The SAA are very pleased to be supporting the World Illustration Awards by sponsoring The SAA Agents Award for New Talent.
Children’s Books 
Jon Lau graduated from Art Center College of Design in 2011. Through his intricate paintings, he tells whimsical stories that are inspired by nature, animals, and our interactions with them. He is based in Los Angeles. We spoke with Jon about his inspiration, process and how his personal experiences inform the subject matter of his work. Read on for a glimpse into the creative process of a new Bright artist:
Christopher Gibb's atmospheric cover illustration for Kristen Simmons' exciting new book METALTOWN, is published by Tor in the UK this month. Chris' imagery was the perfect choice for this dystopian tale set in a fictional factory city, diseased and ravaged by war, where money and food are in short supply.
Great news! Fans of Alex T. Smith's adorable character Claude will be delighted that Going for Gold has won the 5-9 year old Fiction category of the prestigious Sainsbury's Children's Book Awards 2016. Claude can't wait to take part in a Very Exciting Sports Competition to win the gold cup, until a pair of shifty robbers steal it! Published by Hodder in March this year, Going for Gold is the eighth in this bestselling series, written and illustrated by Alex.
We are totally delighted that this weeks Number One spot on the Children's Books US Indie List and The New York Times Book Review Children's Best Sellers List is by our talented David Roberts and writer Andrea Beaty! Along with their previous title Rosie Revere Engineer also achieving Number Eight on The New York Times Book Review Children's Best Sellers List!
We love Adam Stower's latest cover illustration for Alistair Grim's Odd Aquaticum, written by Gregory Funaro and recently published by Alma Books.
Harper Collins US latest non-fiction title,Sounds All Around, written by Wendy Pfeffer is beautifully illustrated by Anna Chernyshova. Her charming characters and colourful environments help explain to preschoolers and toddlers the science behind sounds by showing how vibrations travel through the air to your ears so you can hear them, how sound is measured and what different sounds mean.
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Football fan and Arena illustrator, Spike Gerrell was the perfect choice for Walker Book's non-fiction title, Football School: Where Football Rules the World, published this month. Written by bestselling sports writers and broadcasters, Alex Bellos and Ben Lyttleton, this is the first in a new series of books that explains the world through the prism of football. Readers can find the answers for all manner of subjects such as history, geography, biology and maths.
This edition of “The Insider” takes a look at Bright artist Steph Laberis’ successful partnership with Little Golden Books. Since 1942, the renowned company has been publishing beloved books for children, including two of our favorites, My Little Golden Book About Sharks and The Little Grumpy Cat that Wouldn’t. Read on for Steph’s thoughts on collaboration, design, and capturing the essence of Grumpy Cat:
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THIS WEEK author and illustrator, Benji Davies, creator of The Storm Whale and Grandad’s Island, launched his highly anticipated picture book, The Storm Whale in Winter. Benji describes the book as being like the journey home; just asStorm Whale takes us out to sea, the sequel carries us back, as we find that Noi’s kind deed to the little whale was never forgotten.
Nostalgic and gentle, this book is beautifully crafted, with filmic, sometimes panoramic illustrations and a plot line that will give the reader goosebumps (in a good way) — so strong is the message and sense of there being a true friendship between boy and whale.
So after a wonderful book launch, hosted by our brilliant colleagues at Simon and Schuster, and in anticipation of our cosy Christmas story time, where Benji will be reading us his heart-warming story, I wanted to find out a little bit more about the man behind the books… LM
