Children's Art Gallery
I've created a children's gallery page for the brilliant drawings I often receive. Below are just a few. Click on each image for details.
And here's a tweet from a school I visited this week.
It has been great to hear the positive feedback from the visit from Steve Antony pic.twitter.com/vGzyrZ7qNY
— Church Langton (@churchlangtonps) April 30, 2015
The Queen's Hat wins Oscar's First Book Prize
Oscar's First Book Prize is such a personal, touching award. I so admire Oscar’s family for starting something that’s a really positive celebration of his life – thousands of people across the UK now know his name, and I’m so honoured to be part of it, as well as being part of a fantastic celebration of picture books. Each book on the shortlist is so brilliant!
To have won is very moving.
Oscar's First Book Prize, which is sponsored by Waitrose, is designed to find the best first book a child might pick up on their own, and was launched last year in memory of Oscar Ashton, Evening Standard’s executive editor and columnist James Ashton’s son, who was three-and-a-half when he sadly died of a heart condition in December 2012.
The awards ceremony took place last night at Hubbard & Bell, and the prize was presented to me by the lovely Gillian Anderson.
It was a real pleasure to meet and chat with Oscar's parents and grandparents. It was also great to chat to everyone else on the shortlist, Richard Byrne, Tim Warnes, Lucy Tapper, Steve Wilson and Victoria Turnbill (a fellow MA grad).
Below is today's article in the Evening Standard. You can read the full article online HERE.
If you already haven't, I highly recommend checking out the shortlisted books. They are all amazing. Hedgehugs, written by Steve Wilson and illustrated by Lucy Tapper, Dangerous! by Tim Warnes, This Book Just Ate My Dog! by Richard Byrne, and The Sea Tiger by Victoria Turnbull (all below).
Mr Panda goes to Japan!
I literally jumped out my skin with excitement when I saw this.
Japanese Mr Panda! Published by Hyoronsha.
Betty Goes Bananas hits Number One in Taiwan!
For me, one of the most exciting things about getting published is seeing my work translated into different languages. The very idea of reaching into the lives of people thousands of miles away, in countries I've never visited, and in languages I can't speak, is hard to comprehend. But books can do that.
Today, I was thrilled to receive the exciting news that Taiwan's edition of 'Betty Goes Bananas' is number 1 on the bestselling list at books.com.tw, Taiwan's largest online bookstore, and Kingstone Bookstore, one of Taiwan's major bookstore chains. Wow.
Below is a pic of the Taiwanese edition of 'Betty Goes Bananas', along with some screen shots of Betty's number 1 status and her very own fun filled web page, along with and a video featuring an expressive banana talking about Betty (which has had no less than 6000 views in less than a month)!
Thank you to all of Betty's new fans in Taiwan!
Betty is number 1 bestselling children's book at books.com.tw
Betty is number 1 bestselling children's book at Kingstone
See Betty's very own website HERE.
See Betty's very own website, all in Chinese, by pressing HERE.
The Queen's Hat shortlisted for Oscar's First Book Prize
I am delighted to discover that 'The Queen's Hat' has been shortlisted for the Oscar's First Book Prize: a touching tribute to Oscar Ashton, the son of Evening Standard executive editor and columnist James Ashton, who was three years old when he died in December 2012 from an undetected heart condition.
It’s the second year for Oscar's First Book Prize, which is given to the best first book a child might pick up on their own. Last year, Benji Davies picked up the award for his heartwarming picture book, 'The Storm Whale' (pictured below).
Sixty submissions were whittled down to a long-list of ten, and the final five were carefully picked by a panel of judges: actress Gillian Anderson, Dame Marjorie Scardino, former Pearson CEO and the first female board director of Twitter, Rupert Thomas, marketing director of Waitrose, and Oscar’s parents, Viveka Alvestrand and Evening Standard executive editor and columnist, James Ashton. Gillian Anderson will present the award, sponsored by Waitrose, at Soho House, on May 7.
Below are the final five books shortlisted books for Oscar's First Book Prize. Congratulations, all!
Hedgehugs
Written by Steve Wilson, illustrated by Lucy Tapper
(Maverick Publishing)
Dangerous!
By Tim Warnes
(Little Tiger Press)
This Book Just Ate My Dog!
