March - Libraries Comp, TSL Cover, 'We Can!' Book Tour and a Look Back at World Book Day Week
Hi guys!
So where do I even start? I guess I will start with what I feel is the most exciting news - this month I revealed which school librarian made it onto my cover illustration of this spring’s TSL Magazine. The TSL (The School Librarian) is the UK School Library Association’s quarterly magazine. As many of you will know by now, the school librarian featured on this seasons cover is none other than the marvellous Karen King. Karen was nominated by Sara. This is some of what Sara had to say about Karen.
So far I’ve surprised over 30 school librarians with my cover illustrations.
Karen has been a librarian for many years at a neighbouring secondary school in my area - Beckfoot Oakbank. Karen goes above and beyond helping students. She is also very busy on the Secondary School Librarians Facebook page, offering advice, information and often emotional support to other school librarians up and down the country.
And here she is on the cover! I couldn’t resist including myself and Mr Panda in his new costume (look out for a cover reveal on my socials for the ninth Mr Panda book!).
On to my next bit of library news. As you may know, I do a lot here in my hometown with Swindon Libraries - whether state-funded or community-funded. There are 14 altogether. Every year I run a creative competition for library card holders in the borough, and this year will be my 10th! I regularly meet with my good friend, Outreach Librarian Debbie, to discuss fun ways of attracting more families to their local library. This year we met to discuss the competition is Swindon Story Shed: a community-focused bookshop and creative arts hub. Here is a list of all the annual creative competitions we’ve launched over the years. In no particular order…
Design a Doughnut
Design Mr Panda’s Hat
Draw What You Would Like to be When You Grow Up
Make a Marvellous Monster
Create a Planet
Create a Colourful Creature
Make a Pair Of Silly Socks
Make a Robot
You Can Create a Picture Book Cover
Outreach Librarian Debbie and I meet regularly to organise activities for the community.
So now we need a title for the 10th competition. We have already decided the theme: underwater. So mermaids, submarines, sea life, magical water wildings. Anything underwater. Debbie and I need help with the title so we’ve invited library members to come up with ideas. If you can think of a cool title, maybe a fun alliteration, feel free to get in touch here or via my socials! Debbie and I will launch the completion in Swindon later this year. Over the years We have seen thousands of entries.
March saw World Book Day. Over the course of World Book Day Week (as it’s commonly called by authors and illustrators) I had the pleasure of visiting five different schools including Radnor House, Hayes Park, Loddon Primary, Brookhurst Primary and Speenhamland School. I also visited the not-for-profit travelling bookshop, Swindon Story Shed. I saw some pretty impressive World Book Day costumes. My favourite was of Alexis Deacon’s Beegu character, which I spotted at Radnor House. I had the pleasure of meeting several teachers and school librarians including Katie, Kay, Loll (Loll Kirby is also an author - check out her work here), Sandra and Florence. This was my tenth World Book Day as a published author and illustrator. It’s one of my favourite times of year. It’s pretty amazing to see children dressed up as my characters (and my friend’s characters). Thanks to all the teachers for the great converastions and keeping me caffienated. If you are a teacher or school librarian and would like to book me for your school during World Book Day week press here.
The followjng week I took part in a Booktrust panel discussion about the importance of representation in early years children’s books alongside author Patrice Lawrence, Children’s Lauraete Wales Alex Wharton and Sioned Jones, Director of Booktrust Cymru. Booktrust’s new Writer in Residence Camilla Reid also gave a talk.
March also saw the start of the ‘We Can!’ tour which Alex Strick and I launched at the Farnham Literary Festival - we visited two schools including William Cobbet School where I met school librarian Caroline and her little librarian bear. Several days later Alex and I drove all the way to Salford in Greater Manchester to meet Martha from Salford’s National Literacy Hub and visited two schools, Lewis Street Primary School and St Joseph’s. Lewis Street Primary School’s Head Teacher showed us the school’s new library space which was funded by the National Literacy Trust’s ‘Libraries for Primaries’ initiative. Alex and I visited the National Literacy Trust’s Swindon Hub last year and were keen to work with the NLT again to take our tour to disadvantaged areas.
Near the end of the month I had the absolute honour of becoming an ‘Author Champion’ for Primary Pupil Library Assistant Winner, Darcie, at the UK Pupil Library Assistant of the Year 2025 Award Ceremony at the Pearson building in London. It was wonderful to celebrate all the young library champions and meet their proud families. Below is a picture of all the authors and illustrators who attended.
