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Anita and the Dragons by Hannah Carmona ill. Anna Cunha

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 29 Mar 2021

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“A gorgeous story about the love of one’s homeland and the courage it takes to emigrate.” KIRKUS

A new book from the illustrator of A Story About Afiya, an ACHUKA Book of the Day in April 2020.

Anita watches the dragons high above her as she hops from one cement roof to another in her village in the Dominican Republic. But being the valiant princesa she is, she never lets them scare her. Then one day, Anita must face her fears and begin life in a new country. Will she be brave enough to enter the belly of the beast and take flight to new adventures?

Follow Anna Cunha on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anna_cunha/

Meet An Illustrator 12 – Tom Knight

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self-portrait © Tom Knight

ACHUKA is delighted to bring you Tom Knight as the 12th guest in our weekly (every Saturday) Meet An Illustrator feature. Do visit the backpages of this feature to discover who the first eleven guests were.

When choosing the chapter book Good Knight, Bad Knight And The Flying Machine as her Sunday Times Children’s Book of the Week in May 2020, Nicolette Jones wrote, “Tom Knight deserves to be better known than he is.” We agree!

There is also a Good Knight, Bad Knight picture book:

On his YouTube channel during lockdown he posted several Good Knight, Bad Knight ‘Crafty Time’ videos, as well as proving himself to be as good a guitarist and singer as he is an illustrator – a couple of examples follow the Q&A.

Books coming later this year:

Shadow Chaser (Decide Your Destiny) by Simon Tudhope ill. Tom Knight,  Usborne – July 2021

When Cucumber Lost His Cool by Michelle Robinson ill. Tom Knight, Scholastic – August 2021
(companion title to When Jelly Had A Wobble and The Day The Banana Went Bad)

First Names: Greta by Tracey Turner ill. Tom Knight, DFB – Aug 2021

The Book of Rules by Brian Gehrlein ill. Tom Knight, Macmillan US  October 2021

 

 

As a child, what were the first illustrations you remember being pleased with? 

When I was around 7 I drew a picture of some chickens doing the cancan. My teacher laughed so hard that she gave me a gold star and made me walk around the school and show it to all her teacher friends.

Who/what inspired you when you were young?

Hergé was my first illustration love, but I also conducted heated affairs with Ronald Searle, EH Shepard and Raymond Briggs. I had an intense relationship with Tolkien’s illustrations in The Hobbit too.

Who inspires you today?

Too many to be concise, but Sara Ogilvie, Eric Ravillious, Alex T Smith, Chris Riddell, James Dodds, Edward Bawden and Carson Ellis are a few. I really can’t get enough of the natural world though – trees, fields, hedgerows and the ocean are endless sources of wonder.

Did you study art/illustration?

No, I did a degree in graphic design at Colchester Institute. I thought I’d sneak into illustration round the back.

What is your favourite artist tool/product?

I love my cheap Noodlers Ahab flex pen, despite it’s incessant leaking.

Where do you buy your art supplies?

 Usually Ken Bromley or Jackson’s art supplies online, but I like going to Tindalls in Colchester on a rainy Tuesday morning if deadlines permit.

What software/apps do you use?

Photoshop.

What was your first commission?

The Mermaid Mysteries for Boxer Books.

What are you working on at the moment?

A  book about Greta Thunberg, two picture books and a board book about pirates. I’m a juggler!

Twitter or Instagram? Instagram

Coffee or tea?  Coffee, thank you

Cat or dog?  How DARE you ask me that

Grape or grain? Grape

Sunrise or sunset? Sunrise—I’m fairly useless by the evening these days

What do you listen to when you are working?  Music when I’m drawing, podcasts and audiobooks when I’m artworking.

Where can we follow you on social media?
@tomknightillustration on Instagram
@tombabylon on Twitter.

This is a regular weekend feature, publishing every Saturday.

Chickenology: The Ultimate Encyclopedia by Barbara Sandri & Francesco Giubbilini ill. Camilla Pintonato

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 26 Mar 2021

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“Beginning with advice for young readers on how to differentiate between (adult) hens and roosters and identify different types and colorations and feathers and a survey of the inner and outer anatomy of a chicken, the book is a cheerful, if not scientific, overview for curious kids.” KIRKUS

Welcome to the wonderful world of chickens! This beloved barnyard bird is full of surprises. Did you know some chickens are so small they can perch in the palm of your hand, and others have feathers that look like a beard? Chickens can learn to count up to four and have excellent hearing-many even like to listen to music!

