Five Little Friends - Cover reveal

Happy spring!

I guess I’ve been doing a lot of hibernating whilst I’ve been working on new ideas and feeling my way into my next author / illustrator book. The early stage gets me into a bit of a bad mood, I’m much happier once I’ve solved the puzzle.

My inspiration rack in my studio - a mix of found treasures and a few old pieces of mine.

But there’s also things to love about the early part of the book making process, especially when I thank myself for past playful experiments that might just find a new home in the book.

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FIVE LITTLE FRIENDS

I’ve done a few sneaky peeks of this one, but the time has come to share the cover for my next book! It’s called FIVE LITTLE FRIENDS and it’s written by the brilliant Sean Taylor.

Cover of FIVE LITTLE FRIENDS - it has lovely embossing, that is hard to photograph.

FIVE LITTLE FRIENDS is unlike any book I’ve worked on before. It’s a great big sixty-four page poetry book - but these are a special kind of poem by Sean that invite little readers to interact and move their fingers and bodies in order to make the poems come alive.

I love exploring all the different things that a book can be, so this managed to stretch my brain in a v good way! : )

It’s always such a weird experience, flicking through the finished book for the first time, almost seeing my recent life flash before my eyes! : ) But I’m so pleased with how it came out.

I love this quote from Sean:

We’re in an era when even the youngest children spend hours at a time passively watching screens. FIVE LITTLE FRIENDS swims against that tide. It’s an active, dynamic reading experience.

It’s published by Walker Books in July and Candlewick Books in August.

And available for pre-order if you want to be first to get your hands on it.

I’ll share more about the book making process around publication time! : )

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Here’s an illustration I made for a friend. I went entirely analogue-styley in a hurry to get it finished before her birthday party. (I love the urgency of a quick deadline!) The shapes were inspired by a pattern on a vintage scarf that was part of her gift, with the help of little stickers as masks.

Signing off with a great big thank you to the new subscribers who’ve found me over the winter months.

Enjoy spring - more soonish!

Fiona