Congratulations to Neal Layton whose book, The Story of Stars, has won the SLA Information Book Award for the under 7's category. The judges said that his book is… "a superb simple and straightforward book which informs through being totally entertaining: with working pop-ups, humour and an imaginative progression - it is a totally engaging delight."
Neal's interest in life, the universe and everything has led to an amazing amount of research and his collaboration with paper engineer, Richard Ferguson has created a unique, child friendly view of the stars, solar systems and galaxies. Neal poses and answers the big questions that you might ask when you look up at the night sky full of stars and wonder: "what are they and where are they?". This book is the third in the series, published by Hodder Children's Books.
Duncan Beedie designs a poster for Scholastic in the US.
One of Duncan's most recent commissions is now hanging on the walls of classrooms and conveys an inspirational message; 'The expert in anything was once a beginner'. The campaign is to encourage children to dream and achieve in their choice of career, Duncan's child friendly illustrations do the job perfectly.
It's been several years in the making, but we're very proud to announce that Tado's first picture book 'Monster Trucks: The Big Race' was published on July 3rd and is now available in all good bookshops.
Written by Jon Hinton and published by Scholastic Children's Books, The Big Race is the first in a new series of fast-paced, big-wheeled racing romps that follow Bolt, Chunk, Roxy, Fizz, Newton and Masher as they rev off on exciting adventures in a crazy world full of fun, laughter and a few spills along the way.
‘As soon as I saw this book I fell in love with the cover and hoped that the rest of it would live up to my expectations. It far exceeded them. The sort of book I would be proud and excited to buy as a present for every young child I know.’ Viveka Alvestrand, Oscar’s Mother.
Bright Author-Illustrator Benji Davies recently won Oscar’s First Book Prize 2014 for his hauntingly moving ‘The Storm Whale’. The £5000 award is held by The Evening Standard in memory of Oscar Ashton, a lover of stories who sadly passed away unexpectedly aged 3 1/2 years. The Bright Agency were ecstatic and overwhelmed to represent 3 of the 5 Illustrators who made it to the final five and secured the book deal for a 4th:
Philippa Leathers – ‘The Black Rabbit’ was also a Bright publishing deal with Walker.
As a business celebrating it’s 10th year in the publishing world, Bright are incredibly proud to represent over half the nominees on this list. Nurturing new found talent as well as supporting established names is a key factor in the company’s working ethos. The Bright nominees have grown with the agency and are just small examples of what can happen when agent and creative really collaborate to achieve amazing artwork and stories that then turn into industry-shaping book deals.
The final 5 were narrowed down from an original 57 entries by a panel of esteemed judges and some very critical young readers. All involved were searching for books that could easily be read by children under 5 as well as being appreciated by their adult counterparts. Judge Charlotte Ross said that the books on the shortlist were “both timeless and original, and we picked tales with images and words that fired the imagination”.
But overall, the winning book was picked because the judges believed Oscar and his vivid imagination would have loved it to – because of this, Benji and Bright are honored and truly humbled to be a part of such an amazing award.
In celebration of Gay Pride this month, This Day in June illustrated by Kristyna Litten is published by Magination Press part of the American Psychological Society (APA). Written by Gayle E Pitman, a professor of psychology, the book aims to enable parents to talk to their children about all aspects of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, in a fun and inclusive way. The APA are committed to the promotion of the equitable and just treatment of all segments of society and this book is published to open doors for children to understand, respect and accept LGBT people from a young age.
Village Q posted a great review saying: "Litten's delightful illustrations capture the range of human exuberance, from shirtless leather folk to marching band members to grandstanding politicos in convertibles."
This month we are extremely excited to announce a brand new exhibition opening in Tokyo, featuring the wonderful work of Alison Jay. The world famous Japanese artist, animator and director, Hayao Miyazaki, responsible for acclaimed animated films such as 'Spirited Away', invited her to contribute her stunning work to the Ghibli Museum's new exhibit based on the story of The Nutcracker. He has admired her work for a long time, and upon seeing her version on The Nutcracker, published by Templar, he simply had to collaborate with her - what an honour! Her work will be showcased in its own room in the exhibition, dedicated to introducing children to the classic tale. Curated by Miyazaki himself, and in collaboration with the Tokuma Memorial Cultural Foundation for Animation, this is a must see exhibit and runs from 31st May 2014 to May 2015. More information regarding the exhibit can be found here:https://www.ghibli-museum.jp/en/
A story for complete and utter football nutters everywhere, Up For The Cup, by Simon Bartram is published by Templar this month. Simon's long awaited tale about his favourite subject - FOOTBALL, follows the tale of a dedicated football fan who's team have made it all the way to the cup final against the odds.
This month we are proud to announce the signing of not one, but two fabulous Italian artists! With varied portfolios and many years of experience between them, we believe Lorenzo Sabbatiniand Giovanni Abeille have what it takes to continue their success. Giovanni has produced some wonderful children's illustrations for picture books and also a simpler, graphic approach for the educational market. Lorenzo is no stranger to the children's books either, with many styles under his belt - a truly versatile artist who is well versed in both traditional and digital media.
Both artists are now represented by The Organisation
Artist Partners are proud to announce a big welcome to a major new talent: the Illustrator and writer, Charlie Sutcliffe! This wonderfully talented artist has joined Artist Partners and we are delighted to represent and showcase his talent.
Charlie’s first picture book “Zubert” has been written and illustrated by Charlie himself, and this classic children’s book was published by Tate Books- which is marvellous news!
Having presented Charlie’s work at Bologna to various publishers, they were very excited by his unique talents, and hopeful in finding suitable new projects for Charlie to work on in the future.
No end to his talents, Charlie himself has written some brilliant imaginative texts which AP are now looking to home with suitable publishers.
For more information on Charlie Sutcliffe do please check out the website :
Very exciting news! A long awaited and comprehensive and retrospective exhibition is being held at The Williamson Art Gallery and Museum in Birkenhead.
Gary Blythe the renowned children's book illustrator and Kate Greenaway award winning artist will be showing just some of his many famously beautiful oil paintings from The Whales Song and other award winning and best selling books - Book covers, quirky paintings, and personal paintings, and text illustrations will adorn the walls of two rooms.
The exhibition being held next door is that of Henry Moore's ... Well worth a visit.
