Nosy Crow's Blog, page 174

Thank you for taking part in Illustrators for War Child

Just under two weeks ago, we announced the Illustrators for War Child project, an illustrator charity auction organised by Leigh Hodgkinson, featuring over 90 lots from more than 50 different illustrators, to raise money for War Child, a London-based charity that provides life-changing support to the most vulnerable children whose families, communities and schools have been torn apart by war.

The auctions ended earlier this week, and we’re thrilled to say that they raised almost £6,000 in total for War Child – a fantastic achievement by Leigh, made possible by the incredible generosity of the illustrators who donated such wonderful pieces, and all of the people who bid for them.

So thank you very much to Leigh, for organising this amazing project, and to ALL of the illustrators involved – and if you’re on the lucky bidders who’s won an original piece of artwork or a beautiful signed print, thank you, too, and congratulations!

If you missed out on the auction, it’s not too late to donate to War Child anyway to help support the vital work they do across the world. You can find out more about them here, and donate here.

What to expect from the Nosy Crow Conference - a guest post by Alastair Horne

The Nosy Crow Conference is almost here! Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Children’s Publishing (But Were Afraid to Ask) is taking place this Saturday, September 13, at the Saint Bride Foundation in London. Our first conference was live-tweeted by Alastair Horne (@pressfuturist), who’ll be back to do the same this time – and here’s his review of last year’s event.

Last year’s Nosy Crow conference was an enjoyable mix of advice and inspiration. One of the many highlights was Guardian columnist Lucy Mangan’s opening talk about what books had meant to her as a child. Reading had taught her that she was not alone, had legitimised her feelings, and given her insights into other people’s thoughts; it had even taught how to experience emotions. If any writers in the audience had entertained any doubts about the value of what they were involved in, they were surely blown away by Mangan’s passionate assertion that reading teaches children how to be human.

The following panel session with three Nosy Crow editors offered insights into how a smaller publisher finds authors to work with – through agents, submissions, and sometimes even Twitter – and how to get their attention – the first paragraph of the covering letter is key – and also emphasised the fact that publishing still remains a business: nothing can be done if the financials don’t add up.

Hilary Delamere’s session on agents explored their role as gatekeeper, guide, partner, and cheerleader for authors, before three writers shared advice from their journey to unpublished wannabe to first-time published author: how they found the time to write – one wrote her first book on her Blackberry on her daily commute – and the importance of editing.

The afternoon sessions began with a pair of complementary talks on building your brand as an author. Tracey Corderoy shared some tips from the author appearances that have helped make her such a popular children’s writer, with thirty books published in the past three years. An attitude of “say yes now, and work out how to do it later” had clearly contributed not only to her own rising profile, but to the clear enjoyment of the many children whose schools and libraries she regularly visited. Her visits not only brought a little colour into children’s sometimes grey lives, but also enabled her to get feedback from an often disarmingly honest audience. Jon Reed then offered some advice on building your brand as an author through social media, suggesting that the work has to begin well before you have a book deal, and that automating as much of the process as possible can help you find the time to do all this.

Melissa Cox, Children’s book buyer at Waterstones, shared some of the secrets of what makes a book stand out amongst the six thousand new titles she sees every year – smart storytelling, and a strong jacket play a large part. Nosy Crow MD Kate Wilson then finished off a fascinating day with some thoughts on the changing role of the publisher, and how new technologies are bringing publishers and authors into closer contact with their authors.

With some of last year’s inspirational speakers returning – Tracey Corderoy and Hilary Delamere among them – and new names including the Bookseller’s children’s editor Charlotte Eyre and author Jeff Norton, I’m certainly looking forward to this year’s conference on September 13th.

You can read the full programme for this year’s conference here. There are a very small number of tickets remaining – if you’d like to come, you can buy yours below.

Event Registration Online for Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Children’s Publishing… powered by Eventbrite

Nosy Crow has won Nectar Business's Small Business of the Year award - and Karren Brady gave us the prize

On Wednesday (and I am really sorry it’s taken me this long to get round to writing this, but however great the news, Nosy Crow day-to-day life goes on and I am a part of that), Nosy Crow won the Nectar Business Small Business of the Year award, which is the most prestigious of Nectar Business’s five small business awards.