Originating from Italy, this book takes young readers (and grown-ups) on a fascinating and informative tour of chickens. Discover the incredible variety of chickens with different origins, breeds, and feather patterns, delve into chicken anatomy and evolution, and even learn the basics of chicken care. With a playful tone and irresistibly charming illustrations by rising star Camilla Pintonato, this lively visual encyclopedia presents chickens in all of their feathered glory.

Follow the Venice-based illustrator on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/camilla_pintonato/

Look out for the forthcoming Pigology from the same publisher, Princeton Architectural Press.

Front Desk by Kelly Yang ill. Maike Plenzke

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 25 Mar 2021

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“Yang’s book has two main strengths. Its first strength is its characterisation. Mia and her family leap off the page. Very quickly the reader comes to care deeply about the family and their aspiration. Equally significant is the way Yang manages to describe the hardships endured by the family – ill treatment, racial prejudice, financial exploitation, educational difficulty as Mia struggles with an unfamiliar language – all of this while still maintaining the family as three-dimensional, strong and sympathetic characters rather than as mere victims. The story of such strife, all too commonplace in the real world, is rarely narrated for middle grade readers. More people endure such suffering than read about it.” BfK 5 STAR review
“Debut author Yang weaves in autobiographical content while creating a feisty and empowered heroine. The supporting characters are rich in voice and context, with multiple villains and friends that achingly reveal life in America in the 1990s for persons of color and those living in poverty. Heavy themes, including extortion, fraud, and racism, are balanced with the naïve dreams and determination of a 10-year-old.” KIRKUS

Mia Tang has a lot of secrets: 1. She lives in a motel, not a big house. 2. Her parents hide immigrants. 3. She wants to be a writer. It will take all of Mia’s courage, kindness, and hard work to get through this year. Will she be able to hold on to her job, help the immigrants and guests, and go for her dreams?

f.p. US in 2018

Can Bears Ski? by Raymond Antrobus ill. Polly Dunbar

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 24 Mar 2021

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Debut children’s book from Ted Hughes award-winning poet Raymond Antrobus that tracks a father-and-son journey into the discovery and management of deafness.

Boy Bear cannot hear Dad Bear coming to wake him up in the morning but he can feel the floor vibrate with his heavy footsteps. He can only grasp little bits of what his teacher says to him at school. He cannot catch what his friends are laughing at. And, all the time, Boy Bear keeps hearing the question, “Can Bears ski?” What does it mean? With the support of Dad Bear, Boy Bear visits an audiologist and, eventually, he gets hearing aids. Suddenly, he understands the question everyone has been asking him: “CAN YOU HEAR ME?”

The author draws on his own experience to show how isolating it can be for a deaf child in a hearing world. But through his lyrical and moving words, matched with Polly’s stunning imagery, he also shows how many ways there are to communicate love. With a solid network, Boy Bear will find his place in the world.

Listen to an interview with Raymond Antrobus.
Follow Polly Dunbar on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pollydunbar/



Saving Hanno: A Refugee Boy and His Dog by Miriam Halahmy ill. Karin Littlewood

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 23 Mar 2021

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Inspired by the real events of the Kindertransport and the refugee children who came to Britain just before war was declared. [First published in US, 2019]

Rudi is nine. His own country is no longer safe for Jewish children and he is being sent from Germany to England on the Kindertransport train. But he can’t take his beloved little dog, Hanno. By a lucky chance Hanno is smuggled into England and helps Rudi to cope with life in a strange country. But as World War 2 looms, there is a chilling new threat to Hanno. How can Rudi and his new friends save their pets?



It is ten years since the author’s first YA novel, HIDDEN, was published. Since then she has published five YA novels, three MG novels, short fiction and stories for anthologies. She has been twice nominated for the Carnegie Medal. Hidden, her debut novel, was adapted for the stage and The Emergency Zoo has been optioned for a TV series. Always Here For You [2020], set in Brighton, is her most recent YA novel.

Meet An Illustrator 11 – Marie Voigt

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Marie Voigt is the 11th guest in our weekly (every Saturday) Meet An Illustrator feature. Do visit the backpages of this feature to discover who the first ten guests were.

Let’s begin by allowing Marie to introduce herself. In this short video she explains what inspired her—despite already having a successful career in TV, branding and graphic design—to become a full-time illustrator and picture book creator.

Her first book, Red And The City [2018], was shortlisted for the 2019 Klaus Flugge Prize and nominated for the Kate Greenaway Medal.

signing copies at the shortlisting event

That debut picture book has been followed by The Light In The Night [2019], Jazz Dog [2019]—shortlisted for the FCBG Children’s Book Award—and The Golden Treasure [2020].

