Magic Pencil: Children’s Book Illustration Today

This highly illustrated new book features the work of thirteen of the top children’s book illustrators working in the UK today. Each chapter contains a commentary by the illustrator, introducing their work and explaining how they started to illustrate children’s books, and shows several original artworks by each illustrator. Quentin Blake’s introduction reflects on the complexities of providing an illustrative response to the characters and activities of a writer. Joanna Carey, formerly Children’s Book Editor of The Guardian , contributes an illustrated essay on the history of children’s book illustration, from the work of Cruikshank, Ardizonne, and Walter Crane, to the instantly recognisable pictures from Winnie the Pooh and the tales of Beatrix Potter. The illustrators featured Angela Barrett, Quentin Blake, Lauren Child, Patrick Benson, Raymond Briggs, Sara Fanelli, Stephen Biesty, John Burningham, Michael Foreman, Tony Ross, Posy Simmonds, Emma Chichester Clark, and Charlotte Voake.