The SAA are very pleased to be supporting the World Illustration Awards by sponsoring The SAA Agents Award for New Talent.
children’s books 
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.
Mark Beech was delighted when he was called upon by Hachette children’s Books to illustrate this wonderful title of favourite stories chosen and introduced by a host of famous fans who grew up loving Enid Blyton books.
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!
Garry Parsons worked with authors Adam and Charlotte Guillain on the fabulous Molly’s Magic Wardrobe.
Simon Bartram, creator of the award-winning best-selling Bob, Man on the Moon has a brand new picture book out - RUFUS, published by Templar. Rufus is a very keen and very green but not a very mean monster who really wants to find a real deal peopley person of his very own to scare!
Spring is in the air in Catch That Egg! And Anna Chernyshova’s lively illustrations seem to spring from every page of this delightful bloom-filled picture book written by Lucy Rowland and published by Macmillan.
The Pirates of Scurvy Sands is Jonny Duddle’s swashbuckling sequel to his bestselling The Pirates Next Door and it’s OUT NOW! We welcome back the loveable pirate family the Jolley-Rogers who invite Matilda to get away from Dull-on-Sea and join them on a voyage across the sea. They land on the pirate holiday island of Scurvy Sands, run by pirates and exclusively for… PIRATES.
There is something extremely calming about Fiona Woodcock’s artwork — I would describe it as the hygge of picture book illustration — because each time I read one of her books, I feel so relaxed and content, gently swept up by the subtle colours and textures she creates. A Dot in the Snow is beautiful, uncomplicated, peaceful — and yet dramatic in composition of scale and landscape.
Illustrator Fiona and author Corrinne Averiss have been nominated for a Kate Greenaway Medal for Dot, and so here, Fiona talks about her creative process.
A Dot in the Snow, published by Oxford University Press and nominated for a 2018 Kate Greenaway Medal.
My initial brief was to do something “artful,” which as an illustrator is a real gift!
I spent my Christmas watching wildlife documentaries to get my head around bears and snowy scenes. This was invaluable and helped to spark off compositional ideas for the landscape spreads.
We decided early on that it was important to highlight the environmental impact on the melting polar ice caps with the cracking ice spreads. This influenced the character design of the young polar bear cub Miki and we resolved to have him on all fours, rather than anthropomorphised on two legs. This slightly naturalistic approach seemed to help place him in the snowy world, where he has to contend with all the perils of the harsh environment.
I did lots of printmaking experiments to create the landscapes, printing with rubber stamps, and polystyrene from a pizza base was great for ice. I then composited all the elements digitally.
As well as the relationship between the characters, I was keen to capture their relationship with the environment, the filmic potential and the sense of space and distance covered on Miki’s epic adventure.
Corrinne sent me a link to this Björk track which she listened to whilst writing the book. It then became my soundtrack whilst illustrating it and we played it on a loop at our London at the Bright Emporium!
My huge thanks to Fiona! LM
If you’d like to work with Fiona, you can reach her via her agent, Arabella Stein here.
If you’d like to know more about Fiona and her picture books, click the link below.
The BBC recently aired a documentary, Life in Polar Bear Town, which you can see here.
Photograph courtesy of the BBC. See more here.
Aviel was commissioned by Lonely Planet to create this lovely series of sticker books which will be launched in February so watch out for these in the books shops!
Talented newcomer Anna Chernyshova illustrates her debut UK picture book, Santa Selfie, written by Peter Bently.