 


paperback publishing May 2021

She is currently busy finishing work on The Smile, her third book with OUP, and also  illustrating the Guardian Angels series by Lucinda Riley and Riley’s son Harry Whittaker, currently only available in German, Italian, Dutch and Norwegian.

As a child, what were the first illustrations you remember being pleased with? 

When I was 6, I wrote and illustrated a fairly satirical story book based on our daily family life as a present for my dad’s birthday.

Who/what inspired you when you were young?

Nature, paintings, books and some vinyl records of children’s stories that my sister and I used to act out over and over and over again.

Who inspires you today?

My partner, friends and family, other artists, my editors and art directors and definitely all cheeky cute animals!

Did you study art/illustration?

At high school in New Zealand, at City Lit in London and at the excellent online Society of Visual Storytelling.

What is your favourite artist tool/product?

Nowadays Procreate on the iPad Pro. But it used to be Acrylic paints, soft pastels and coloured pencils.

Where do you buy your art supplies?

It varies, but the last time was at London Graphic Centre in Covent Garden, London.

What software/apps do you use?

Mainly Procreate and Photoshop.

What was your first commission?

A multiple picture book deal I got with Simon & Schuster and Oxford University Press.

What are you working on at the moment?

My third book with Oxford University Press as well as illustrating the other two books in the “Guardian Angels” series by Lucinda Riley and Harry Whittaker.

Twitter or Instagram? Twitter

Coffee or tea?  Lots of herbal tea

Cat or dog?  Dog (but I like cats too)

Grape or grain? Neither

Sunrise or sunset? Both

What do you listen to when you are working?  Often the non-format internet radio station Popstop.eu as they play all genres across all decades and have some interesting things to say about the music they play (in German)

Where can we follow you on social media?  On Twitter at @marievoigt on Instagram at marie.voigt and on Facebook at marievoigtart

This is a regular weekend feature, publishing every Saturday.

Veggie Power illustrated by Olaf Hajek text by Annette Roeder

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 19 Mar 2021

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“Part information book, part art book, Veggie Power does to the mind and the eyes what spinach does to Popeye’s muscles.” BfK 5 STAR review

As more and more families focus on local and organic eating, this delightful introduction to common vegetables offers a delectable serving of uncommonly beautiful illustrations and fascinating information.  Olaf Hajek’s imaginative and detailed portraits are paired with engaging and eye-opening texts. The book shows how each vegetable appears in its natural soil habitat, and how it might be eaten today. Health benefits, historical tidbits, and botanical oddities are seamlessly woven into each spread. From the first spring onion, to pumpkins harvested just before the frost, this inviting journey through the growing season celebrates the artistic, historical, and culinary bounty that awaits us in the garden and at the table.

sample page

Follow Olaf hajek on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/olafhajek/

Appreciate more work by this artist:

Carnegie and Greenaway Shortlists

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The longlists for the Carnegie and Greenaway Awards (announced last month)—each containing 20 titles—have now been whittled down to shortlists consisting of 8 books contending for each award.

The shortlisted titles are as follows:
Titles marked with  have been ACHUKA Book of the Day picks.

2021 CILIP Carnegie Medal

  1. Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo (Hot Key Books)
  2. The Girl Who Speaks Bear by Sophie Anderson, illustrated by Kathrin Honesta (Usborne)
  3. The Girl Who Became A Tree by Joseph Coelho, illustrated by Kate Milner (Otter-Barry Books)
  4. On Midnight Beach by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick (Faber)
  5. Run, Rebel by Manjeet Mann (Penguin Random House Children’s)
  6. Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds (Knights Of)
  7. The Fountains Of Silence by Ruta Sepetys (Penguin Random House Children’s)
  8. Echo Mountain by Lauren Wolk (Penguin Random House Children’s)

2021 CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal

  1. Starbird illustrated and written by Sharon King-Chai (Two Hoots)
  2. The Bird Within Me illustrated by Sara Lundberg and translated by B. J. Epstein (Book Island)
  3. It’s A No-Money Day illustrated and written by Kate Milner (Barrington Stoke)
  4. How The Stars Came To Be illustrated and written by Poonam Mistry (Tate Publishing)
  5. Hike illustrated and written by Pete Oswald (Walker Books)
  6. I Go Quiet illustrated and written by David Ouimet (Canongate)
  7. Arlo The Lion Who Couldn’t Sleep illustrated and written by Catherine Rayner (Macmillan Children’s Books)
  8. Small In The City illustrated and written by Sydney Smith (Walker Books)