Illustrating Anna's World

Illustrator Lauren Tobia transports us to amazing Africa, sharing with us her inspiration for illustrating the beautiful world of Anna Hibiscus.

Hello My name is Lauren and I have the fun of illustrating the world of Anna Hibiscus. Anna Hibiscus lives in amazing Africa with her extended family in a compound in a large African city. The stories are written by Atinuke (who is pretty amazing herself) I have had the fun of listening to her storytelling! My “job” is to read all about Anna’s adventures, lean back in my chair and imagine! Atinuke’s stories take me to Anna’s special world in a busy African city (a bit like Lagos) full of people, taxis, scooters, shops and market stalls. Inside all this commotion is a large leafy compound where her mother and father, grandfather and aunties and uncles live and right in the middle most importantly is Anna’s mango tree. 

I have been illustrating Anna’s world for a few years now and have had loads of fun imagining Amazing Anna her family and the city she lives in. This is an early drawing of Anna’s city, it eventually became the endpapers for the book as a sort of map so that I could explain the beautiful craziness of the city she lives in.

I have a bit of an admission to make …I have never been
to this part of Africa! Atinuke comes from Nigeria so at the beginning I
thought I should do a bit of reading and found quite a lot of
inspiration from watching Nigerian pop videos and an awful lot of
imagining. Atinuke herself was also always useful for odd questions
about clothes or whether the road should have a pavement or not! But
most of it was done chewing my pencil and just staring out of the
window. 

Illustrating a book is a bit of a team effort and between me and the talented team at Walker Books who questioned me, made suggestions and had many conversations over a slice of cake and mug of tea! It must be said a lot of the tea and cake was also eaten in my studio where I sketched the pictures on big sheets of layout paper and much scribbling. My studio is in the front bedroom in my house and I can look out at what’s going on in the street, the antics of the seagulls and the occasional hot air balloon that floats by. I share my studio with my two Jack Russell’s Tilly and Poppy who when they are not barking or running after each other sleep in a box of blankets behind me. 

I draw the images in pencil so I can be as free as I can and then rub out the bits that don’t work so well or add other drawings on the computer. They eventually end up as sometimes one drawing and sometimes a huge collage of pictures that work together to make a page. I use layers of colour on the computer to build up the finished artwork and send it all by magic (or the internet ) to Julie at Walker who works her designer spells and hurrah! Anna Hibiscus is a picture book…I hope you like it! 

Join the amazing world of Anna Hibiscus with these free downloadable activity sheets.

Get your hand on a copy of the beautiful Anna Hibiscus' Song by Atinuke and Lauren Tobia here.

A Picnic in the Sky

Over the past 10 days, we’ve enjoyed a marathon of picnics taking place all over the country, each with it's own twist. There's been creative cooking, stacks of story-telling, and a range of fun-packed activities from paper boat racing to butterfly searching. As we come to the end of the Picture Book Picnic blog tour, the team at Walker Books decided to finish up with our very own picnic, on the roof of Walker Towers! 

Overlooking sunny Vauxhall on a slightly blustery day (and by blustery, I mean we spent a good amount of time chasing plastic cups!), we set up our urban picnic with some make-shift grass, a bag full of sandwiches, a gingham rug and lots of picture books. No teddy bear’s picnic is complete without a teddy bear (or three!), so we couldn’t resist having a few special guests at our picnic, including Maisy, Nutbrown Hare and of course the lovely Walker Bear himself. Wally also made a surprise appearance – see if you can spot him!  

 

After tucking in to a feast of bear biscuits, yummy sandwiches and a scrumptious selection of fruit, it was time for Walker Bear to read us a few stories. We all gathered round and listened to George Flies South by Simon James. This beautifully illustrated picture book is about George, a brave little bird who loses his nest but eventually finds his wings. In the story, an enormous gust of
wind blows George's nest out of the tree, launching him on a journey through the city, under bridges, over buildings and into the unknown.  This inspirational story is great for little children who are learning to do something for the first time, and perfect for reading outside, where there were plenty of birds to spot blowing around in the wind!

 

We then read A Walk in London by Salvatore Rubbino, and had fun spotting some London landmarks from our rooftop spot, including the Shard and the London Eye.

Our Marketing Manager couldn’t make it to the rooftop picnic, so instead she organised her very own Picture Book Picnic with her friends and family in the park. Everyone tucked into a yummy selection of picture books including Oh No, George! by Chris Haughton, and had lots of fun  with butterfly face-painting and colouring-in activity sheets.

Join in the fun and hold your very own picture book picnic this summer with our free downloadable picnic pack and a great selection of free activity sheets. Happy picnicking, from the team at Walker!
 

10 picnics, 10 blogs, 10 books, 10 days!

Over the next 10 days, join us for a marathon of picnics as we take the Picture Book Picnic on tour across 10 fantastic blogs. Each blogger will be holding their very own picnic complete with yummy treats, creative activities and a tasty selection of picture books. So join in the fun and pick up some ideas for your own picnic!  Download your very own free picnic pack here.

The blog tour kicks off with Playing by the Book, including tree climbing with Anna Hibiscus, paper boat racing with Arthur's Dream Boat and creative cake-making with Oh No, George!



Join in the fun on the Picture Book Picnic blog tour:



30th July:  www.playingbythebook.net
31st July: www.rainydaymum.co.uk
1st August: www.amothersramblings.com
2nd August: www.theboyandme.co.uk
3rd August: www.beingamummy.co.uk
6th August: www.deepinmummymatters.com
7th August: www.wahm-bam.org
8th August: www.mummymishaps.blogspot.com
9th August: www.arewenearlythereyetmummy.com
10th August: www.picturebookpicnic.co.uk

How To Get a Job, by Me, The Boss.