By Richard Byrne
(OUP)
The Sea Tiger
By Victoria Turnbull
(Templar)
The Queen’s Hat
By Me
(Hachette Children’s)
The final five were featured in today's London Evening Standard. You can read the full article online HERE.
Cambridge Lit Fest & Wokingham Libraries
Last week, I held three events with Wokingham Libraries and one event at the Cambridge Literary Festival. All of the events were much fun. Pictures were drawn, stories were told and photos were taken. Below are some photos from each of the events, plus captions.
The programme and my author pass for the Cambridge Lit Fest, last Saturday.
What great company to be in. I got to meet some of the authors in the green room and watch some of their events.
You can see how sunny it was!
Heffers kindly provided the books.
Drawing different hats for the panda.
We made up a new Mr Panda story.
Lots of budding artists!
Amazing mermaid drawings, by Aiden.
A quick shot of outside the window of the signing room at Cambridge Literary Festival.
Last Thursday, in Chapter One Bookshop in Woodley.
All set for my first event with Wokingham Libraries last Thursday.
With the lovely Cathy MacLennan at Chapter One Bookshop in Woodley.
My first event of the day with Wokingham Libraries.
Signing a book for Harry.
Event poster.
I read the next Betty book at the Wokingham Library events.
I gave a sneak peek of the sequel to 'The Queen's Hat': 'The Queen's Handbag'.
Shaun in the City Videos
Here are a few great Shaun in the City videos.
You can find more BAAA-rill vids of Shaun on Shaun in the City's official YouTube channel.
Shaun in the City: The Making of my Shaun the Sheep
Back in October, Aardman asked if I'd like to design one of their 'Shaun in the City' Shaun statues and base my design on my London-centric picture book 'The Queen's Hat': a funny tale in which HRH is taken on an impromptu tour of some of London's most famous landmarks. The statue went on to fetch a staggering £15,000, which was all donated to Wallace & Gromit's Children's Chrity. In reverse-ordered photos, here is the making of my Shaun the Sheep, which is currently part of the London trail. My Shaun is sponsored by Studio Canal and is located just off of Carnaby St, London. The trail, which will raise funds for Wallace & Gromit’s Children’s Charity and The Grand Appeal, makes a great day out. It ends on the 25th of May.
You can click to enlarge the photos.
I finally got to see my statue in situ.
It was great to see it all laquered up.
Before I saw my statue in place, I saw lots of photos of it. Photo by emmagrattidge
To date, Instagram has just over 4000 posts tagged with ShaunInTheCity. Photo by yuttakorn
It's great to see all of these photos. Photo by eimontaite
Another BAAA-rilliant photo found on Instagram. Photo by flaviabenevides
Finishing touches!
I used this sliced spray paint lid to paint the eyes.
It worked perfectly.
Union Jacks all done.
My signature.
Lids from sweet tubs came in handy.
A waving guard. There are five hidden characters from 'The Queen's Hat' on this.
Working late into the night.
Detail of the ear.
I left the pupils until last.
Lots of brushes.
Acrylic paints.
The flags took ages. I painted the red and blue first and then I added the grey string.
So far, so good!
Really pleased with the overall effect.
The legs were awkward to paint.
My legs.
Black on. It was time to paint the bunting.
Three more legs to go.
Selfie. My 'The Queen's Ht' bunting is in the background.
Painting on the black.
Finished applying the base coat (4 layers of white masonry.)
I figured Union Jack bunting would look pretty cool.
What would happen to Shaun if he'd found himself in 'The Queen's Hat'? He'd get entangled in bunting!
First coat of masonry paint.
Me and my naked Shaun the Sheep. Initially, I was going to paint London icons all over it.
The reception area at Aardman.
I couldn't take many photos, but I could get one of me next to this famous windmill!
I visited Aarman shortly after I had the invite.
I love all of these Gromits!
I want them all!
Brilliant designs. Inspiring!
To end this blog post, here are a few fantastic tweets I've received.
