The Tap Dancing Pigeon of Covent Garden

Hi Chaps

The Tap Dancing Pigeon of Covent Garden, a lovely book that I illustrated has now been published!
Pick up your copy now to read about bravery, passion and our beautiful planet!
It's written by Serena Hassan, see more of her here -
 (www.serenahassan.co.uk)
and has had a few nice reviews here -
https://katestutter.com/2019/08/30/the-tap-dancing-pigeon-of-covent-garden-serena-hassan/

http://thesyders.blogspot.com/2019/08/the-tap-dancing-pigeon-of-covent-garden.html

It was great fun to illustrate, with various spreads of London and Covent Garden and I'm pleased with how it's come out.
Here are a couple of bits of it.

Ginger Green in four territoties

Hi Chaps

Ginger Green Playdate Queen, written by Kim Kane and Illustrated by me for Hardie Grant Egmont in Australia has now been published in four teritories :)
After the initial run in Australia, it's now avilable in the US, Slovenia and now the UK.
Very exciting indeed!!
They're a fab series and I can heartily recommend them for early readers.

Here are the Australian, Slovenian and US editions of Fancy Friend.

Keep an eye out or ask for them in bookshops and libraries, they're worth a look at :)

Small Blue Published

Hi Chaps,

Well, 'Small Blue and the Deep Dark Night' has been published in the UK, so now it's all out there and available both in the US and the UK.
Get 'em while they're hot, I love a nice warm book, fresh out of the press :)

Apparently it's in actual book stores in the US, and is available on-line at Amazon and Barbes & Noble, and in the UK it's available on-line at Waterstones, Amazon, Books etc and Foyles.
And, I know my local libraries are getting a few copies in, so I'm looking forward to spotting a copy there.

And another way to get yourself a copy -
 I do know there's one up for grabs in a competition which is currently running at the 'Good Reads With Ronna' blog here.
There are three books to win, including 'Small Blue' and there's a lovely review of it as well, at the bottom of the post.

And, if you're after a few more reviews, there's one on Jen Robinson's Book page' blog, here, and another two, from Kirkus and Publisher's Weekly on my website here.

I've got a 'Small Blue' quiz in the works, so keep your eyes open for that in the near future here, too.

Another review for Small Blue

Hi Chaps,

There's been another review for my new book 'Small Blue and the Deep Dark Night' out soon with the lovely chaps at Harcourt in New York.
This one is on Publisher's Weekly here
And I've got the text below, and a screenshot too, just to make there's no way you can miss it :)
But it's a nice review, I like the way they describe the book, I feel like they've got the hang of it and they explain it well.

In his first outing as both author and illustrator, Davis (Stuck with the Blooz) uses gnomish pen-and-ink drawings to conjure up the “Gremlins and goblins, with empty, rumbling bellies, licking their lips, waiting for me in the dark” that Small Blue, a rabbit, feels sure are lurking in her bedroom. Davis resists the urge to draw creatures as scary as Small Blue’s thoughts: the imaginary goblins are small, blobby creatures with mild expressions, clearly anxious to please. Big Brown—who’s precisely the kind of towering, furry bear one longs to take one’s nighttime fears to—doesn’t deny Small Blue’s worries (“There could be...”), but suggests another way to look at things: “How do you know it wasn’t a delightful doggies’ Saturday-night unicycle convention?” A visit to the kitchen for warm milk develops the idea: “I can imagine the kitchen playing host to a retired- pirates’ annual sock-knitting jamboree.” Soon, Small Blue gets the hang of this kind of thinking, too. A winsome, even poetic introduction to the idea of reasoning one’s way through fearfulness. Ages 4–8

But here are some sketches from the book, as a bit of a teaser, of the things mentioned in the review, Small Blue, Big Brown and a couple of Goblins.

London Book Fair

Hi Chaps,

Well, I was at the London Book Fair this week, so I thought I'd do a bit of a post about it.

The best bit was seeing a couple of the RSPCA books I illustrated up on the Scholastic stand.
You can see them here, Puppy Gets Stuck and The Abandoned Kitten on the top shelf, above books by Julia Donaldson, Alex T Smith and Sarah Warburton, so I feel in very good company here.

I didn't do the covers, but here you can see one propped open and one of my illustrations peeping out :)

But it was nice to look round the show, had some chats with a couple of publishers who I'm gradually getting to know after seeing them here year after year, and a nice pepping chat with my agents.

But I always feel inspired after seeing all the new good stuff coming out, keeps me trying hard.

But I'll post some sketches from the Scholastic RSPCA books soon, so you can see what it's all about.

