Two friends; two books. The postman must curse me as there is usually a heavy parcel every day. But these two parcels were special. Two new books, sent with kind words by good friends and which both astound and astonish in different ways.
Published today is The Pillbox, by David Hughes. As the shambling mammoth at the start warns us: this is NOT a children’s book.
It IS a picture book, for David’s dazzling draughtsmanship overflows from every page. And it tells a story. A characteristically dark, dangerous story that darts back and forth in time, lingering on the 1940s for a brutal murder, that sets the whole story unravelling. David’s work can be delicate and charming one minute…
Intense and startling the next…
Always characterful, always generously communicative, always honest, this is a book anyone who appreciates brave and challenging drawing will relish. A world away from my work it may be, but I find this incredibly inspiring and I wish I had the courage to break free and surprise like this.
David and I sometimes teach together at Cambridge School of Art. We make a perfect “Good Cop/Bad Cop” team and we get on famously. The book was inspired by a day together in Cromer, Norfolk, with Martin Salisbury (Professor of Illustration and children’s book expert; he runs the MA in Children’s Book Illustration in Cambridge) and respective families. Seeing David’s sketchbook studies expand daringly and boldly into this outsized volume has been remarkable. I should confess a little bit of bias here because David has kindly allowed me to share the dedication with his publisher. But I would have loved it anyway. Honest. Especially as it also a tribute to the best dog I ever met – the late lamented Dexter!
The second book also breaks rules. It’s fiction… and yet it’s not. It’s a true story… but it’s not an “information book”. It’s not a photography book. Yet it is full of photographs. Many, beautiful photographs. It’s not an illustrated picture book. And yet it is a book and has pictures – illustrations – wonderful illustrations.
Queen of the Sky is a book by Jackie Morris that confounds all rules, and satisfies all senses, drawing us into a personal and intimate story of love and freedom… and a bird. I hardly knew where to begin… the words? the photos? the illustrations?
It feels like a huge privilege to let Jackie take you by the hand and lead you into Ffion’s world and this story. I won’t give anything away. You just need to buy it and hold it in your hands… frankly I would buy it for the endpapers alone!
Thanks David and Jackie for these parcels… both remarkable, both unique. Long live the book!
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