New books for autumn from Bright’s artists & authors

Alex T. Smith: Mr Penguin and the Fortress of Secrets

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Behind the Book: Monty & Sylvester by Carly Gledhill

Carly Gledhill’s artwork style is immediately recognisable for her quirky characters and playful layouts, full of humour and heart. This spring her debut author-illustrated picture book ‘Monty & Sylvester A Tale of Everyday Super Heroes’ published with Orchard Books.

We spoke to Carly on creating her first picture book, and delve deeper into what inspired this imaginative, witty tale, and the loveable duo behind the story, best friends — and unlikely heroes — Monty and Sylvester.

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An Interview With Emerging Young Illustrator – Joe Lillington

Arena have represented Joe Lillington for two years and in that time he has emerged as a go-to illustrator for historical non-fiction books for children. With his forthcoming book Ancient Warriors written by Iris Volant and published by Flying Eye Books hitting the shelves in August, Joe takes some time out to discuss his process and where he finds inspiration over on Arena’s blog here. The interview includes time-lapse videos of some of the work in progress he did on the spreads from Ancient Warriors.

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Frances Castle Illustrates Journeys of Discovery for Wide Eyed Editions

Frances Castle returns with a second fun and fact-packed non-fiction book in the Spot the Mistake series published by Wide Eyed Editions this month. Journeys of Discover is a lavish and large format, fully illustrated hardback which provides readers with an immersive, puzzle solving experience with a variety of red herrings, misplaced props and out of context objects cleverly hidden within each spread.

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Miguel Ordonez’s latest book Going to the Volcano

Just published this long awaited wonderful picture book created by the very talented illustrator Miguel Ordonez (having previously worked on the Jimmy Fallon best selling titles - Dada and Mama) and written by the fabulous and award winning author Andy Stanton (Mr Gum and many other wonderful books ) the book entitled: Going to The Volcano is published by Hodder Children's Books. This very talented duo have produced a fabulously funny, colourful and quirky picture book.

For more of Miguel's imaginative characters and creative work please go to the website : https://www.artistpartners.com/portfolios/miguel-ordonez/

Bright Artists shortlisted for AOI World Illustration Awards 2018

Four artists from The Bright Agency were shortlisted for the prestigious prize: Ashling Lindsay, Benji Davies, Flavia Sorrentino and Paddy Donnelly.

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Laura Hughes wins Oscar’s Book Prize 2018

Laura Hughes wins the highly esteemed children’s book award with author John Dougherty for their laugh-out-loud picture book ‘There’s A Pig Up My Nose!’.

We are delighted and immensely proud that Bright artist Laura Hughes has won the Oscar’s Book Prize 2018 alongside author John Dougherty with their original and witty picture book ‘There’s A Pig Up My Nose!’, published by Egmont.

John’s loveable tale of a little girl, Natalie, and a nose-dwelling pig, Ernest, is full of hilarity and surprise, beautifully married with Laura’s playful artwork. It’s a joy to read as you follow Natalie’s increasingly absurd attempts to get a pig out of her nose — even hanging upside down whilst being walloped with a blow-up rhino doesn’t seem to do the trick. It’s silly, utterly heart-warming, and with plenty of laughs — and OINKS — along the way.

The Oscar’s Book Prize is an annual award celebrating the best books for under-fives from the year. Previous winners have included Bright artist Benji Davies who won in 2014 with ‘The Storm Whale’. You can read more on the award here.

HRH Princess Eugenie awarded the Oscar’s Book Prize at St James’s Palace on Monday 14th May. From left to right: Vicki Willden-Lebrecht (MD, The Bright Agency), author John Dougherty, artist Laura Hughes, Emma Dods (Senior Commissioning Editor, Egmont), Laura Hughes, Rebecca Essilifie (Art Director, Egmont).

Laura Hughes:

“I am absolutely honoured that ‘Theres’ a Pig Up My Nose’ has won the Oscar’s Book Prize! The award was set up in memory of 3-year -old Oscar Ashton who died of an undetected heart condition, and as well as being a wonderful and touching way to pay tribute to a young reader, the prize also aims to highlight the importance of reading together with young children. Low literacy levels among children starting school is an increasing problem, and the organisers of the award are doing great work in bringing awareness to this issue. It’s a privilege to have been involved in this very special award.

“The first time I read John’s story I absolutely loved it and knew right away that I had to illustrate it! ‘There’s a Pig Up My Nose’ is a warm and quirky tale about a girl who gets a pig stuck up her nose, so I knew that I had to keep the illustrations bright and light-hearted. I used a slightly different process in creating the artwork than I usually do, with some parts coloured directly from my roughs (something I generally avoid) to keep the illustrations loose and energetic.

“For the characters in the book I took inspiration from the diversity of the people I see every day in London, so for example, the doctor is based very loosely on one of my own GP’s. I live in Walthamstow and will often sit and draw in local cafés. I think it’s really important to get out of the studio and draw from life whenever possible to keep your work fresh and relevant.”

You can also watch Laura’s interview with the Evening Standard here.

“I am absolutely thrilled that Laura has won the Oscar’s Book Prize and it’s wonderful to see her grow from Kingston University graduate and Bright intern to an award-winning illustrator. Laura brings such exuberance and flair to her artwork — she is a true talent and I’m so proud of all that she has achieved.” Vicki Willden-Lebrecht

Laura Hughes’ past titles include ‘The Birthday Invitation’ (Bloomsbury Children’s Books), ‘The Chocolate Monster’ (Faber & Faber), and ‘We’re Going on an Egg Hunt’ (Bloomsbury Children’s Books). Her next picture book, ‘Quick, Barney, RUN!’ (Faber & Faber) is publishing this summer on the 5th July. You can see more of Laura’s artwork here.

Levi Pinfold Illustrates New Hogwarts House Editions of the Chamber of Secrets

We celebrate the launch of the new covers of the 20th Anniversary editions of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling, produced in the vibrant house colours and illustrated by Levi Pinfold. Bloomsbury will release the new house editions this summer in both hardback and softcover versions with the choice of Gryffindor red, Slytherin green, Ravenclaw blue, and Hufflepuff yellow.

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The Boy Fitz Hammond – Book series

The first in a hilarious 6 book series about a highly unusual pet hamster. Nine year old Ben Jinks wants a pet, but a talking hamster wasn’t on his wish list. Meet Jasper Stinkybottom. Benjamin is a very normal boy who hates maths. Stinky is a brilliant hamster, who likes carrots. Together they are an unstoppable team!

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