The Blooz Arrives

Look what arrived in the post, an actual copy of my book 'Stuck With the Blooz'.
Here it is just out of the package.

It's great to see it in real life and see all the pictures properly in real life on paper rather than on screen.
And with my Artist's head, rather than my Reader's head on, I do think it's been designed as a package really nicely.
Just noticing all the bits and bobs that the design team did with the cover etc.
I like the way they've echoed the stripes on the Blooz's Victorian swimsuit on the back cover and dust jacket, and have used the goldfish, crayon and paper plane on the dust jacket flaps and back cover.
Also, the picture of the Blooz dripping on the child was a favourite with everyone, but it had to be lost from the story on the inside, but a use was found for it on the back there, which was very nice.
Here are some pics of said bits.

And the paper texture is lovely. Really nice feel, and it shows off the colour and texture in the art really nicely too.
Well done indeed all the chaps at Harcourt.

But enough of me talking about the design and paper texture like some pretentious artist with a funny haircut and silly trousers.
Here's a sneak peek at one of the spreads.

Lawks, my book is out.

"Watch Your Tongue Cecily Beasley" is now actually available to actually buy.
It's published by Sterling in the US, but is also available in the UK.
You can get it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and The Book Depository.
It's a fun rhyming story written by Lane Fredrickson, and it was great to illustrate.
Here's Cecily -

And there are already a few reviews out for it, this is from Publishers Weekly
"It is said that the tongue is one of the strongest muscles in the human body, and the one belonging to ill-mannered Cecily Beasley is a whole lot stronger by the end of her ordeal in this cautionary tale. Cecily has many bad habits—“She tap-danced on tables./ She cartwheeled in dirt./ And she wrote, ‘I won’t share’ on the front of her shirt”—but worst of all is her tendency to stick out her tongue at friends and family alike. She is warned that her tongue might get stuck that way, and, wouldn’t you know it, it does just that. Debut author Fredrickson doesn’t stop there: a bird promptly builds a nest on Cecily’s tongue, forcing the girl to carry it around in front of her face. It’s not until the Mockingbeak Tongue-snatchers hatch (and promptly stick out their tongues at Cecily) that she has a change of heart. Fredrickson’s galloping verse delivers the story’s message with a light touch (and some clever rhymes), while British illustrator Davis’s loose, expressive cartoons make the most of the comic absurdity of the premise. Ages 4–7"http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-40277-089-0

And this is from Parents & Teachers Blog
“Cecily Beasley was never polite. She never said, ‘Thank you,’ or ‘Please,’ or ‘Good night.’”
Cecily Beasley is, in fact, a rather rotten little girl. She sticks out Her tongue at her teachers and ruins her friends’ birthday parties. Will she ever learn to be a polite young lady?
Lane Fredrickson and Jon Davis’ rhyming book about a girl who learns manners the hard way will be a laugh for children and parents alike. Kids will enjoy the tale of Cecily’s misadventures, and the book will give parents the opportunity to help their own children learn a lesson about how to be polite.
Not only does the book teach young readers a lesson, it’s also a joy to read. I love the humor of Fredrickson’s rhyme about Cecily, and Davis’ colorful illustrations are fun from the very first page. This book is great for those who need a brush-up on manners and those who enjoy a funny story."
http://parentteacher.uskidsmags.com/2012/07/26/watch-tongue-cecily-beasley/

So that's good, they're nice and positive.

So everyone rush out and buy it :)

My Book Is Available To PreOrder!

Hi Chaps,

I mentioned this in my last post, but I thought I'd cover it a bit more fully in this one.

'Watch Your Tongue Cecily Beasley' with illustrations by me is due out in September, and is now available to pre-order.

The story is about a girl, Cecily Beasley, who makes faces and sticks out her tongue at people all the time, but she learns her lesson when a Mockingbeak Tongue-Snatcher bird makes a nest in her outstretched tongue.

A very nice rhyming story written by Lane Fredrickson, which was great fun to illustrate.

It's being published by the lovely people at Sterling in New York, so everything was done via email.

I work digitally so roughs and artwork were emailed back and forth, and ftp'd and it worked really well.
Which I think is interesting. Not so many years ago, working for publishers in New York would've been really impractical, but now, pretty much all my work is done this way, even if working for someone nearby.

But here are a few spreads from the book, as a bit of a sneak peak.

So, as it was done with US publishers, it's available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble over there, and they are also publishing it over here in the UK too, so it's available on Amazon and The Book Depository here too.

Here are the links.

UK
Amazon     Book Depository

US
Amazon     Barnes & Noble

And more soon on another book :)