A treasure trove of visual delights: examples of the sketchbooks of sixty international illustrators offer new insights into their artistic practice. Intimate and often unseen, the sketchbook means something different to each illustrator. It might be a beautiful object, a work of art in its own right, where every line is painstakingly considered. It might be a pictorial playground, where mistakes can make art. The boundaries between sketchbooks, notebooks and visual journals are often blurred, lending to the creativity that fills their pages. It is likely that you will recognize many of the illustrators featured, including classic childhood favourites Beatrix Potter, Jean de Brunhoff, Edward Ardizzone and Tove Jansson, and established names such as Beatrice Alemagna, Oliver Jeffers and Shaun Tan. Others are up-and-coming, for example Charlotte Ager and Leah Yang. Martin Salisbury draws on decades of experience as an illustrator and educator to shed light on the lives and work of each artist. He even reveals pages from his own sketchbooks, exposing the rawness of his ideas and the narratives that surround them. As the reader will discover, sketchbooks are often a fascinating and surprising window into the mind of the illustrator.

Learn how to create effective illustrations to match children's stories for different age groups. The art of illustration for children has a long and rich tradition, and for generations has been loved by countless readers. Illustrating Children's Books shows you how to create beautiful artwork for children, examines the approaches taken by advanced-level students and leading artists and describes how their ideas evolve from start to finish through step-by-step sketches. - Identify the techniques used by successful children's illustrators and get advice on how to tackle fantasy, fairy tale, realism and nature drawings - Learn tips on working in a wide variety of media and receive professional advice on illustrating for different age groups and types of publication - Discover how to interpret and enrich the text, build consistent character identities, and create vibrant settings that will stir readers' imaginations - Find out how to create storyboards and layouts, work to brief, and present your work professionally - Explore specific examples such as picture books for little ones, storybooks for older children and educational books, with the final chapters devoted to design and typography and the business of getting published

An instructive book that examines the practice of drawing for illustration through case studies and sketchbooks, written by one of the world's foremost experts and teachers on the subject. This essential handbook explores the subject of drawing for illustration in-depth, with an emphasis on drawing as a skill and fundamental language that every illustrator should master. It aims to encourage students through examples and case studies, by showcasing the often-unseen world of draughtsmanship that underpins the finished graphic. From book illustration to graphic novels, caricatures to commercial design, it draws on contemporary sketchbooks, projects and historical examples to make the connection between the practice of drawing from observation and drawing from imagination. Martin Salisbury sets out by explaining the fundamentals of this exciting discipline, before outlining the basic principles of line, tone, composition and colour through inspiring examples. Different approaches to drawing including anecdotal, sequential and reportage are examined, to enable students to acquire their own personal visual language. Interviews with illustrators also provide invaluable insight into the creative process, as they outline their challenges and motivations, and what drawing personally means for them. Packed with visual inspiration, this book features detailed analysis of works by key illustrators from past and present including George Cruikshank, Egon Schiele, Ronald Searle and Sheila Robinson through to Laura Carlin, Alexis Deacon and Isabelle Arsenault, looking at the differing roles drawing plays in their particular illustrative languages and how styles have changed over time.

Children's picturebooks are the very first book we encounter and play a major role in introducing us to both art and language. But what does it take to create a successful picturebook for children? Children's Picturebooks, Second Edition is the revised edition of a bestselling title that carries invaluable insight into a highly productive, dynamic sector of the publishing world. Featuring interviews with leading illustrators and publishers from across the world, it remains essential reading for students and aspiring children's book illustrators and writers. Aimed at arts and literature students as well as aspiring children's book illustrators and writers. This book covers everything from the change in children's picturebooks over time to a breakdown of the children's publishing industry including, the editorial process, approaching publishers and literary agents and the printing process. With 15 new case studies from well-known illustrators like Jon Klassen, Oliver Jeffers and Beatrice Alemagna and publishers such as Puffin Picture Books, Thames and Hudson and Enchanted Lion Books, this revised edition also includes a brand new chapter devoted to non-fiction, especially the rise of both narrative non-fiction and big books.

Czech artist Miroslav Sasek (1916-1980) was remarkable for his unique and pioneering approach to non-fiction picture books, illustrating daily life as if seen from a child's perspective. His bestselling This Is... series eventually totalled eighteen books. A witty collection of travel guides for children, the books employ an avant-garde synthesis of word and image that captures the joyous idiosyncrasies of life and culture in cities and countries around the world. With great insight, acclaimed author Martin Salisbury analyses Sasek's multifarious oeuvre, and how he became one of the twentieth century's most beloved and significant contributors to the world of picture books. The artist's charming travelogues continue to appeal to adults and children alike, even in a digital age exploding with travel imagery. In this beautifully designed book, illustrated with sketches and original artwork, and featuring examples spanning from Greece to Hong Kong, Rome to San Francisco, Ireland to Israel and more, Sasek's best-known works come alive alongside lesser-known aspects of his practice, such as painting and puppet-making. With 119 illustrations

In Carnival Clare loves the canal boat which she learns to sail with her old neighbour, Max. When Max falls ill, her world falls apart. Clare goes in search of the present that Max left her on the boat, but his nephews, Martin and David, are now in charge. Will they let her make one last trip on the boat? TreeTops Fiction contains a wide range of quality stories enabling children to explore and develop their own reading tastes and interests. It contains stories from a variety of genres including humour, sci-fi, adventure, mystery and historical fiction. These exciting stories are ideal for introducing children to a wide selection of authors and illustrators. There is huge variety to ensure every reader finds books they will enjoy and can read. Books contain inside cover notes to support children in their reading. Help with children's reading development also available at www.oxfordowl.co.uk. The books are finely levelled, making it easy to match every child to the right book.

The middle decades of the twentieth century saw an extraordinary flourishing of the illustrated, pictorial dust jacket. From the 1920s, as the potential for the book's protective wrapping to be used for promotion and enticement became clear, artists and illustrators on both sides of the Atlantic applied their talents to this particular art form. Rising to the wide-ranging challenges posed by format and subject matter, leading artists and illustrators, including John Piper, Edward Bawden and John Minton in the UK and Ben Shahn, Edward Gorey and George Salter in the USA, brought their unique personal vision to bear on the world of books. Many of their designs reflect the changing visual styles and motifs of the period, including Bloomsbury, Art Deco, Modernism, postwar neo-romanticism and the Kitchen Sink School. Martin Salisbury has selected over fifty of the artists and illustrators who were active in the period 1920-1970 in the UK and USA, as well as others such as Tove Jansson and Celestino Piatti, and discusses their life and work. A selection of dust jackets - both known and too long forgotten - for each artist reveals how far the book as an artefact had travelled from the days of the plain wrapper in the nineteenth century.