The award

As I said when we were shortlisted for this award, there’s something really exciting about winning an award that isn’t limited to publishers, and that recognises publishing as a viable and exciting business that can win against competition from across a remarkably wide range of businesses – as you’ll see from the different kinds of businesses represented in the list of winners. Publishing is too often seen as a business dinosaur, squeezing itself between authors and readers in a way that is both greedy and unnecessary. Its days, say some commentators, are numbered. Of course, I don’t agree with that view at all – and have written about what a modern publisher needs to do here – but it’s good news when that’s recognised by impartial business experts like the judges of this award.

All of the winners and judges

Nectar Business made it a really memorable day, starting with an hour or so of business questions posed by a moderator to the winners and the judges, including Karren Brady. We’d all been asked for the questions we’d ask Karren Brady in advance, and I asked how she’d measure success for a small business like ours. She suggested we measure five things:

1. Profit: “without that you haven’t got a business”

2. Growth of the customer base

3. Customer satisfaction

4. Employee satisfaction

5. Owner satisfaction

Of course, we can put a number on our profitability, and if we treat revenue growth as a proxy for growth of our customer base then we can put a number on that too. (We don’t, currently, sell directly to consumers, so we have to assume that, if our sales are growing, we’re reaching more people. And our sales are growing: according to Nielsen Bookscan data last month, we are now the 16th biggest children’s publisher in the UK, and we are also growing our international sales.)

What’s harder is to put numbers on satisfaction. In terms of customer satisfaction, it is a pretty much daily source of pleasure to me to find on Twitter unsolicited comments from parents, grandparents, teachers, booksellers and librarians saying how much the children they’re engaged with are enjoying a book or an app that Nosy Crow has published. And the ratings for our books and apps on sites like Amazon and the App Store are useful indicators of customer satisfaction too.

Karren Brady’s comment about employee satisfaction made me think that we might need more formal ways to engage with our staff. Maybe it’s too easy to assume that if we spend a good proportion of our time in our open-plan space talking and laughing and sharing Minstrels that everyone is chipper. Of course, part of the advantage of there not being many people is that there’s no risk of any real distance between the “boss” and the “workers”. We’re all in the same room every day, and know each other well. But still, I made a note to myself to think about it a bit more.

That Karren Brady raised owner satisfaction as something worth measuring surprised me. I’d never have thought to include it in a list of things to track or consider. I am not the only owner of Nosy Crow, so I can’t speak for the other owners, but I can say that I am happier running “my own” business than I’ve ever been in my long publishing career… and I was lucky enough to have had a pretty enjoyable corporate career before Nosy Crow.

I guess another really really key thing for us to measure, if it’s ever possible to do, is the satisfaction of our creative talent – our authors and illustrators – but that’s one of the things that makes publishing special and, while it’s useful to draw general business lessons from someone like Karren Brady with her wide experience, it’s important, too, to remember the specifics of the business you are involved in.

This idea of emotional metrics, or of an emotional component to business, was something that all of the winners talked about. We all had an awareness of the importance of how people felt about the things we make and sell. Even the Young Entrepreneur of the Year winner, whose company makes food packaging and mainly for delis and independent coffee shops, spoke about the “affordable luxury” of the shop-bought coffee, the emotional decisions that customers are making when they choose to buy from an independent coffee shop, and the way that a distinctive take-away cup can be a badge telling the world of the decisions they’d made. Mask-arade is all about fun and personalisation. Two Fingers Beer is all about fun too, but with the added emotional sales-driver that they give all of their profits to Prostate Cancer UK.

The three other winners, us included, were about parents and children. Tiffany Rose makes and sells special occasion maternity dresses so that “women can look and feel elegant, stylish and confident during their pregnancy”. Holly and Beau makes and sells children’s raincoats and umbrellas that change colour when they’re wet – all about the fun. And as for us, well, as we say on in the about us section of our website, we care about making and selling books and apps that encourage children to read for pleasure. I have written about the responsibilities of working as a children’s publisher here.

Lunch with the judges and winners – champagne had been drunk which perhaps accounts for the quality of the photography

One of the great pleasures of social media and blogging is that we can listen to parents, teachers, librarians, booksellers and children from all over the world. Just this morning, I saw tweets from a happy parent referring to our new app: “Adam has started his day by asking for jigsaws – Nosy Crow’s jigsaw app!… He does tend to kill IRL (in real life) jigsaws, so to be honest this app is godsend.” And this past weekend, I was in correspondence with a child who was asking about forthcoming titles in the “Zoe’s Rescue Zoo” series “because I only have two more to read now and they take me three lots of one-and-a-half hours each night to finish. I have the Pesky Polar bear and the Cuddly Koala Left to go. I was wondering though if any more of them are going to be published if I could suggest some ideas because my dream is to one day become an author! I’m so glad that you replied to my email as soon as I saw it in my in box I ran to my mum and read it out loud!” Publishers can, for the first time, feel their emotional impact. It’s great!. That our emotional impact is on children is a responsibility and a privilege.

