Magic Pencil: Children's Book Illustration Today

quentin blake british library

This highly illustrated new book features the work of thirteen of the top children's book illustrators working in the UK today. Each chapter contains a commentary by the illustrator, introducing their work and explaining how they started to illustrate children's books, and shows several original artworks by each illustrator. Quentin Blake's introduction reflects on the complexities of providing an illustrative response to the characters and activities of a writer. Joanna Carey, formerly Children's Book Editor of The Guardian , contributes an illustrated essay on the history of children's book illustration, from the work of Cruikshank, Ardizonne, and Walter Crane, to the instantly recognisable pictures from Winnie the Pooh and the tales of Beatrix Potter. The illustrators featured Angela Barrett, Quentin Blake, Lauren Child, Patrick Benson, Raymond Briggs, Sara Fanelli, Stephen Biesty, John Burningham, Michael Foreman, Tony Ross, Posy Simmonds, Emma Chichester Clark, and Charlotte Voake.

Genres art

112 pages, Hardcover

First published February 25,2003

This edition

Format: 112 pages, Hardcover
Published: February 25, 2003 by The British Library
ISBN: 9780712347709
ASIN: 0712347704
Language: English

About the author

quentin blake

Sir Quentin Saxby Blake is an English cartoonist, caricaturist, illustrator and children's writer. He has illustrated over 300 books, including 18 written by Roald Dahl, which are among his most popular works. For his lasting contribution as a children's illustrator he won the biennial international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2002, the highest recognition available to creators of children's books. From 1999 to 2001, he was the inaugural British Children's Laureate. He is a patron of the Association of Illustrators.