After lots of requests, I have finally got around to making a (very) limited number of fine art prints based on images, scenes and characters from my two books Blown Away and GRRRRR!. They are now available to buy here.
There are 8 different prints in total, some of which are in editions of 15 and some only 10. So very limited I’m afraid. Here are some detail shots…
And here’s the technical stuff (in case you’re interested): they are giclée prints, some A3, some A4, on 100% cotton Hahnemühle 310gsm William Turner fine art paper. Each print has been carefully created to ensure that the colours are reproduced exactly as the artist originally intended. They are signed, numbered and embossed with an official seal. Also, each print will be accompanied by a signed letter of authenticity.
Yes, I know it’s only mid-November, but I thought I’d tell you that the lovely folk at Roger la Borde and I have teamed up to make a range of Christmas cards, bags and wrapping paper.
They feature Clive, the polar bear from Blown Away…
a Christmas hippo…
a decorated reindeer…
and some double-sided wrapping paper featuring all of them (as well as a festive bunny and some meerkats)…
They are available now at places like Scribbler, Daunt Books, Out and About, Liberty, Fortnum & Mason, the Natural History Museum, the Medici Society, Gill Wing, the Designers Guild and Foyles. They are also in loads of independent shops, galleries, bookshops and garden centres (in the UK), so keep an eye out for ‘em.
Oh, and may I be the first to wish you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Last Saturday was the final date of my GRRRRR! autumn tour. Over the course of an action-packed month I travelled all over the country, visiting schools, libraries, bookshops, universities, theatres and festivals meeting lots of amazing people along the way.
So what did we do on the tour? Well, we read my books…
we did some very loud GRRRRRs (using our megaphones)…
we drew lots of bears…
we created our own stories…
and we measured the loudness of our GRRRRRs using a Growl-o-meter.
I also spent a lot of time on trains…
and a lot of time signing books too.
Now for a few event shots. Here I am in Leeds…
Manchester…
Cromer…
London…
and Bath.
I even got to scribble on bookshop walls a couple of times. First, at the famous Norfolk Children’s Book Centre…
and then at the equally famous Tales on Moon Lane…
When we arrived at Cheltenham for the festival, I was (ahem) blown away by the Waterstones Children’s Hideaway. I had illustrated the festival programme cover and as such the tent was a given a GRRRRR! theme. Here are some pics (featuring my wife and two of my daughters)…
The festival bookshop had a great display (and a good stash) of my books too which was handy given that I had a three hour signing session after my event.
So there we go. Autumn tour done and dusted. It was SUCH fun and I’m really sad that it’s all over. But, having said that, book three isn’t going to write itself, so for me it’s time to switch focus.
I’d like to thank my amazing publicity team at HarperCollins who put the whole shabang together. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I feel very lucky to be working with you all. Extra special thanks to Nicola, Vicki, Simon, Serena and Sam who accompanied me on the tour events. You have all been brilliant and it was a pleasure spending time with you.
Also, a huge shout out to my many and varied hosts. Everybody made me feel very welcome. Thanks so much for having me.
The biggest thank you of all, however, must go to everybody who came to see me. It’s so much easier and more rewarding when the audiences are as fantastic as you were. It was great fun meeting you all.
Until next time…
This term I’ve been revisiting my childhood for Poppy’s Packed-lunch post-its. Here are the first five weeks worth…
A month or so ago I was lucky enough to be asked to contribute a second gallery to the Guardian’s brilliant How To Draw… series. My first, How To Draw… A Windy Day, featuring the characters from Blown Away, got a great response so I was more than happy to oblige.
I am very pleased to have contributed to this ace new book, Draw It! Colour It! Creatures, published by Macmillan. It’s a lovely collaboration between 40+ artists and illustrators (including Axel Scheffler, Chris Riddell, Emily Gravett, Jim Field, David Mackintosh, Alex T Smith, Tim Hopgood, Marta Altes, Sarah McIntyre, Lorna Scobie and, oh, LOTS more!). The idea is that we start the drawings and the readers finish them off!
The new school term began last week and that meant more packed-lunch post-its for Poppy (see earlier blog posts for more details). Excitingly, the Guardian ran a feature on us in their Family section…
Poppy was very nervous on the Saturday that it came out cos she thought we were going to be recognised everywhere we went. Fortunately, the paparazzi must have had the day off because we were left in peace ;)
My second book GRRRRR!, starring Fred the bear, has been out for just over two weeks now. I was actually away on holiday the day it was published so I watched events unfold from afar. It was all very exciting.