@MrSteveAntony Monet getting into the spirit of the Queen's Hat :) @shaun_inthecity pic.twitter.com/fWlqG9JItO
— Jo Byatt (@JoanneByatt1) April 11, 2015@MrSteveAntony Monet and Sienna Loved Your Shaun especially finding the hidden Gems! @shaun_inthecity pic.twitter.com/wgpiZRQAWg
— Jo Byatt (@JoanneByatt1) April 11, 2015Look who we spotted today @MrSteveAntony #ShaunInTheCity pic.twitter.com/hAHaOpkA7y
— Action For Kids (@ActionForKids) April 10, 2015Found the Rule Britannia #shauninthecity by @mrsteveantony pic.twitter.com/WsuKwi9yGQ
— Andrew Sharp (@Andrewsharp1) April 4, 2015@MrSteveAntony my friend and I with your Shaun 😀 pic.twitter.com/rP8H8WKjLc
— Sami J Toomer (@samij_toomer) April 12, 2015Am on the @shauninthecity trail today. 2nd stop: @MrSteveAntony's sheep inspired by #TheQueensHat! & I found butler! pic.twitter.com/J5dQA9UQTN
— Rebecca Logan (@bookshopbecky) April 12, 2015Go visit the official Shaun in the City site HERE and go download the fantastic sheep spotting app!
Creative Workshop with Action For Kids Charity
Me and Jolene, from Action For Kids
Last week, I visited the independent charity, Action For Kids (in Haringey, London) for a day of drawing, story-building and more drawing.
It was nice to have the opportunity to share my stories with the staff and students at Action For Kids, and it was great to hear their stories, too! Together, we created our very own imaginative story, which featured mer-pandas, underwater aliens and Johnny Depp!
Action For Kids is a truly remarkable independent charity. They exist to support disabled children and young people to live the life they want - just like everyone else.
They do this by working with students aged 14 to 19 who have special educational needs to ensure they gain the most from their school experience and to ensure that their voices are heard.
For students no longer in full time education they teach practical skills in managing money, living independently and how to access the help which is available.
They also have full time job coaches who organise training, work placements and finally paid work.
I came across Action For Kids last year when I was looking for a charity to support as part of an exhibition at Pickled Pepper Books, the brilliant indie children's book store in Crouch End. I wanted to donate my share to a charity in the general locale - which is when I found Action For Kids. And I'm so glad that I did.
Having worked as a support worker to further education students at Swindon College, I have a little bit of an insight into how difficult it can often be for young adults with special needs to find their own unique form of independence as they prepare for life beyond education. And because of this insight, I can truly appreciate the value and importance of Action For Kids.
To find out more about Action For Kids, please check out their WEBSITE and show your support by following them on TWITTER and FACEBOOK. Better yet, donate!
Here are some photos of my day with the charity, courtesy of Action For Kids.
Take a look #WhereIWrite with Periscope
#WhereIwrite is a global project started by the publisher Hachette, working with their friends at Twitter and Periscope, to celebrate writing and the places where the alchemy of creating a book happens.
I took part in this project and broadcasted my video yesterday on Periscope from my rather cluttered studio.
I'm sure you've probably heard of Periscope by now. It's a brand new app that allows you to stream and view videos in real time. It's really quite something.
Authors so far featured on the #WhereIwrite website include, Huey Morgan, Siobhan Horner, Jodi Picoult, Laura Barnett, Val McDermid, Harriet Evans and Jenny Colgan and many, many more are joining in, as you can see from this screenshot of the official #WhereIwrite website.
You can view my video below.
To see all of them, please visit the #WhereIwrite website HERE. They are very fascinating, and I'm thrilled to be one of the first to help kick-start this exciting project.
Bologna Children's Book Fair 2015 - Mr Panda Book 2
'I'll Wait, Mr Panda'
Last week I went to the Bologna Children's Book Fair in Italy with Hodder Children's Books for the launch of my next Mr Panda title, 'I'll Wait, Mr Panda'. In this, Mr Panda's second picture book, we discover that GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO WAIT. Speaking of waiting, it's not out until January next year.
I was at the fair from Monday to Thursday morning. Lots of things happened in that very short time. Here are 15 things I won't forget.
