who likes board books?

This is not the first time I have been writing about board books. The reason is, that I love making them and I care about them too.

I like the idea that a board book is the very first book a child takes in his hand. It is also one of the first visual art forms the child is introduced to.

For me making a board book is like writing a very short poem. I like the challenge of fitting a short story or a message into the rather small space of seven double spreads. Children are not silly and they are very investigative. I don’t like “lazy board books” with just random images without a proper story or a visual joke. My publisher and I spend lots of time making the board books work. I often design board books with holes and cut outs.

Every time I finish a board book I think that this is probably the very last one, because I can’t imagine getting another idea for another one. But strangely, I always do.

My next two board books will be published in 2020. Here is a quick preview.

The first one is about a submarine…and lots of fish.

The other one is about a spaceship …

and a star.

I loved working on the illustrations for these board books. I still have the covers to do, but that has to wait until after Christmas.

From now on I am finishing all the bits and pieces and slowly tiding up my studio. I like my table empty over the New Year. I am looking forward to Christmas and I am also looking forward to start working on my next book. The idea for it has been on my table for some time now. I can’t wait to start painting the pictures, but let’s do Christmas first!

I am wishing you all A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!