Of course we want to have a business that’s financially successful. Apart from anything else, our business success is key to our sustainability. But we want to make books that children enjoy – books that make a difference to children and, because they make a difference to children, that make a difference to the adults around them too.

Thanks to Nectar Business for the award; for the recognition that publishing, and, specifically, children’s publishing is still an exciting business place to be; for the opportunity to meet Karren Brady and the other winners; and for the prize of cash and nectar points. We’re using the money to fund a rights-selling trip and we’re putting the nectar points towards our next author and illustrator party. After all, without our authors and illustrators, we wouldn’t have a business at all.

Our September books are in shops now!

It’s been a very busy week for us, what with being named Small Business of the Year by the Nectar Small Business Awards on Wednesday, and releasing our new free app, Nosy Crow Jigsaws, yesterday… and if that wasn’t enough, our new September books are also in shops now! We’ve got some absolutely FANTASTIC new books out this month – here’s what you can find in bookshops today:

It’s publication week for Bizzy Bear’s Big Building Book by Benji Davies – a lavish, large format, Bizzy Bear gift edition with five robust mechisms – perfect for toddlers who love to play at being builders!



Buy the book online.

Wickle Woo has a Halloween party! by Jannie Ho is out now – a brilliant new halloween board book in the Tiny Tabs series. With simple stories, repeated refrains and a host of faces to spot and name, these are the perfect books to engage and entertain the very young.



Buy the book online.

Spells and Surprises Activity Storybook by Marnie Edwards and Leigh Hodgkinson is in shops today – the fantastic fourth adventure in the Magical Mix-Ups series. Emerald is off to Spell Summer Camp to brush up her magic skills, and asks her best friend, Sapphire to come too . . . Magical fun and chaos ensue and the reader can draw, design, colour and doodle to help the story along.



Buy the book online.

It’s publication week for Hubble Bubble: The Super-Spooky Fright Night! by Tracey Corderoy and Joe Berger, the third young fiction title from the creators of the highly-acclaimed Hubble Bubble picture books. This volume sees Granny’s halloween party go off with a bang, a birthday trip to a build-a-teddy factory career out of control, and well, you can probably guess who magics up penguins at the local swimming pool! A bewitching brew of domestic dottiness, fizzy fun and chuckle-inducing charm, these books are ideal for newly independent readers with a thirst for magic and mayhem. Here’s a look inside:



Buy the book online.

Zoe’s Rescue Zoo: The Lucky Snow Leopard by Amelia Cobb is in shops now – the sixth fabulous story in the highly collectible Zoe’s Rescue Zoo series, featuring a go-getting central character, talking animals, compelling story lines and evocative illustrations. The usually sweet little snow leopard cub has started to be very naughty. Could it be because his mother is pregnant and he is not looking forward to being a big brother? Thankfully, Zoe is on hand to help out… You can read the first chapter here:



Buy the book online.

The Grunts in a Jam by Philip Ardagh and Axel Scheffler is out now – the third book in the superlatively silly Grunts series. The gloriously grubby Grunt family head to a country fair so Mrs Grunt’s mother can enter her homemade jam in the Preserves, Jams and Jellies Competition. There’s nothing in that plan to suggest they’ll encounter sabotage, bad poetry and prison, is there? Hmm. This is The Grunts we’re talking about… Here’s a look inside:



Buy the book online.

And finally, it’s publication week for Witchworld by Emma Fischel – the first volume in an exciting new series for 9+ year olds. With an ingeniously imaginative story from Emma, stunning cover artwork from Ottoline creator Chris Riddell, and a brilliantly bewitching new heroine, this is a fabulous foray into fantastical fiction for older readers – Sabrina with a smartphone! Here’s a look inside:



Buy the book online.

Congratulations to all of this month’s authors and illustrators!

Have you heard about our upcoming children’s publishing conference? Tickets are available now.

Our new, free jigsaw puzzle app, Nosy Crow Jigsaws, is out today!

Our latest app, Nosy Crow Jigsaws, is available on the App Store today – and it’s free!