1. Seeing the mahoosive 'I'll Wait, Mr Panda', poster.
2. Having Very Important Meetings with foreign publishers, UK booksellers and other book folk.
3. Sitting on the floor with Sang-Keun Kim and poring over his utterly amazing work.
4. Chatting philosophically for ages with Sun from Some Books about the importance of picture books.
5. Elena and I bumping into Linda Owen-Lloyd and Marcia Williams, and having dinner together.
6. Meeting lots of author and illustrator friends, and making new friends, too.
7. Emma, my publisher, giving me a Mr Panda plush (picture below)!
8. Watching a truly fascinating and thoroughly entertaining talk by Dav Pilkey at the Scholastic Reception.
9. My agent, Elizabeth Roy, giving me a Compeed plaster for a painful blister on my heel.
10. Introducing Mr Panda's US publisher to Professor Martin Salisbury at the Cambridge School of Art stand.
11. Seeing MA tutors, Marta Altés and Pam Smy, very briefly at the Cambridge School of Art stand.
12. Spilling a full glass of red wine all over the white tablecloth at a dinner with foreign publishers.
13. Spotting Mr Panda bags all over the fair.
14. Chatting with friends from Hachette (and eating Pringles and drinking Coke) in their little hideaway room behind their stand.
15. Biting into the most delicious slice of pizza I think I've ever had.
Below are some photos of my time there, in no particular order. I spent most of my time near or at the Hachette stand, so most of these photos were taken there. Yet again, I wish I had taken more photos of the stands from around the fair.
The big poster for 'I'll Wait, Mr Panda'.
Mr Panda bags could be spotted throughout the fair.
Near the entrance.
A Vespa outside my hotel.
The plane from Bologna to Gatwick.
The 'illustrators' wall' at the fair.
The Hachette stand.
The Hachette stand.
Meg McLaren's brilliant new book at the Anderson Press stand.
The Digital Cafe.
The Hodder Children's catalogues.
Little Brown's section of the Hachette stand.
Patrick McDonnell's new book at the Hachette stand.
The new book by Phil Earle (writer) and Sara Ogilvie (illustrator)
Lauren Child's new picture book.
Holding plushes by Ariane Hofmann-Maniyar.
Matty Long drawing characters from his 'Super Happy Magic Forest' on OUP's walls.
The Illustrators Exhibition. Anglia Ruskin graduate, Maisie Shearring, won the International Award for Illustration.
Cressida Cowell's final HTTYD book.
Jonathan Meres' latest Norm book.
Elise Parsley's hilarious book.
A turtle.
Barbapapa!
Another Mr Panda pic.
More posing by Mr Panda.
The entrance to the fair.
This caught my eye.
Snaps of my hotel.
A magical land awaits inside.
My hotel room.
The hotel stairs.
The hotel harp.
Beautiful architecture just outside my hotel.
My Queen's Hat inspired Shaun in the City
50 differently designed Shaun the Sheep have made their way to London this weekend for the much anticipated Shaun in the City London Trail, including mine, which is inspired by 'The Queen's Hat' and sponsored by Studio Canal.
I am so thrilled to be part of this absolutely amazing project.
Everything you need to know about the trail, you can find HERE, including a link to download the super-fun sheep-spotting app!
But most importantly, this is for an incredibly worthwhile cause. Ultimately, the sheep will be auctioned off in October to raise funds for the Wallace & Gromit’s Children’s Charity.
So, what are you waiting for, go download the Android or Apple app!
As soon as I'm back from the Bologna Children's Book Fair, I'm heading straight to London!
PS. Look out for the hidden 'The Queen's Hat' characters in the bunting!
BLOG UPDATE: New photos added. I'll add more from my visit to London and some work-in-progress shots soon.
TO SEE MAKING OF MY SHAUN AND THE CITY, PRESS HERE.
Me and my Shaun in the City, which is inspired by my picture book, 'The Queen's Hat'.
My Shaun!
My statue is located at the corner of Carnaby Street, London.
It was great to see lots of people having their photo taken next to him.
Chris Haughton's Shaun the Sheep
A Gruffalo Shaun the Sheep!
Close-up of Chris Riddell's statue.
Me and a Shaun by Chris Riddell
Draw a corgi!