Here are a few pictures of the book itself…
And here are some of the great displays that the creative booksellers around the country have made (including the brilliant Leilah Skelton at Doncaster Waterstones)…
I was also absolutely thrilled to see the FANTASTIC window display in Foyles on the Charing Cross Road, London (see below). I’ve been walking past that bookshop for 25 years and I never ever thought that a book I’d written would appear in the window. Definitely one to cross off the bucket list.
A few reviews have started to appear. Gulp. Fortunately everyone has been very nice about the book (so far!).
Among others there’s this one from the Mudwaffler (which includes a mini-interview), this from Jill at the Red Riding Hub, this amazing rhyming one from the aforementioned Leilah in Doncaster and these from the people at LoveReading4Kids (be sure to read the children’s comments - so sweet).
And finally, I want to say a big thanks to my Colour Collective buddy Penny Neville-Lee who drew this ace picture of Fred and his mates for me. I love it!
Two weeks to go until GRRRRR! is out. It tells the story of Fred Bear who wakes up on the morning of the Best Bear in the Wood contest with no GRRRRR. What will he do???! ps Anyone who has read Blown Away should keep a eye out for familiar faces ;)
Had a lovely time on Wednesday doing Blown Away events at the fabulous Roald Dahl Museum in Great Missenden. Probably the last penguin-based session, for a while at least. It’s all about the bears from now on.
Huge thanks to everyone who came - some very talented kids indeed - and to the staff at the museum for looking after me so well. If you get a chance you really should visit.
Hi. I’ve just realised that I haven’t posted here since April and as you’re obviously DESPERATE to see what I’ve been up to I thought I’d do a very quick round-up. That’s me all over, always thinking of others.
So, here we go…
At the end of May I did a couple of events at the Hay Festival. As you can see my daughters came too and they had a lovely time. Well, one of them did anyway. That’s Poppy on the right looking a bit grumpy.
The events went really well, were a lot of fun and they even sold out (see below). Hopefully that means I’ll get to go back next year.
One quick dash back down the M4 later, and we arrived at the Discover Children’s Story Centre in East London. Wow! What a FANTASTIC place it is. So much to do and look at including a fantastic Oliver Jeffers exhibition. You should definitely visit. Here’s a picture of me reading Blown Away…
…and here’s a better look at the lovely picture that we all made together.
What else? Well, the Game of Thrones finalé was big news in our house. No spoilers, I promise, but I will show you this picture I drew to mark the occasion. Actually, maybe there’s a picture book in it. HBO, if you’re reading this you know where to find me ;)
Then a very exciting thing happened. The first copies of my new book GRRRRR! arrived. It’s hard to describe the feeling you get when you hold your book in your hands for the first time. Surreal is the word I keep coming back to. Anyway, here it is…
And here’s the PLC (the hardcover thingy underneath the dust jacket). Am quite pleased with the way this turned out…
And finally it’s got a little showy-offy sticker on it. Well it would be rude not to, I guess…
At the end of June I did another event with the nice people at the Discover Centre. This time it was in the Olympic Park. It was called StoryFest and was hopefully the first of many. I was first up in the yellow tent…
I tried out a new event structure – the children and I wrote a rhyming story together. We actually ended up with a pretty decent tale about a Cat called Whiskers who lost her pet Spider. Don’t worry, it had a happy ending.
Last week I was very excited about the publication of the “new” Harper Lee book Go Set a Watchmen. So much so that I drew a little picture of Scout…
So there you go. That’s what I’ve been up to. Oh, and I’ve redesigned the Observer Magazine too. Keep an eye out for the new look in September.
Not long now until GRRRRR! hits the shelves. I will be posting a few teasers between now and publication day (August 27) but here’s something to keep you going in the meantime…
I am very pleased to be able to tell you about a couple of greetings card ranges that I’ve been working on with the nice folk over at Roger la Borde.
The first collection, Wild Things, is available now. I know that some of you have already spotted the cards in the shops. Thanks to everyone who has sent me pictures.
The range includes six general birthday cards…
and five age-specific ones…
There’s also some jigsaw puzzles and fun mosaics…
As you can see, there are a few cameos from the Blown Away crew. Clive the polar bear is front and centre in the Merry Christmas range (out later this year). Here he is wearing his best Christmas jumper on some double-sided wrapping paper…
and on a card…
and on a gift bag…
Click here to see both ranges in their entirety. You’ll also find links to online retailers should you wish to buy any :)