In short, it’s been a busy month. I post a lot on Instagram so if you’re interested in following my journey you can do so here.
I have a lot less events in April, plus I’ve just recently met a picture book deadline (more on that in next month’s blog post) so I should finally be able to add more useful content to this website. Below are a bunch of photos from March.
Bye for now!
Stay Creative,
Steve x
Feb - From Portugal to Las Vegas to my Local Libraries
Hi all!
I’ll keep this post super short as I’ve still got a bunch of things to do today, including drawing a picture for a competition winner, drawing a picture for childhood friend and a surprise drawing for a friend’s birthday. Feb is always a busy month in the book world. We have the Bologna Children’s Book Fair and World Book Week to prepare for. Plus, my book deadlines always seem to land in Feb!
Signing copies of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at Speenhamland School is Newbury a few days ago.
Because of this, I haven’t managed to find time to add any new activities to my website. I am hoping to record a ‘How to Draw Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ this month. This year marks Chitty’s 60th birthday, and I am keen to do something special to contribute towards the celebrations!
Today is my first proper ‘day off’ in over a month, so this blog post will read like a rushed journal entry. It’s sunny outside but I’m determined to clear my ‘to do’ list, and writing Feb’s blog update is on that list.
One of the favourite parts of my job is getting to travel and meet all sorts of lovely people who are passionate about picture books. I’ve always said that I think picture books are the most powerful form of literature, so it was great to have the opportunity to speak before an audience of teachers about how picture books can be used in the classroom as a tool to help awaken the creative potential of children. Most of what I said came from teachers. I gave my plenary at APPINEP’s 25th Anniversary Seminar on Teaching and Developing at the Politecnico De Leiria in the beautiful city of Leiria in Portugal.
The day before, I visited the pre-school Centro Social Parochial dos Pousos where I was greeted with a huge Rainbowsaurus banner, created by the pupils. The whole school performed their Rainbowsaurus song with singing and dance moves. They even baked Rainbowsaurus shaped cookies! It was lovely to meet all the teachers there (photo below).
A little later in the month I found myself in Clark County Library in Las Vegas. The library service included Please Mr Panda in their top 100 recommended reads for pre-schoolers, which is part of a free program to get more kids reading. While there I drew them a picture of Mr Panda for their library. I also took Mr Panda on a whistle stop tour of the colourful city.
Closer to home I ran a creative workshop in the centre of a shopping mall with the charity, Swindon Story Shed. I also spent a morning at the charity, Croft Playgroup. There I read some of the books from my Cat Nap series, which is aimed at toddlers.
I ran a creative workshop in Swindon Central Library for a group of 20 teenagers who entered an art competition. This is something I do annually as part of the Swindon Youth Festival of Literature which is run by Swindon’s Secondary School Librarians (I drew all of the librarians in my front cover illustration for the 2024 spring edition of the School Library Association’s quarterly magazine, TSL - The School Librarian. Speaking of which, I’ve literally just finished the cover illustration for this spring’s edition. Again, it features a real-life school librarian. I also read a few stories and drew some pictures at Beechcroft Community Library. I plan on returning later this year.
Below are some photos from Feb, including a couple taken at my friend, Patrice Lawrence’s, book launch for her new book, People Like Stars.
That’s all for now!
I’ll hopefully be able to update my site with more school and library activities this month. I hope you all have a fantastic World Book Day! I’m all packed and ready for a week of school visits.
Stay creative!
Steve
Jan - Nominate a School Librarian to be a Cover Star, Rainbowsaurus News and More
Surprising secondary school librarians who run Swindon’s Youth Festival of Literature
Hi guys. I hope you had a good January. So here’s my monthly update. I have a few exciting things to share with teachers and librarians.
As you may know, I illustrate the front covers of the UK School Library Association’s quarterly magazine: TSL (The School Librarian). The magazine is a great resource and source of inspiration for School Librarians or anyone involved or interested in literacy, education and newly published books for young people. Many of you reading this are possibly members of the UK School Library Association and therefore receive their magazine. My cover illustrations for this brilliant magazine include real school librarians. In fact, this time last year I surprised a group of secondary school librarians by revealing my cover illustration of them at an event at the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) in London. Well, now you can nominate someone to feature in my cover illustration! In January I received around 12 nominations. Whether or not I can illustrate every nominee remains to be seen, but I’ll try! I’ve just finished illustrating the spring cover which features a school librarian some of you reading this may know. She is a much-loved super champion for school libraries and young readers. I like to keep my cover illustrations under wraps until their printed so therefore it’s a complete surprise for the librarian. Oh, I should add that your nomination can be a school librarian, a teacher, a teacher’s assistant, a support worker or anyone that champions children’s books in a primary or secondary school setting. After all, not all school’s have government funded libraries!