Here's a fun 'How to draw a corgi' activity I illustrated for The Guardian, inspired by my picture book, 'The Queen's Hat'. Find out what happens when a royal guard tries drawing a present for the Queen on her very windy birthday! See the full 'How to' here: http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/gallery/2014/jun/14/how-to-draw-a-corgi-steve-antony
13 things that aren't in The Queen's Hat
Way back in May last year, which seems like so much longer ago, I drew a series of 10 images of things that are NOT in 'The Queen's Hat' as part of a ten day countdown. But I haven't featured them all in one blog post, until now. The other three extra images (at the bottom) were drawn later.
He wasn't ready on time to be in the book.
Run Boris, run!
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's The Queen's Hat!
Fish and Chips and free Wifi.
Bruno
This swan was too busy chasing a hat of its own.
They were lost.
The Downing Street cats were asleep.
Nelson's Column
Red Arrows (and the publication date of the hardback in the vapour trail)
Ice bucket doodle!
For the BAMB campaign last year.
I drew this for The Bookasniffer - for my 1st ever blog interview.
The Queen's Hat Back Story and a Note from Ronald Searle
Outside Swindon Waterstones just after the release. Photo courtesy of Ben Fitch
It all started on the 1st of April, 2011, when I stumbled across THIS article.
It inspired me to draw a very rough story that night of 'The Queen's Hat' - a simple tale about HRH losing her hat to a gust of wind that takes her and her guards on an impromptu tour of London - to take in to uni the next day.
My tutors loved it. And I knew it had potential. I knew it could be a lot of fun to develop, too.
Little did I know that I'd end up channelling the home-sick child in me that lived in the New Mexican desert for eight years.
Signing paperbacks in Swindon Waterstones
I loved my childhood in the States - watching Saturday morning cartoons, eating Twinkies and digging forts in the desert with my brothers and our best friend, JR. But I occasionally yearned for home - walking down a cobbled street to buy a Flake bar from the corner shop, eating fish and chips with my dad on the weekend, feeding the ducks with my grandparents, searching for a new Mr Man in a bookshop while my brother fished out the latest Choose Your Own Adventure book.
I began creating a book that I would have loved as a kid, a reminder of home. I wanted to fill it with as many British icons as possible: umbrellas, Big Ben, double-decker buses, etc. Things that my friends in the States were fascinated by. Things that were/are British.
Being red-green colour-deficient actually helped me decide upon the book's colour palette. All of my books have few colours, but the colours are chosen carefully and with clear intentionality. The colours of the Union Jack were perfect for what I wanted to acheive!
I was so excited about the book. I entered contests and showed publishers (whenever the opportunity arose, which wasn't that often). People said it was 'too British' and that it wouldn't sell outside the UK.
Searle's handwriting.
Around that time I received a hand written postcard from Ronald Searle. Earlier that year I was commended for an alphabet book about endangered animals that I'd entered into the The Searle Award for Creativity. Here's what he said.
"I checked your alphabet. Liked it very much. But prefer your tumbling guardsmen. The freer, looser style is infinitely more interesting. Keep it up!"
A window display at Waterstones, Trafalgar
He'd obviously looked at my website. Because at that time I had an image from 'The Queen's Hat' on my homepage.
This complete surprise and absolute honour spurred me on to further develop 'The Queen's Hat'.
I went on to exhibit it at our class's final show at Foyles, London in February, 2013.
Not long after, I signed with Hodder Children's. While developing the book with Hodder, we decided to add the 'spot the butler' subtext, which goes down a storm at events!
Now, I look back and find it remarkable that a chance discovery of a newspaper article (as well as tenacity, patience, positive-thinking and lots of drawing) has led to the creation of a real-life published picture book that you can actually buy in bookshops and borrow from libraries.
A few months ago a parent approached me after an event. She said that part of her family moved from the UK to another country (Spain, I think) and that they love 'The Queen's Hat' because it reminds them of home.
Who would have guessed that 'The Queen's Hat' would publish in the States as well as other countries including Japan, Korea, Australia, Canada, Brazil, France and Spain?
From concept...
to creation...
to reviews...
to festivals (Hay Festival)...
to being in the paper (cringe)...
to a sequel (which is out now)...
to painting Shaun the Sheep (which fetched £15000.00 for charity)...
to a London Symphony Orchestra adaptation...
to co-editions (this is the Japanese edition, published by Hyoronsha)...
to meeting Gillian Anderson.
Did you find the hidden Butler on each page?
