Two Mums’ here!

Clementine's Little Bundle!

Congratulations to the wonderful Clementine Derodit who has been so busy juggling motherhood and a successful illustration career that she has only just produced this gorgeous piece of art to commemorate her daughter’s birth last year! We think it was well worth the wait - what do you think?