To nominate someone, go here.
The TSL magazine is free to members of the the UK’s School Library Association. To find out more, go here.
In other January news, Rainbowsaurus won the School Reading List’s title of Best Children’s Picture Book 2024! What makes this really special is that it was a public vote. I really didn’t expect to win. Thank you to everyone who voted for Rainbowsaurus.
Also, I visited a school who named a class after me and was pleased to see that its shining example of how to foster of love of books was covered by regional news. You can read the article here.
photo credit: Max Mumby
I also had the pleasure of holding a creative storytime session at a recently relocated Prospect Hospice charity bookshop. Prospect Hospice has provided the only dedicated end-of-life care service for people living across north east Wiltshire including Swindon, Marlborough and Royal Wootton Bassett as well as Fairford and Lechlade in Gloucestershire. They exist because of the generosity and support of thier amazing local communities.
Speaking of charities, Sophie the Duchess of Edinburgh read my picture book The Queen’s Handbag during a special visit to Treloar School and College, a specialist education centre for young disabled people. The Duchess is Patron to the Treloar’s Trust, a charity that provides outstanding education, therapy and care to physically disabled young people and empowers them to live more independent and fulfilling lives.
In local news, I visited Wroughton Library, a little known gem of a community library that really packs a punch. I plan on returning this summer for an exciting Chitty Chitty Bang Bang activity.
I am going to visit Beechcroft Library on the 20th of Feb at 10:30am and the same day I’ll be visiting Swindon’s Story Shed in the Brunel Plaza at 1:30pm.
That’s all for now! Have a great month. I’ll be back on this site to post an update at the start of March.
New Monthly Blog - Updates On Activities, Competitions, Events, Projects and New Books
Hi guys. I hope you’re well.
It’s been a while since I’ve blogged here, but because so many people scattered themselves across a multitude of social platforms last year, I decided to relaunch this news blog. At the start of each month I will post any news I have on activities, competitions, events, projects and new books. This way it’s much easier for you to check for new downloadable activities, competitions and such.
From my website analytics I can see that many people are searching online for Mr Panda class activities, so that’s something I would like to address this year. At present there are two downloadable Mr Panda activities on my site. I know there are loads of Mr Panda activities available from other websites but I’d like to make more available here.
Dolly’s charity has included Steve’s books several times before.
Speaking of Mr Panda, this year he is 10 years old, which means that many of the children who read Please Mr Panda in 2015 are now teenagers.
And today Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library announced that Please Mr Panda has been included in their 2025 program. This means that children up and down Australia will receive a copy. This is the third time that the charity has chosen one of my books. Dolly’s charity has given a mind-blowing number of books away to children. In the UK alone they have mailed six million books to children. Incredible.
For those of you familiar with my website you may have noticed a few updates including more activities, and many of the pages have been updated with more info. For example, The Queen’s Hat activities, which were taken down a couple of years ago, are once again available to download, here. And all the colourful Rainbowsaurus activities are available here. Mr Panda activities are here.
Regarding book tours, I plan on doing two UK tours this year. The first one will be for schools who can’t afford Author visits and the second will be in June. I’ll provide more details in my next blog post, at the start of February.
I am going to Portugal in February to present a plenary at the APPInep (Portuguese English Teachers Association) Seminar in Leiria which I’m looking forward to. But at the moment I don’t have any other overseas plans, except for attending the Bologna Children’s Book Fair.
I will just finish this post with an update on last year’s creative competition. Yesterday I presented the award-giving ceremony at Swindon Central Library with Swindon Outreach Librarian Debbie. Attendees included 13 of the 14 winners and their familes. I received over 500 ‘Marvellous Monster’ entries, so choosing 14 winners (one for each library) wasn’t a quick process. It was great to put names to ‘monsters’! All the entries are on display in Swindon Central Library. The competition, now in its 10th year, is for library members within the Borough of Swindon. This year’s competition theme will be announced on my website in June.
13 of the 14 winners of last year’s ‘Marvellous Monster’ competition
I think that’s it for now.
Bye for now!