On World Book Day I held a 'The Queen's Hat' event for a class of 5-6 year olds at The Story Museum in Oxford. Before I started the story, one child excitedly declared that they'd already read the book at school, to which I responded, "But did you find the hidden Butler on almost every page?" They were surprised and delighted that there was a whole other narrative taking place in the background of each spread that they hadn't seen. Even the teacher hadn't noticed the subtext.
This hidden 'spot the butler' subtext isn't mentioned in the book's back cover blurb, nor is it mentioned anywhere online, except by some reviewers. I like people to make these sorts of discoveries by themselves. In fact, the only time the Butler really comes into full view is on the very, very last page of the book asking, "Would anyone like a cup of tea?"
This added depth to the book invites the reader to pore over the details of each page. "OK, so you've found the Butler, but did you spot the fish, or the chameleon, or the waving guard, or the Gherkin or the...?"
This is what I LOVE about telling stories through pictures. You can add all sorts of little extra tales within the main plot.
While preparing for my very first 'The Queen's Hat' event, I was a little nervous that I wouldn't be able to fill 40 minutes with so few words. Little did I know that the whole 'spot the butler' element would provide the most fun and actually take up quite a bit of time!
At one event, an eagle-eyed child spotted the butler on the Tower Bridge page within seconds. The audience applauded. This is possibly the hardest page for spotting the butler.
So, my advice to teachers, librarians, parents and guardians is to really play with this side of the book. It's not just a book about London landmarks, or the wind blowing the Queen's hat. It's also about a loyal Butler who's incredibly skillful at balancing a tray.
Hopefully, it will inspire people to take a closer look at picture books just in case they miss something. My favourite picture books are the kind that are deceptively simple, the kind that are 'more than meets the eye'. This is something you'll notice in my books, so look closely. But most of all, have fun!
Just wait until you see Green Lizards Vs Red Rectangles.
Amazing Queen's Hat Animation by Pupils from Thomas' Kensington
This utterly charming stop-motion adaptation of 'The Queen's Hat' was made by Sebastian, Tadeus, Maxime & Lorenzo from Thomas' Kensington. I think it's out-of-this-world amazing. My older brother and I use to make these sorts of videos when we were kids, but this is way better than anything we ever did. Well done, you incredibly talented bunch!
World Book Day at The Story Museum
Outside the museum.
I spent World Book Day with the wonderful Suzanne Barton (and our respective publishers) at The Story Museum, a fantastical and incredibly inspiring space in Oxford where everyone is welcome to enjoy books and all that they have to offer.
I held two events centred around 'The Queen's Hat' and 'Please Mr Panda', while Suzanne held two events based on her beautiful book, The Dawn Chorus. And, together, we held a story-building event.
The story-building event was especially fun. The limitless imagination of children never seizes to amaze me. Suzanne and I illustrated a story, page by page, driven by the creative input of our brilliant audience.
The story they created was 'Gumball Saves the Day' and here's how it goes.
Gumball is an alien with five eyes, eight fingers, four tentacles and one extra long tongue. And his head looks like a brain.
Gumball's best friend is a walking talking moon, Tim the Moon. Tim the Moon has a very tall top hat.
They both live on a triangle planet named Planet Triangle. This is not to be confused with The Wrong Triangle Planet.
Planet Triangle is covered in crystals. Lots of crystals. It's powered by a Giant Crystal.
One day, the Giant Crystal mysteriously fell from Planet Triangle. It landed in the back seat of Zimbot the Spacedog's giant spaceship.
Zimbot recognised the Giant Crystal and, like a good space dog, returned it to Planet Triangle.
But Zimbot mistakingly headed towards The Wrong Triangle Planet!
Just when Zimbot was about to leave the Giant Crystal on the wrong planet, an asteroid knocked if out of his paws and sent it spiralling through space.
Luckilly, it spiralled passed Planet Triangle. Gumball saw it and grabbed it with his very long and sticky tongue.
The Giant Crystal was finally back where it belonged and everyone lived happily ever after.
How amazing is that!?!
Once the events were over, Suzanne and I signed some books and posed for a few photos.
I had a good look around The Story Museum and took a few photos myself. It really has to be seen to be believed. Check out more on The Story Museum here: http://www.storymuseum.org.uk