Nosy Crow Jigsaws is a free-to-download jigsaw puzzle app, featuring over 200 jigsaws based on artwork from our award-winning apps and print picture books. It’s packed full of great features, which make it incredibly intuitive and unbelievably easy to use, and also a wonderfully satisfying, absorbing jigsaw experience – fun for the whole family!

You can choose the level of complexity for each jigsaw, from 4 to 300 pieces, using an intuitive slider that adjusts the difficulty level. There’s a “piece rotation” toggle, which allows you to start with jigsaw pieces randomly assorted or in the correct position. There’s a very easy-to-use “tray” to search through pieces as you work on your jigsaw. You can zoom in and out to explore detail in each jigsaw and see the whole picture. There are information pages at the end of every jigsaw – learn more about our books and apps and explore more of the picture with “Can you see” questions for young children. And there’s lot’s more! You can watch Ed demonstrate just a few of the great features in the app at the video at the top of this post.

Download it on the App Store here.

The app comes with five free jigsaws of your choice – pick which ever ones you’d like from the whole library – and, of course, each jigsaw can be “re-made” from 4 to 300 pieces. And there are additional free jigsaws available – the app will automatically unlock the jigsaws using artwork from any Nosy Crow app that you already own!

You can buy further jigsaws in packs of 10 (again, you can pick whichever ones you’d like) for 99¢/ 69p, or unlock everything for $9.99/ £6.99.

This is the first time we’ve introduced an in-app purchase option to one of our apps, and we’ve done it in a way that we think is honest, straightforward, and sensitive to both parents and children. We know how many parents are wary of in-app purchasing – often with very good reason – and we’ve tried to be respectful of those concerns: we’ve implemented in-app purchase with the upmost caution. There’s a “parental gate” in place which asks for a date of birth before you can see ANY purchase options. We’ve set the maximum price tier at $9.99/ £6.99. And we’ve tried to be as upfront as possible: there are no tokens, or gold coins, or any similarly euphemistic currency that might confuse a child about whether or not they’re spending real money. And we also think the app represents good value: as well as the free jigsaws that it comes with (and the additional ones available for any other app that you already own), it’s also an app that features really beautiful artwork, is lots of fun (and very easy) to use, and is adaptable for children of lots of different ability levels.

Here’s a full list of the books and apps with artwork in Nosy Crow Jigsaws:

Apps:

The Three Little Pigs, illustrated by Ed Bryan

Cinderella, illustrated by Ed Bryan

Little Red Riding Hood, illustrated by Ed Bryan

Jack and the Beanstalk, illustrated by Ed Bryan

Pip and Posy: Fun and Games, illustrated by Axel Scheffler

Animal SnApp: Farm, illustrated by Axel Scheffler

Bizzy Bear on the Farm, illustrated by Benji Davies

Bizzy Bear Builds a House, illustrated by Benji Davies

Rounds: Parker Penguin, by Emma and Barry Tranter

Rounds: Franklin Frog, by Emma and Barry Tranter

Picture books:

Dinosaur Dig, by Penny Dale

Dinosaur Zoom, by Penny Dale

Dinosaur Rescue, by Penny Dale

The Princess and the Peas, by Caryl Hart and Sarah Warburton

The Princess and the Presents, by Caryl Hart and Sarah Warburton

Hubble Bubble, Granny Trouble, by Tracey Corderoy and Joe Berger

Whizz Pop, Granny Stop, by Tracey Corderoy and Joe Berger

Spells-a-Popping, Granny’s Shopping, by Tracey Corderoy and Joe Berger

Captain Beastlie’s Birthday Party, by Lucy Coats and Chris Mould

Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam, by Tracey Corderoy and Steven Lenton

Books Always Everywhere, by Jane Blatt and Sarah Massini

Here’s what the app looks like:

And here’s what to look for on the App Store:

You can download Nosy Crow Jigsaws exclusively for the iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch here – if you do so, we’d be incredibly grateful if you’d consider leaving a review on the App Store.

We hope you enjoy it!

Come and work for Nosy Crow: we're hiring picture, novelty, and non-fiction designers

Nosy Crow is hiring!

We are increasing the number of books we publish and branching out into new areas. We are keen to find the best people to join our design team. We have two roles to fill, and we could fill them in different ways, depending on the abilities and experience of the individuals who catch our eye. We’re looking for design talent at Senior Designer, Designer or Junior Designer level: we want to find the right individuals and we are flexible about their level of experience. We need creative, technically skilled people with experience of designing children’s full-colour books, whether picture books, novelty or trade non-fiction and of working closely with illustrators.