Steve
Kindness Day
International Kindness Day is Nov 13th. Third Graders at Carlo Collodi of the institute of Occhiobello in Italy drew these colourful pictures of Mr Panda to mark the day! Their drawings were inspired by my Mr Panda series.
International Day of Persons with Disabilities
4th Graders at Carlo Collodi illustrated drawings and designed posters to recognise the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which is on Dec 3rd. Carlo Collodi is one of the 4 primary schools of the institute of Occhiobello, near Rovigo, in the region Veneto. Their drawings were inspired by my book ‘Amazing’ which is about a boy and his amazing pet dragon. The boy happens to use a wheelchair. The reason I created this book is because I once worked as Support Worker for students with special needs and couldn’t find a picture book featuring a wheelchair user as a main character that wasn’t about the wheelchair.
It’s always lovely to see how teachers use picture books in their classrooms. I absolutely love these drawings and posters!
Inktober 2022
Below are all 31 of my Inktober drawings. If you’re not already familiar with Inktober, every year they create a list of daily word prompts for the month of October. For years I’ve been meaning to take part, and I’m so glad that I finally did! Word prompts are a fun way to get the creative juices flowing. I even think I may have come up with some potential story ideas!
Lilies For The Queen Colouring-in Sheets
Dear Schools,
Together we celebrated Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee and made great memories.
Here, you can download six floral tributes for your children to colour in, which include Her Majesty’s favourite flower: Lily of the Valley. Download here: https://tinyurl.com/4fdfj8jx
From Steve x
Steve Antony Day - Celebrating Swindon Libraries
What a day! Today is Steve Antony day - a day named by Swindon Libraries to thank me for all I do as Patron and to celebrate all the wonderful activities both I and Swindon Libraries have launched over the years. More importantly, it's a day to celebrate all that Swindon Libraries do for children, schools and families. It's also the date I became Patron to Swindon Libraries Children's Reading Services back in 2016.
The day started with a fun filled morning of activities at Crowdys Hill School, a school close to my heart for many reasons. There was 'Pin The Nose On The Panda', a doughnut hoop-throwing game, lots of colouring in sheets and a treasure hunt. The pupils surprised me with a display of Steve Antony portraits and gave me a book of their very own story ideas. It was a truly special visit. It was so nice to see everyone again after having not been able to visit the school in-person for so long due to the pandemic.
After fish & chips, Outreach Librarian Debbie and I embarked on a whistle stop tour of Swindon Libraries. We weren't able to visit all the libraries but did manage to pop by Beechcroft Library, Park Library, Old Town Children's Library and Wroughton Library.
There's no place quite like a library. "Libraries store the energy that fuels the imagination. They open up windows to the world and inspire us to explore and achieve, and contribute to improving our quality of life." - Sidney Sheldon
And to many, libraries are a lifeline. They're a safe space, they're free and our communities need them. Librarians do an incredible about of good work for their local communities, and Outreach Librarians provide an invaluable service to schools, especially schools in deprived areas.
From Lego Play to Sewing Clubs, there's something for everyone - and everyone is welcome! If you don't already belong to your local library, what are you waiting for?
I personally feel very honoured and privileged to have been named Patron of Swindon Libraries Children's Reading Services. It's a role I thoroughly enjoy and feel truly blessed to have formed such a special bond with Swindon Libraries.
I'd like to thank Outreach Librarian and good friend Debbie from the bottom of my box of doughnuts for organising today. And thank you for the fish and chips, too!
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
I am sure most of you have seen that simply adorable and heartwarming video of Queen Elizabeth II and Paddington Bear (below). Well, Paddington Bear wasn’t the only classic children’s book character to spend time with The Queen over Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee weekend! I had the absolute honour of illustrating The Queen and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
And I am pleased to announce that just over £1000 was raised for the DEC Ukraine Appeal from the sale of prints. Thank you to everyone who bought one.
Below is the original press release.
Award-winning children's book illustrator of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and The Queen's Hat, Steve Antony, has illustrated Her Majesty flying the world's most famous fictional car to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee. All proceeds will be donated to the DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.
Antony, known for his award-winning The Queen's Hat, illustrated the first picture book adaptation of Ian Fleming's classic children's story, which was written by Peter Bently and published by Hachette Children's in 2020.
Steve Antony says: “What better way to celebrate Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee than to race through the clouds in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. And if Chitty Chitty Bang Bang should cough and splutter who better to check under her bonnet than Queen Elizabeth II, who trained as a mechanic during WWII. But more importantly, I hope we can reach the £7000 target to contribute towards DEC’s essential aid and help the displaced people of Ukraine, especially the children.”
