GIRAFFE AND A HALF
Last Thursday, my new picture book Giraffe and a Half was published in hardback! (The paperback edition will be out next August.)
Thank you to Pickled Pepper Books for making this lovely display to celebrate. And huge thanks to the Observer for this lovely review, and for choosing Giraffe and a Half as an Observer picture book of the month. I’m really pleased, and my little giraffe is in great company!
Observer picture books of the month
AUTUMN COLOURS
The autumn leaves are raining beautiful shades all over the streets of London. It wasn’t planned that Giraffe and a Half would have a colour palette to match the season in which it was published - but that’s what’s happened! My books tend to be pretty colourful, but Giraffe has a more refined palette than usual. Here’s a glimpse at the predominant colour scheme in the book.
Now I’ve spotted that oranges, yellows and greens in the book are replicated all around me, I can’t stop taking pictures. And it’s not just autumn leaves. Look how well the curry we had to celebrate publication day matches the book’s colours!
MINDFUL SMARTPHONE SNAPS
The mindful photo walks I’ve mentioned in previous Substack posts have received a lot of really interesting feedback. Please keep letting me know about photo walks you’ve tried yourself, and please treat mine as prompts if you like. The autumn colours one is really fun so I recommend it! The more abstract the better. Here are a few I took during my walk yesterday.
NEW WEBSITE
Finally, I’m delighted to share my new website. This has been built by my 14 year old son Harry who taught himself Squarespace from scratch to make it. I think he’s done a really great job! I’m in the process of preparing stock for my stall at the Illustrators’ Fair in Granary Square in December and at some point in the future hope to add a shop to the website. In the meantime, both Harry and I would love to know what you think! As well as book news, there are activity sheets you can print out for children. I’ll be adding more to this section over the coming months.
Thanks for reading and see you next month. In the meantime, if you would like to order signed, dedicated copies of any of my books, please contact Stoke Newington Bookshop to order, and they can arrange this with me.
Congratulations on being selected for Observer book of the month! And I didn’t know you’ll be at the illustrators fair next month. Unfortunately, I’m not doing it this time as my mum will be visiting but we’ll visit the fair as customers. See you there! x
What a beautiful book! The colour palette is so great, I love that you’re seeing it everywhere now!