How Anansi Got His Stories now published!

I'm so excited seeing the book in print at last. I finished the illustrations in early spring, and they have reproduced really well, with all the colours just as I'd hoped. Oxford University Press have chosen and arranged the type, including the cut-out typeface on the cover, which I think looks great. Here is a selection from the 32 page book.

My children used to bring the Oxford Reading Tree books back from primary school to read at home, as part of their homework. So I felt really chuffed to be involved in illustrating one of them - my homework this time! The story is a great one, too, about a trickster spider, which has been retold in a fun way by Trish Cooke.

How Anansi Got His Stories

How Anansi Got His Stories will be published next month by Oxford University Press, and I'm very excited because I did the illustrations for it.

Here are some links from Oxford University Press:-

http://www.oup.com/oxed/primary/oxfordreadingtree/traditional_tales/more_information/


http://fds.oup.com/www.oup.com/pdf/oxed/primary/ort/traditional_tales/traditional_tales_leaflet.pdf
Some of my illustrations are up too on this leaflet - the leopard and Anansi the spider.

It's now listed on Amazon and Pickabook has this information up on:-
http://www.pickabook.co.uk/0198339771.aspx

The Oxford Reading Tree Traditional Tales series is a collection of some of the best known stories from around the world carefully adapted for children to read themselves. Anansi is a character who appears in many African and Caribbean tales, and will do anything to become King of Stories.

Synopsis:

How Anansi Got His Stories is a tale of a familiar character from many African and Caribbean tales. Anansi the trickster wants everyone to listen to his stories, but he will have to complete three challenges before he is proved worthy of the title King of Stories...This humorous story written by Trish Cooke and vividly illustrated by Anna Violet will capture your child's imagination! It has been sensitively rewritten to enable your child to read it with confidence whilst capturing the magic of the original tale. There are useful tips for parents and an engaging story map inside the book to help you and your child retell the story together. The Oxford Reading Tree Traditional Tales series includes 40 of the best known stories from all over the world, which have been passed down for generations. They are a perfect introduction to different cultures, traditions and morals. All the stories are carefully levelled to Oxford Reading Tree stages and matched to the phonic progression in Letters and Sounds enabling your children to read the stories independently...

Amy Winehouse tribute

I am sad about the death of Amy Winehouse. Her songs were amazing. Here is my tribute portrait of her.

Portrait in newsprint

Rebekah Brooks portrait, constructed from torn up newsprint apologies from News International. I think the black & white version is the most dramatic.

Portraits

Guess who they are!

Yet more black and white

More black and white