Corinne Turner, Managing Director of Ian Fleming Publications Ltd, says: “Ian Fleming’s magical flying car is a beloved part of British culture, so it seemed fitting to celebrate this historic occasion by giving Her Majesty the chance to take Chitty Chitty Bang Bang out for a spin. We adore Steve’s artwork, especially The Queen’s Hat, and are proud to honour Queen Elizabeth II with this special design. We hope fans enjoy it and that the money raised for charity is also a cause for celebration.”
Author, Peter Bently says: "I hope you will be as delighted as I am by Steve's brilliant and witty illustration of Her Majesty taking to the skies in everyone's favourite flying car. Happy Jubilee, Ma'am, and hold on to you hat!"
Prints can be purchased from www.steveantony.com. More information on Chitty Chitty Bang Bang can be found at www.ianfleming.com
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a trademark of Danjaq LLC and United Artists Corporation, used under licence by Ian Fleming Publications Ltd. All rights reserved. Text copyright © Ian Fleming Publications Ltd 1964, 1965.
Book News! "Groundbreaking" You Can, out next year!
PRESS RELEASE, BELOW.
Inclusive new picture book illustrated by award-winning Steve Antony, created not just for children – but by children– with Alexandra Strick. Publication Oct 2021, Otter-Barry Books, World rights available
Most children’s books start with a team of adults and end up in the hands of children. You Can evolved differently. It started with children from a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences. And children have remained central throughout the project.
You Can is an innovative concept developed by Alexandra Strick. Through several years of consultation, young people aged 8 to 18 were asked what they would say to their younger selves to inspire, reassure and enthuse them about the future. You Can represents their answers.
Brought to dazzling life with a ground-breaking visual narrative by Steve Antony, we see 14 diverse characters grow from babies, to toddlers, to young children, to older children and finally into young adults. The cast of characters is truly diverse in every way, as their many different interests, identities, friendships and futures develop before the reader’s eyes.
This empowering book reminds every child that they can be themselves, with its messages of inspiration, empathy, reassurance and hope. And never have such messages been more important than now. You Can’s young contributors shared their ideas through meetings, emails and video calls throughout the book’s development. Their contributions were powerful, astute, often touching, sometimes funny. The young people come from a wide range of different backgrounds and experiences and include members of the network of Inclusion Ambassadors.
“I am so proud and excited about this very special book.” Steve Antony, illustrator
“This highly inclusive picture is unique in so many ways, not least its child-centred origins and its hugely inclusive delivery... Steve and I would like to thank every single individual who contributed.” Alexandra Strick, author
“This book will bring a lot of smiles to a lot of faces when children in different situations, from different backgrounds and facing different challenges find themselves in the story. In its beautiful illustrations they will be able to connect and feel “seen” and empowered.” Zainab Ahmad, Inclusion Ambassador, author and entrepreneur
“We are honoured to be the publishers of this ground-breaking book, working with the incredibly talented Steve Antony and Alexandra Strick.” Janetta Otter-Barry, Publisher, Otter-Barry Books
Amazing nominated on the international list of Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities
Yesterday I was delighted to discover that Amazing has been nominated on the international list of Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities. When creating Amazing I was fully aware that no other UK trade picture books existed that featured an incidentally disabled human child so boldly and blatantly on the front cover. Picture books featuring characters with disabilities are hard to come by. They are ESPECIALLY hard to come by because you never see the disability depicted on the front cover. In other words, you have to look real hard to find such books. This is why I made Amazing. This is also why I intentionally made Amazing as bright, colourful and commercial as possible, unlike most of my other books which usually have limited colour palettes due to my own disability, my colour-blindness. I also wanted to prove wrong the publishers that said this wouldn’t sell because apparently “it’s too niche”. And I did just that, with the full support of my publisher: Hachette Children’s. The first print run of Amazing sold out, which in this competitive and fast-paced industry is quite an achievement! It was also shortlisted for Book Trust’s Story Time Prize, and the book has given me the platform and opportunity to talk and write quite extensively about the importance of such picture books.
I am so happy that IBBY UK chose Amazing! Thanks, IBBY UK!