These are full-time roles and the successful applicant will be based in the London office of Nosy Crow in Borough (near London Bridge, Borough and Southwark tube stations, and 15 minutes’ walk from Waterloo).

Candidates will have the right to live and work in the UK and will have a minimum of one year’s experience (but more is very welcome!) in graphic design, mostly if not exclusively in children’s publishing, and will have worked on picture books and novelty titles. Proficiency in Indesign, Photoshop and Illustrator programmes, excellent proven book design and typographic skills, and an understanding and love of children’s books and children’s book illustration are essential. We’re also looking for good written and spoken communication skills, and the ability to work efficiently to a deadline.

The successful candidates will manage illustrated book projects (currently picture books and novelty books, but who knows what we might do in future?) from initial layouts all the way through to production, supporting the illustrator or the author/illustrator throughout the creative process. The designer will report to the Head of Design but will work closely with other members of the Nosy Crow team, particularly the editorial staff, to produce child-focused, parent-friendly, high-quality books.

We are still a small, close team here at The Crow’s Nest working in a friendly, highly creative and professional environment and we need team players who are willing to muck in, particularly during busy times.

If you would like to apply for a role, please send a CV and application letter, along with digital samples of your design work, to Stephanie Amster via email (stephanie@nosycrow.com).

The closing date for applications is 28 September 2014 at midnight (UK time).

We've made iBook editions of our picture books!

Today we’re incredibly excited to announce that we’ve made fantastic iBook editions of some of our picture books, enhanced with read aloud audio, music, sound effects, and text highlighting.

Our launch list of 16 titles for iBooks includes the best-selling Pip and Posy books, by Axel Scheffler, Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam, by Tracey Corderoy and Steven Lenton, and The Princess and the Peas, by Caryl Hart and Sarah Warburton. Each picture book is available on the iBooks Store for £2.99 ($4.99).

While we’ve always made eBook editions of our fiction list, this is the first time we’ve produced digital editions of our picture books. We’ve spent quite a while developing these books, and they’re currently exclusive to iBooks. We’re incredibly proud of all of our picture books, and so this is something that we knew we had to get absolutely right. We wanted to find ways of truly taking advantage of a touchscreen to enhance the picture book experience, to encourage literacy, and to widen opportunities for reading. And we were committed not only to retaining the unique, appealing design of our books, but also adding read-along audio from our highly acclaimed Stories Aloud programme.

You can find each of the books on the iBooks Store with the links below:

We’re very proud of the results: we believe these books demonstrate the fantastic potential of the iBook platform for full-colour picture books… and with their innovative design and enhanced features, they truly are one-of-a-kind. Whether you’re going on holiday and don’t have space for a whole pile of picture books, or you’re running out of room on your bookshelves, or you’d like a digital book with enhancements like audio and highlighted text (without sacrificing any of the beautiful design of a print picture book), these books are for you (and at a very good price at that).

If you try one of these iBooks, please do let us know how you get on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.

And here’s the full list of titles available today – with more to come soon!

★ Pip and Posy: The Super Scooter, by Axel Scheffler

★ Pip and Posy: The Little Puddle, by Axel Scheffler

★ Pip and Posy: The Scary Monster, by Axel Scheffler

★ Pip and Posy: The Big Balloon, by Axel Scheffler

★ The Princess and the Peas, by Caryl Hart and Sarah Warburton

★ The Princess and the Presents, by Caryl Hart and Sarah Warburton

★ Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam, by Tracey Corderoy and Steven Lenton

★ Hubble Bubble, Granny Trouble, by Tracey Corderoy and Joe Berger

★ Whizz Pop, Granny Stop, by Tracey Corderoy and Joe Berger

★ Spells-a-Popping, Granny’s Shopping, by Tracey Corderoy and Joe Berger

★ Just Right for Two, by Tracey Corderoy and Rosalind Beardshaw

★ Captain Beastlie’s Birthday Party, by Lucy Coats and Chris Mould

★ Books Always Everywhere, by Jane Blatt and Sarah Massini

★ Dinosaur Dig, by Penny Dale

★ Dinosaur Zoom, by Penny Dale

★ Dinosaur Rescue, by Penny Dale

Have you heard about our upcoming children’s publishing conference? Tickets are available now.

More artwork added to the illustrators for war child auction!

