Illustrator...Mick Inkpen... Don't lose Pigley, Wibbly Pig!

I spotted this book on the dinning room table and it has to be one of the cutest storey books... beautiful watercolour illustrations with a lovely story...reminding little ones to take there time and do one thing at a time.

In the storey Wibbly has just been to a party and has been given a party bag... but he has two many things to hold and can't see everything in his bag and so he rushes and makes a mistake and his poor little to Pigley gets in to a spot of bother until... Wibbly stops and thinks and everything turns out okay in the end.

The illustrations are so innocent and the font for the text is so child friendly and bonces along the page perfectly to the story...

Fab watercolours...

Oooh what's in the party bag?!

How lovely is the font it looks handwritten in crayon...

Yay! Happy Wibbly Pig!

... it's not suprising it's sold millions of books worldwide!

Illustrator... Jill Tomlinson...The owl who was afriad of the dark.

This has to be another timeless classic, and one that is sadly falling apart on my bookshelf... yes I still have mountains of children's books, all collected or kept because of there beautiful and different illustration styles.

The 'Owl who was afraid of the dark'... is another one with pen and ink illustrations dotted through out the book but with a imaginative story line that any kid wishes they were part of. It's a lovely book because it is one that both girls and boys can enjoy.

...Plop, the main character who is a baby barn owl is afraid of the dark and its all about how his mother is trying to teach him all about the dark... and over a few nights Plop meets a number of people and other animals all who love the dark...one night he meets a friendly boy scout who shows him all about camp fires and hot potatoes... eventually Plop grows in confidence and shows everyone that he isn't afraid of the dark anymore...

The story at first sounds like it should be for little ones but the way it is written and the fun characters means it is a great book for all ages... especially at bed time for those kids who may be afraid of the dark themselves!

Lovely book that is slowly falling apart after years of being read... definetly getting better with age!

First chapter...

Plop talking to the artist who wan't to draw him...

I love how simple these illustrations are....

Boy scouts teaching Plop about camp fires...

The illustrations a beautifully simple a very stylised defiantly not like kids picture books these days... oh geez I am showing my age... but if you ask me illustrations when I was little left far more to the kids imaginations... which has to be a good thing!

Illustrator... Shirley Hughes... 'My naughty little sister'

Illustration is a real passion of mine and I am often found doodling people while sat in a cafe or making up children's story books. I started a illustration degree when I left sixth form and completed the first year before realising that maybe I should go in the textiles direction... but the illustration styles and passion will always be a part of me.

One of my favourite illustrators is Shirley Hughes, she has a lovely changed sketchy style of drawing and you can really imagine the characters behind her stories. I love the way all the characters look so real... there clothes are always a bit out of place there hair is never perfect... the houses or streets in which the stories are set are very 'everyday' lived in.

A few years ago I meet Shirley Hughes in Oxford and she signed a book...she is definitely a illustrator I admire.

One of Shirley Hughes many books she has illustrated is 'My naughty little sister' by Dorothy Edwards.  It has to be one of my favourite childhood books and one that I have read over and over again since, it was one of those books with a few rare black and white illustrations dotted throughout the story... just enough to let the characters be put in to your head but for the mind to imagine everything else! In time these are definitely illustrations I would love to frame and have up in a future house... they are just so cheeky and naive.

   

I love the fact that the library was selling it off and it became one of my favourite stories.

No coloured illustrations but the story was lovely and you can imagine this naughty little girl on all her adventures...

Beautiful warn and loved pages...

                                     

My favourite chapter...

Meeting the guard... who will look after my naughty little sister on her trip... on the train all on her own... this shows how long ago the story was written. I remember when I was little thinking how exciting this would be, imagine putting a four year old on a train on there own these days!

Stunning pen drawings... this makes me want to sit in a cafe all day people watch and draw!

 The beautiful back cover... Don't you just love her little outfit and the suitcase 

(If I remember right this is my naughty little sister after 

she returns from a sleepover with the lady next door!)

I am going to try and post each week about one illustrator as many great children's book illustrators are forgotten about!