HURRAH!!!...'Rabbityness' is out...

...a 'real book' with proper turny-over pages and everything!:)))

http://www.childs-play.com/news.html

Latest News - 26th Mar 2012

Brand new picture book- 'Rabbityness' now available

We are delighted to announce that our brand new picture book, 'Rabbityness' by Jo Empson, is now available to buy!
The design of this book is stunning with unique, eye-catching artwork showing bold splashes of bright colour set against jet black silhouettes.
The somewhat difficult theme of 'loss' is also tackled with heartfelt sensitivity, making it a fanastic edition to any bookshelf or library.
We are sure you'll love it just as much as we do, so don't miss out, order your copy today! http://www.childs-play.com/bookshop/9781846434822.html
http://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/basket/
http://www.guardianbookshop.co.uk 

Lovely Review from a lovely and very inspiring lady

News from CILIP Youth Libraries Group - March 2012

                                             
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WELCOME
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March always feels like a month of promise – the clocks go forward, heralding the start of lighter nights and spring and the possibilities of the good summer we are always promised ( I know it usually doesn’t materialise but we have to be hopeful that this year it will!! ) This month you can look forward to another bumper packed issue full of information and some great give-away offers from our publisher friends. Hope you enjoy browsing through it and don’t forget – if there are any features or new categories that you think would be helpful to you and that you would like to suggest for inclusion in future newsletters please let us know.

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FEATURED PUBLISHER OFFER:  
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CHILD’S PLAY (INTERNATIONAL) LTD
Children’s Books Consultant and YLG Honorary Life Member, Wendy Cooling is so excited about ‘Rabbityness’ by Jo Empson being published this month by Child’s Play that she can’t wait to tell you about it!
“An exciting new talent has entered the world of children’s books; Jo Empson’s first picture book is fresh, quirky and wonderfully designed, a complete book to go back to again and again. ‘Rabbityness’, as the title and cover suggest, is set in the world of rabbits and in this world, a little removed from our own, the author/illustrator tackles the difficult subject of loss. The book is very child-friendly and will enable readers to think about loss and come to understand that there is joy in memories and in the future, as well as times of sadness. Many children simply see the fun of the book and want to do some Rabbity painting, but the real magic of it is that it quietly speaks to the child who needs its message.

The text is a treat to read aloud and the words leap through the pages just like Rabbit, the most extrovert of rabbits, does. He does lots of rabbity things but he also loves to paint and make music, in fact do unrabbity things. His disappearance is a blow to his friends but he has not left without thinking about them and enabling them to experience the joy of doing unrabbity things too.
The illustrations and the words work perfectly together to give the story both colour and wonder. Jo Empson uses colour with great confidence and so in fact it’s words, pictures, colour and design working together to make a complete book - don’t miss the end -papers as they’re part of the story too. This book will stay with me always, I love it and I love the look in children’s eyes as they notice the difference between front and back end-papers. Look carefully, enjoy - and yes get your paint brushes out - and join me in the queue of people looking forward to this illustrator’s next book.”
Rabbityness by Jo Empson will be available to buy in April.

 

'Rabbityness' Book Launch

Please come and help me celebrate...

A feast for your eyes!

Our MA exhibition has now moved from Foyles to Cambridge and will be at the Ruskin Galley, Cambridge School of Art from 29th Feb - 15th March. Please have a look at the website for details and also to see a snap shot of the huge amount of talent on show http://www.cambridgemashow.com

Here are just a few pics to feast your eyes on, as a fellow student I feel incredibly proud and immensely inspired to be exhibiting amongst such talent! I will miss the course and fellow student friends hugely!

Happy Christmas

Happy Christmas!!

More unrabbityness...

I recently visited a local school where Hannah the reception teacher kindly read a mock-up my 'Rabbityness' book. I'm very grateful for the children who sat and listened a lot more intently than I ever did as a child, and even joined in with some of Rabbit's actions such as hopping, burrowing and twirling of whiskers. After a talk about the story we all rolled up are sleeves and got nice and messy and as you can see the children produced some 'beautiful' pictures of Rabbit doing all sorts of unrabbity things such as skiing, jumping in paint and climbing up a colourful mountain, here are just a few examples. It never ceases to amaze me how spontaneous children's imagination is but in the same breath sad that we seem to lose some of that spontaneity in the growing up process, or maybe our heads just get over filled with too much other stuff! 
 

Rabbityness

I'm thrilled to say my first picture book will be published by Child's Play International in March 2012. For me this is a special story that's very close to my heart, and was a development of a diploma project I did whilst studying on the MA Children's Book Illustration course at Cambridge. Joining the course has been just the best thing in so many ways, a creative journey which sometimes entailed frostbite from location sketching, overeating whilst avoiding completing the dissertation, nail biting crits' but mainly an incredible source of inspiration through fellow students, lecturers and visiting illustrators in a nourishing creative atmosphere! I shall miss it greatly when we complete the course in Feb!