Launch Party!

On October the 2nd The Mumsnet Book of Animal Stories broke out into the wild for everyone to purchase! A mighty launch party was held at the gorgeous House of St Barnabus in Soho. I was pretty nervous about the event. I had been to a book launch party before and loved it but this was my own, well shared between many of us. I drank a fancy cocktail in the bar of St Barnabus because as usual we got there rather early. We then went upstairs and I was greeted with my name on a name badge! It might seem like such a small thing to most people but it made me feel awesome! We were then greeted with free wine and beer and I chinwagged with the author of the story I illustrated, Alice Westlake! I was pretty nervous and a bit tipsy which made me very chatty.

After a couple of lovely speeches I then made my way over to talk to the fantastic Anthony Browne! He is such a lovely man, who laughed at my silly jokes, understood my passion and signed my book. He also took two of my business cards! Whee!
I then made my way round the rooms, chatting and drinking and signing everyone's book. I made sure to write quite a bit and always drew a little Basil face as I always love it when an illustrator signs my book and includes a little drawing.

All the other writers and illustrators were so lovely and we talked about allsorts from musical instruments to kidnapping artists! We also took many photos and had many laughs. It was a surreal and wonderful night which I hope to do again one day. I could get used to people telling me they love my work and wanting to talk about silly things for hours. It might happen if I get my bum in gear!

                                                                      That's me!

                                                   My book signed by Anthony Browne!

                                   Alice Westlake, Me and Charlie Moyler my Art Director.

                                                   Me with Fiona Ross, the illustrator of
                                                    Captain Yuri and the Space Mission.

                                             Charlie and I taking a selfie in front of the
                                                        poster for the beautiful book!

                                  Charlie and I posing next to one of the many pieces of art!

                                               James and I after a few drinks!*hiccouch*

I do apologize for the lateness of this post! I've been working a lot and very sleepy. But it's here now so Yippee! Now go and buy The Mumsnet Book of Animal Stories! and let me know what you think!

Basil The Brave.

The other day I receieved my advance copy of The Mumsnet Book of Animal Stories published by the amazing Walker Books. It still hasn't sunk in that my work is in such a beautiful book and published by one of the greatest publishers ever. This may be the greatest anthology in the world...i'm not biased at all!There are so many beautiful illustrations inside in such different styles and the stories are just fantastic! I'm so excited for you all to get a copy and read it to your little ones as you're all going to love it!I'm so proud of myself and everyone who worked on this book and I can't wait to meet them at the book launch in October! I know that a very young version of myself would have adored this book and especially the story I illustrated as I loved bats and witches.

The beautiful front cover,illustrated by one of my favourite illustrators Briony May Smith

Here you can see a page from the wonderful tale, Up In The Trees Is Not For Me written by Lindsay Littleson and illustrated by the very talented Faye Bradley and there...right next to those super cute monkeys is the title page of the story I illustrated. Under the super cute (if I don't mind saying so myself) Basil you can see my name! Illustrated by Emma Collins. So bloomin' proud!

The book is out on October 2nd but you can preorder it here if you're just too excited to wait!

The Mumsnet Book of Animal Stories.

For the past month I have been working hard and in secret on a project with Walker Books. I have illustrated a wonderful story, Basil the Brave by the talented Alice Westlake for The Mumsnet Book of Animal Stories! It was quite a challenge as bats are quite tricky to draw and it's all set at night! But we got there in the end and i'm really happy with the end results! I can't wait to see it printed. I adore Walker books and I feel very lucky to have been chosen to be part of such a wonderful book. The animal anthology will be out this October and i'll get to see all the other wonderful stories and illustrations!

Knights of the Round: Adventure Time Submission.

This is my submission for the new Knights of the Round competition.
I had to create a character that I thought would fit in the world of Oo! So I create the Nut Warrior.
He's a big worrier and has a utility belt which holds a chashoomerang, squirty peanut butter and a seed grenade. Ooh he also has a tooth pick for a sword and a pistachio shell for a shield. He's basically who I would be in the world of Oo! You should enter too!