The SAA are very pleased to be supporting the World Illustration Awards by sponsoring The SAA Agents Award for New Talent.
children’s book 
21st July, Bright and Puffin Books hosted a swashbuckling soirée to launch Fred Blunt’s debut author/illustrated picture book Captain Falsebeard in a Very Fishy Tale, aboard the 16th Century galleon, The Golden Hinde.
Alex T Smith's seventh book in his bestselling Claude series, Lights! Camera! Action! is Waterstones Children's Book of the Month! Claude discovers a film set on the other side of the fence! When the two lead actors are injured, Claude and Sir Bobblysock are asked to take their places. Can they become movie stars with just the simple addition of a wig? Of course they can!
Prankmaster General is back again in The Diary of Dennis The Menace: Canine Carnage. This is the fifth book in the successful series written by Steven Butler and illustrated by the very talented Steve May. Steve's illustrations almost leap off the page with an energy that equals the comic writing.
I defy you not to be touched by this book
- Elisa Offord, Marketing & Publicity Director, Simon & Schuster
Summer 2015 is set to be a popular season for Bright picture books launching into the public eye and gracing the shelves of book lovers the world over. One of these future classics comes from the pen of award-winning author illustrator Benji Davies and is set to supersede Benji’s critically acclaimed debut title The Storm Whale (Simon & Schuster) having already been shortlisted in the AOI World Illustration Awards 2015. This month, we proudly add the stunningly illustrated & powerfully written Grandad’s Island (Simon & Schuster) to our growing Bright Bookshelf.
Grumbug! is Adam Stower's beautifully illustrated new picture book, follow up to the charming Troll and the Oliver
Aleksei Bitskoff illustrates, The Adventures of Long Arm (Scholastic), a tale about schoolboy Ricky Mitre who is very naughty and gets into all sorts of trouble! After a bizarre toilet cleaning incident where his arm gets sucked into the U-bend, Ricky finds that when he takes it out again, it's many times its normal length. And so the superhero Long Arm is born!
Following an award studded 2014 for Bright star Nicola O’Byrne - including the coveted Waterstones Children’s Book Prize - this year was already set to consist of gleaming prosperity. The BookTrust‘s Booktime story for 2015 – that is to be gifted to 700,000 reception-aged children in UK – is Nicola O’Byrne’s debut picture book, Open Very Carefully (Nosy Crow).
The book with bite, which was brokered by Bright M.D Vicki Willden-Lebrecht, has been a seemingly huge success with children of all ages, their parents & schools the world over. Kate Wilson, Managing Director of Nosy Crow, aptly describes why the book has been received so well by young readers -
‘With its invitation to interactivity, its humour and its stylish but accessible illustration, Open Very Carefully seems to have really wide appeal’
The Nosy Crow book, which is to be distributed to all UK school children aged 4-5, will be accompanied by a Booktime pack that provides guidance & notes for parents aimed at installing the importance of reading with their children.
With a reach of two million children & families, the BookTrust is Britain’s largest reading charity. As the organisation’s 10th Booktime story to be gifted to every reception child in UK, Open Very Carefully will no doubt continue to grace the shelves of more and more young readers this year – especially with the availability of 13 languages.
See Nicola O’Byrne’s Literary Portfolio HERE for previous titles, awards & upcoming projects.
Nicola O’Byrne is represented by the Bright Group
David has hit the ground running at Bright securing his first picture book deals in both the UK and the US. His distinctive style mixes colour and drama to inspire an incredible atmosphere which creates a huge scale from which to entertain his readers.
David's début Picture Book - The Bear and the Piano (published with Frances Lincoln), is available for pre-order now!
David first began drawing when he was very young, creating Star Wars & Indiana Jones mash-up comics for his older brother and sister. His illustration heroes and biggest influences are Albert Uderzo, Sylvan Chomet, Jon Klassen and Shaun Tan. He uses a variety of techniques to create his illustrations and considers himself to be a mixed media artist as he usually combines all the elements together in Photoshop.
David Litchfield is represented by Bright
Chris Garbutt's long-awaited debut picture book, It's a Groovy World, Alfredo! written by Sean Taylor, is published by Walker on 4th June.
Poor Alfredo is a frog who just can't dance. No matter how hard his best friend Marty (a smooth talking fly) tries to teach him all the fancy dance moves - all he ever does is Jump! Jump! Jump! It's just not cool! Or… is it?
Chris' use of rich colours with subtle washes, combined with his simple yet expressive characters gives this heart-warming story a really unique feel. Here's a preview of his gorgeous illustrations.
Chris Garbutt is represented by Arena Illustration.