Last week we announced the Illustrators for War Child project, an illustrator charity auction organised by Leigh Hodgkinson, featuring over 70 lots from more than 50 different illustrators, to raise money for War Child, a London-based charity that provides life-changing support to the most vulnerable children whose families, communities and schools have been torn apart by war.

And today we’re very excited to unveil some brand new lots added to the auction! Here’s a look at some new pieces on offer, with all the proceeds going directly to War Child:

A signed, limited edition giclee print and signed book by illustrator Penny Dale – bid now.

A signed print and signed book by illustrator Nicola O’Byrne – bid now.

One of two pieces of original, signed and dated artwork by illustrator Axel Scheffler – bid now.

One of three signed giclee prints by illustrator Nadia Shireen – bid now.

A unique, original illustration and signed book by Clara Vulliamy – bid now.

And there’s so much more!

You can see the full list of pieces available here – please do bid for something.

You can read more at the Illustrators for War Child website here. Thank you to all of the illustrators who’ve so generously donated their work, and congratulations to Leigh for such a monumental achievement. And please do share the auction on social media with the #illustratorsforwarchild hashtag!

Have you heard about our upcoming children’s publishing conference? Tickets are available now.

Announcing our programme for the Nosy Crow conference

The Nosy Crow conference is just two weeks away, and today we’re very pleased to be able to unveil our full programme for the day!

We’ve got a fantastic day’s worth of speakers lined up to talk about every part of the publishing process – agents, editors, journalists, booksellers, social media experts, and – of course – authors.

Here’s a look at the day’s schedule (click to enlarge):

The conference is taking place on Saturday, September 13 at the St Bride Foundation in London. And there are just a few tickets remaining (last year’s event was a complete sell out) – if you’d like to attend, get yours today!

Event Registration Online for Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Children’s Publishing… powered by Eventbrite

Illustrators for War Child

We’re very pleased to announce Illustrators for War Child.

A couple of weeks ago, Leigh Hodgkinson, creator of Goldilocks and Just the One Bear and Troll Swap, mentioned to us that she wanted to find a way to raise money and awareness for the many humanitarian crises taking place in the world today – and particularly, that she wanted to help the vulnerable children affected by these crises. Leigh decided that a charity auction was the best way of going about it, and asked her friends and colleagues in the illustration community to donate pieces if they could. We said that we’d be very happy to host the auctions themselves through eBay, and do whatever we could to help Leigh.

And that’s what brings us to today, and the launch of Illustrators for War Child.

War Child is a London-based charity that provides life-changing support to the most vulnerable children whose families, communities and schools have been torn apart by war. Working in Congo, Central African Republic, Afghanistan, Iraq, Uganda, Syria and Gaza, War Child’s vital work includes creating safe spaces where children can escape from battlefields or dangers of life on the streets, getting children into school or informal educaton after conflict or poverty has cost them the chance of an education, helping young people and their families learn the vocational skills they can earn a sustainable income from, and helping children get their voices heard and their rights met, and helping local people to protect their children better.

And to raise money for War Child, Leigh has organised this FANTASTIC auction, featuring over 70 different lots on offer, from 49 different illustrators, with 100% of the proceeds going directly to War Child. Here’s just SOME of what you can bid for to support this great cause:

A signed giclée print by Paper Dolls illustrator Rebecca Cobb – bid now.

One of two signed, dated live-drawings by Axel Scheffler (this one of the Gruffalo with Pip and Posy) – bid now.

A signed, limited edition giclée print by Time for Bed, Fred! illustrator Yasmeen Ismail – bid now.

An original piece of signed artwork, and signed book, by Penguin in Peril illustrator Helen Hancocks – bid now.

A signed A3 print, by Oi Frog! illustrator Jim Field – bid now.

A set of original pen and ink drawings, and signed book, by Nuts in Space illustrator Elys Dolan – bid now.

One of two stunning pieces of signed, original artwork by illustrator David Roberts – bid now.

A pair of signed, original pieces of artwork by I Am An Artist illustrator Marta Altés – bid now.

An amazing piece of original mixed-media artwork (made using ink, paint, crayon, bank envelope paper, and sweet foil wrappers) from Leigh Hodgkinson herself – bid now.

And there’s so much more!

You can see the full list of pieces available here – please do bid for something.

You can read more at the Illustrators for War Child website here. Thank you to all of the illustrators who’ve so generously donated their work, and congratulations to Leigh for such a monumental achievement. And please do share the auction on social media with the #illustratorsforwarchild hashtag!