Happy Hallowe’en From Happydesigner! There are few people who don’t like this time of year (according to the incredibly scientific research I’ve done amongst most of my family and friends). Yes and the clocks have gone back (extra hour in bed FTW!) the days are now shorter, but this is now the season of snuggly jumpers,…
Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards 2017 Marion Adams and Sarah Leigh-Wills win Moonbeam Award for “Go To Sleep“ There’s really nothing quite like being considered for an award, and there’s certainly nothing like getting a prize! When you’re a writer, or an illustrator, or editor, or anything creative, sometimes it can feel like you’re working alone…
Anyone can do Inktober, just pick up a pen and start drawing! So as children’s illustrators, (which some of us are!) we love to take part in anything that allows us to play with different drawing styles, types of drawing, and different mediums with which to paint and do art. Here at happydesigner we got…
So who are the happydesigner Guinea Pigs? If you keep up with the happydesigner social media channels (Facebook, Instagram or Twitter) you’ll have seen the stars of the happydesigner show; George, Bungle and Zippy! They now have their own page on this site, and they’re working hard with Sarah (although let’s face it, it’s mostly…
Bats, Slugs and Snails! There are many things we get asked to illustrate on a daily basis, and some things can really make us do big silly grins! A firm favourite of everyone is the day we get to draw bugs. Slugs, snails, butterflies, all manner of tiny insects and worms, buzzy bees; you name…
Strong and Mighty Max Children’s book illustration/Educational illustration Written by Kristina Gray “Strong and Mighty Max” is just that, he’s a little boy who is strong and mighty! He also happens to have achondroplasia, which means his bones don’t grow in the same way lots of peoples’ bones do. Max’s creator, Kristina Gray, a mother of a child…
Life With a Mutt There are many, many reasons why owning a dog is an amazing adventure. With a dog, you have a loyal companion. This works both ways, because you become the loyal companion for your pooch as well. Dogs have the ability to cheer us up, and they can help us to get…
Parents. We all have them. Sometimes we love them, sometimes they drive us up the wall! Sometimes they aren’t related to us, and sometimes they can’t be with us. But we’ve all got someone we can thank for getting us to where we are today. Parents play a vital role in the lives of children….
I have been very excited to be working in partnership with a good friend on a new set of children’s books. The Busy Body Series, is a new set of books teaching children (well some adults too…) all about the body and how things work. Heather and I first met 3 years ago and we…
The use of humanised animals in literature is not a new fad in any case, in fact, it has been around for decades! The style is popular for numerous reasons, some being that the child can relate more to the animal than a child or even animals are used to show human nature towards each…