You can read the full article on the IBBY nominations at The Bookseller, here: https://www.thebookseller.com/news/uk-nominations-ibbys-outstanding-books-young-people-disabilities-1216633
Mr Panda Plush
Great news! Mr Panda is now available to buy as a plush toy! You can purchase one here: https://merrymakersinc.com/products/please-mr-panda?variant=32138081665123
The WHSmith Ultimate Writing Challenge
I am excited to be a part of the WHSmith and the National Literacy Trust’s Ultimate Writing Challenge, alongside poet Karl Nova and writer Hilary Robinson. Write a letter from space, or a poem about a special place, or a story about a dragon! Looking forward to seeing all the entries. This competition is completely free to enter. It is open exclusively to all UK schools who have participated in a National Literacy Trust project with WHSmith at some point over the last 15 years! For more information, please visit the National Literacy Trust’s website, here: https://literacytrust.org.uk/competitions/whsmith-ultimate-writing-challenge/
Picture Book Club - A New Show Celebrating Picture Book Creators
I am delighted to announce the launch of a new YouTube show, called Picture Book Club - telling the story behind the story!
Several months ago I mentioned on Twitter that it’s a shame that there isn’t a TV show that really focuses on and celebrates picture books. In the States I grew up watching Reading Rainbow, which was a fantastic show that celebrated books.
The tweet sparked a conversation amongst creatives. Mostly we all reminisced, but it was a conversation with fellow children’s author Fiona Barker that led to the Picture Book Club YouTube show. Fiona and I decided that we would do something, so we brainstormed ideas until settling on a nice and simple seven minute format. The introductions and ends were filmed in Swindon Old Town Children’s Library (the wall art is by the amazing Fred Blunt). Fiona visited, interviewed and filmed a number of children’s writers and illustrators. The first was Rob Biddulph, and in our very first episode we get to see Rob in action at the Wimbledon Book Festival. The episodes are weekly. We’ve got a fair few lined up for you, and we’ll see how it goes before planning more episodes. Check out the first episode below.
Mr Panda Fundraising Book Launch for Coram Beanstalk
Sat 8th Feb saw the fundraising book launch of We Love You, Mr Panda at Swindon Central Library, in aid of Coram Beanstalk. Amongst guests were public librarians, school librarians, teachers, fellow authors and illustrators and family and close friends. I recognised many guests, including winners of previous art competitions. Arlo, the boy who helped publicise the new Mr Panda library card, was there too. Leandra Lucas yet again delighted everyone with her latest cake creation - Mr Panda piloting his podgy plane over the book’s full cast of characters. Marc managed the raffle and sale of limited edition prints and badges, managing to sell over 100 tickets within 90 minutes. I was delighted that Coram Beanstalk volunteer Debbie won one of the raffle prizes, which included signed books, a signed sketch and a second Mr Panda cake by Leandra. The cake went to fellow author-illustrator Elena Arevalo Melville.
Altogether we raised £300 for Coram Beanstalk. Coram Beanstalk recruit, train and support volunteers to provide consistent, one-to-one reading support to children aged 3-13 who need their help. Their reading helpers give them the support they need to improve their reading skills, reading ability and confidence. They also provide training to people within the school community who want to help children learn to read for pleasure whilst improving their reading skills.
Thank you to everyone who came to support this very special event. I would especially like to thank Swindon Libraries for their continued support. I now look forward to the next fundraising book launch, which will be for Green Lizards and Red Rectangles and the Blue Ball. The venue and chosen charity are yet to be confirmed, although I can say that the event will take place in the summer. If you would like to be kept informed on future events please sign up to my newsletter at the bottom of my website.
Below are some photos taken by good friend, Terry Bassett. A video by South West Media will be posted here in due course.
For more information on Coram Beanstalk, including how to support their work, please visit www.beanstalkcharity.org.uk
Your Child in a Future Picture Book
To help a bookseller open a physical bookshop in my hometown of Swindon I am offering a really unique opportunity for a child to appear as a drawn character in one of my forthcoming picture books. Whoever buys this Crowdfunder reward will also receive illustrations of the child, along with a signed copy including a hand-written dedication to the child. They will also receive an exclusive die-cut Bert's Books pin badge plus 15% off all titles in your next purchase on bertsbooks.co.uk (excluding sale items and subscriptions).
There are other rewards up for grabs, too! Check out Bert’s Bookshop Crowdfunder page: www.crowdfunder.co.uk/bertsbooks
Below are some illustrations of some of the children I’ve featured in picture books.
My illustration from ‘Kind’
My illustration from ‘Kind’
Illustration from ‘When I Grow Up’
Illustration from ‘When I Grow Up’
Illustration from ‘Amazing’
Illustration from ‘Amazing’
