Art was always my favourite subject at school. I remember when I was 10 years old and my teacher introduced me to sketching with a scratchy old dip-pen and a bottle of ink. It was love at first sight, and I still use pen and ink to this day.
I grew up in a tiny Suffolk village called Blundeston, famous as the birthplace of David Copperfield in the novel by Charles Dickens. So I knew, from a very young age, that books and writing were something special. My father was a pilot, and was full of stories of his adventures, while my grandfather once went treasure hunting to a famous pirate hideaway called Cocos Island, so I heard more stories from him too. Growing up together, my sister Kate and I had all sorts of adventures in the countryside, and I suppose our games were another kind of storytelling.
Then of course there were books! How I loved Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson's Ferdinand the Bull, Ian Fleming's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Bang (with astonishing pictures by John Burningham); And Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are, which I never owned but borrowed over and over from the library. Even before I could read, Kate would tell me stories from books, while I gazed at the illustrations. Tove Jansson's Moomins, Rosemary Manning's Green Smoke, Barbara Sleigh's Carbonel... We had many favourites! But it was my mother who painted and first let me loose on a box of paints. Many people said to me - "You can’t be an artist! It’s not a proper job!" And yet I always knew I would be an artist of some kind when I grew up, and eventually went on to study illustration at Maidstone College of Art, graduating in 1987 with first class honours.
About my books…
My first book, Katie’s Picture Show, was published in 1989 and was inspired by a childhood trip to London with my sister Kate and our Grandma. Many more “Katie” titles have followed, introducing the great works of art to children. These books can now be found in museums and galleries all over the world. In 2015, the National Gallery, London, launched an exclusive range of Katie merchandise based on the books, followed in 2017 by a series of art activity books. All of this grew from the memory of that day out, many years ago, with my sister and Grandma, and from my love of art and artists.
Ella Bella Ballerina was inspired by the real Katie’s daughter, Eloise! so often things in real life grow into my work, as stories or pictures. I think it’s important to be inspired by the things that are important to you. In all my books there is a little bit of me hidden away somewhere.
The magic of music features again in Once Upon A Tune, inspired by the concerts I've presented with fabulous orchestras and musicians.
As well as writing most of my own books, I love collaborating with other writers and artists. I’ve been so lucky to make books with Philippa Pearce, Elisabeth Beresford, Jackie Morris, Ian Eagleton and many others. It's been a particular joy to illustrate the Gaspard the Fox books written by Classic FM presenter Zeb Soanes. Gaspard has his own website, and you can find out more about the “handsomest fox in London” right here: www.gaspardthefox.com
Sometimes I’ve been honoured with awards and prizes. In 1994 I received the New York Times book illustration award for Jenny Koralek’s The Boy and the Cloth of Dreams, while more recently Mrs Noah's Pockets, Mrs Noah's Garden, and Nen and the Lonely Fisherman and Once Upon A Tune have all been nominated for the Kate Greenaway/Carnegie medal, and in 2022 Nen and the Lonely Fisherman won the inaugural Polari Prize. But really, the best reward is seeing a child with your book or hearing from a parent who has taken her children to a gallery, or a school who’ve done amazing project work based on your stories. It makes all the hard work worthwhile!
About my concerts…
When I’m not making books, I’m painting to music... I’ve been presenting concerts for children for fifteen years, creating art during performances of spectacular classical masterpieces. It’s a wonderful feeling to be up on stage, surrounded by these superb musicians, with my easel, painting illustrations to match the music. When these are projected onto the big screen it’s genuinely thrilling! From the Carnival of the Animals, Peter and the Wolf, and Scheherazade to Peer Gynt, William Tell and the Firebird, this has been one of the greatest adventures of my professional life.
Even as a child, I loved to listen to music and draw along to it. I never dreamed I’d be lucky enough to work with such extraordinarily talented people as the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, London Mozart Players, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Chetham's Symphony Orchestra, The Docklands Sinfonia and the Doric Quartet. In 2016, a dream came true when I first painted to music at the Royal Albert Hall.
My love of music has led to many other exciting projects, including designing a production of Britten’s children’s opera Noye’s Fludde, which was performed in Tewkesbury Abbey in 2013, the composer's centenary year. In 2017 my book The Knight Who Took All Day was adapted by composer Bernard Hughes as a new orchestral work for children. That year, I also collaborated with composer Jeremy Holland-Smith on The Caretaker's Guide to the Orchestra, a new introduction to orchestral music commissioned by the Docklands Sinfonia and performed to 3,000 children from Tower Hamlets schools. In 2018, together with artist Antonio Reche-Martinez, I painted “live” scenery for a performance of an opera for the first time, Mozart's Magic Flute. And now Gaspard the Fox, with stories by Zeb Soanes, has been immortalised as an orchestral work for children by Jonathan Dove.
During the pandemic, I transferred my skills to film-making for the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, resulting in the acclaimed "Bitesize" series, "Drawn To Music".
Music, art, words. They are all just different ways of telling stories… Find out more HERE.
About other things…
I suppose I’ve become something of an ambassador of art, music and culture for children, and I get invitations from all over the world, as a speaker and educator. Every time I fly I think of my father, the pilot, and his adventures and stories.
I’m very pleased to be an adviser to Action for Children's Arts - a charity that campaigns for children's right to access the arts. I’m also a patron of Magic Lantern an art education charity who bring high quality art workshops and presentations into schools all over the country. In 2017 I joined Tanita Tikaram as an ambassador for the humanitarian charity Side by Side with Refugees.
For over 20 years I was an illustration tutor at Cambridge School of Art, helping establish the UK's first MA in Children's Book Illustration. I’m also a member of the Art Worker’s Guild and the Society of Authors (and for three years a committee member of the Children’s Writers and Illustrators Group, actively campaigning for the rights of authors and illustrators).
I enjoy speaking and running workshops in schools, at book festivals, libraries, art galleries and other events. Whether I’m in Hay, Bath, Cheltenham and Edinburgh or perhaps The Asian Festival of Children's Content in Singapore, it’s always a joy to meet children and share stories! I’ve collaborated with the British Museum and the National Galleries of London and Scotland and the House of Illustration. In 2014 I was the Illustrator in Residence at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, while in the Winter of 2014/15, the Scottish National Gallery hosted a major exhibition of Katie illustrations, celebrating her 25 year anniversary. Since February 2018, I have also gathered a huge following on Twitter for my #BookIllustrationOfTheDay.
There are still so many books I want to make! I am still learning, still experimenting with words and brushes and paints and my old dip pen and ink. I’ve been very lucky to do the job that I love, and I think the one thing in life I have learned is… you should always follow your dreams.
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