What do your little ones want to be when they grow up? Sally Lloyd-Jones covers everything from President of the World to Balloon Holder in her exclusive blog post about her new picture book, How To Get a Job, by Me, The Boss.

What can I say?

When I was 2—long, long ago, back in the
time of caves, back in the time when dinosaurs ruled the earth and parents left
children in cars—my sister (a fresh plumpy newborn) and I were left in the back
of our Humber car while our parents popped out—just for a second.

When they left us, I was sitting on the
back seat, and my sister was in the carrycot.

When they came back, I was in the carrycot
and my sister was on the floor.

So it was only a matter of time before I
took further revenge on my three little sisters… and wrote a shocking expose.

It’s called How To Be A Baby, By Me, TheBig Sister.

Actually, when I say I wrote it—that’s not
strictly true. I started out writing it, but then this six-year old
self-appointed baby expert narrator Big Sister totally took over. And she’s
been writing them ever since. (She has three books out now.)

She said things and I wrote them down. I am
just the scribe, really.

How To Be A Baby, By Me, The Big Sister is filled with helpful advice and tips and all the reasons why it’s
better not to be a baby (you don’t know if you are a boy or a girl, you don’t
read books you eat them; you don’t carry a backpack you go in one, stuff like
that). Though by the end she can’t help it, she has to admit it is actually sometimes quite nice being a baby
because everyone hugs and kisses you—and having a baby brother isn’t always
awful because they get bigger and then you can play with them.

Her second book is called: How To Get Married, By Me, The Bride and in it the self-appointed bridal expert
addresses the finer points of pulling off the perfect wedding (outfits you can
wear, who is suitable to marry, who isn’t so suitable) and now she turns her
attention to the job market and here comes everything you need to ace the
interview, and land the perfect job in this handy manual—How To Get a Job, byMe, The Boss.

It is packed with all kinds of helpful
advice and tips. She is very thorough and covers all kinds of jobs: large ones
(like “President of the World”) and small ones (like “Balloon Holder”) and even
includes some startling revelations. For instance, how very disappointing to
read: “Sitting in your chair eating cookies” is NOT a job. (I wanted that job.
Is it really not a job?) The Boss even does a sample interview—and helps you
conduct yourself appropriately, advising on what is appropriate to bring to the
interview (your CV) and what isn’t (your whole family, your gerbils) and what
is good to do during an interview and what isn’t (sit on the boss’ lap).

She is highly encouraging and helpful in
everything. In fact, she has so much wisdom to impart that even grown ups are
reading her books now—Brides and Grooms to be are picking up tips from How to Get Married, By Me, The Bride and anyone newly looking for work—or who
doesn’t yet know what they want to be when they grow up will probably learn a
great deal from How To Get A Job, By Me, The Boss.

I know I did. 

(She hasn’t told me yet if she has another
book coming—if I have a job as her scribe. But that doesn’t matter.  For now I have plenty to do. First of all,
I’ve got to go to my chair and sit in it and eat some
cookies.)









How To Get a Job, by Me, The Boss by Sally Lloyd-Jones and Sue Heap is available from all good booksellers.



 Get a taste of what it's like to be the boss with these fun-filled activity sheets!

Teddy's Bear's Picnic

This week, the US celebrated National Teddy Bear’s Picnic Day. What a great excuse to hold your own picnic (indoors or out!) with our free tasty picnic pack.

When it comes to a Teddy Bear’s Picnic, not even the rain can spoil the fun! Picnics can be just as fun inside, so roll out your picnic rug and download our free picnic pack for all you need to create your perfect indoor picnic. 



Treat your little ones to a picnic story and pick your favourite teddy bear book; we recommend the classic We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury.


Let us know your favourite bear stories by Monday 16th July and you’ll have a chance to win one of our Picture Book Picnic goody bags, including a poster, a set of gorgeous illustrated postcards, stickers, a bear cookie cutter and a bumper pack of colourful activity sheets, all in a stylish cotton tote bag! Just email your answer, name and address to marketing@walker.co.uk  

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Happy picnicking!

Meet Pickwick the pigeon!

Thank you to everyone who entered our competition last month to name the resident Walker pigeon; we had a hamper full of brilliant entries but in the end the prize went to Jazzmine B who has officially named the pigeon Pickwick!

With the rain threatening to stick around for another week, Pickwick is staying put in the nest for now. If the rain's got you housebound too, check out our free downloadable activity sheets to keep your little ones busy until the sun comes back.

Stay tuned later this month for more chances to win Picture Book Picnic goody bags in our picture book blog tour...

Name the Walker Pigeon!

Give a big warm welcome to the new arrival here at Walker Towers - our very own pigeon! 

Over the past few weeks, a little pigeon has been busy building a big nest right outside our window, making a new home alongside the picture books and post-it notes. To welcome it into the Walker family, we thought it only fair that we give it a name! There are obviously many wonderful names out there suitable for a pigeon, so we thought we'd leave it up to you to decide...

If you or your little ones have got the perfect name for our pigeon-in-residence, send us a tweet @WalkerBooksUK or drop an email to marketing@walker.co.uk. The best name will win a copy of The Duckling Gets A Cookie!? by Mo Willems and a Picture Book Picnic goody bag full of activity sheets, postcards, stickers and a poster. Happy tweeting!