#NewIllustrationOfTheDay by Nick Sharratt from the reissued You Choose Christmas (with Pippa Goodhart), first out in 2023, inviting readers to choose baubles, food, Christmas sweaters, activities, presents …This cornucopia of a scene offers the chance to visit a bookshop @nicksharratt.bsky.social

"This is about how you manage a massive festival when you’re so little and can’t possibly know what it all means." My Books for Keeps interview with Lauren Child about her Charlie and Lola Christmas book. booksforkeeps.co.uk/article/the-... @booksforkeeps.bsky.social @simonandschuster.bsky.social

#NewIllustrationOfTheDay by Tony Meeuwissen (digression from Christmas books) from a reissue of his Remarkable Animals, out from Otter-Barry Books on 13 Nov. One of 1000 permutations using 10 animals. In this case, Ruby-Topaz hummingbird with trunkfish and caterpillar. @otterbarrybooks.bsky.social

#NewIllustrationoftheDay by Sydney Smith. It's time I think for a run of Christmas books, starting with the paperback of Santa's First Christmas by Mac Barnett, out from Puffin since Oct. How Santa got to enjoy Christmas Day himself. Smith works his usual magic with light @puffinbooksuk.bsky.social

#NewIllustrationOfTheDay by Neal Layton depicting the young Michael Rosen for the pb of Rosen‘s Hot Food Nice! which Walker Books published on 6 Nov. 13 Nov is Michael Rosen Day with 266,000+ children signed up to watch his livestreamed event. @walkerbooksuk.bsky.social @michaelrosenyes.bsky.social

#NewIllustrationoftheDay by Australian author/illustrator Bob Graham from A Hatful of Dreams, a picturebook about domesticity and magic, family and community, imagination and Grandad's hat. Light-heartedly drawn, prettily coloured & carefully observed. Walker Books 6 Nov. @walkerbooksuk.bsky.social

#NewIllustrationOfTheDay by John Devolle from Humans, a book of funny, flat, graphic images and few words, in the Big Science for Little Minds series. Look for the bats, flea, mouse, moth, spiders, seagull, badger, robin, chicken, other wildlife and pets. Pushkin 6 Nov. @pushkinchildrens.bsky.social

From the green room at Stroud Book Festival yesterday. With Jamila Gavin, publisher Cally Poplak, and Michael Morpurgo. The event with Jamila and Michael about writing about the First World War was both moving and, unsurprisingly, a pleasure to chair. @stroudbookfestival.bsky.social

#NewIllustrationOfTheDay by Jane Ray from Anya‘s Quest, the story, based on Hindu mythology, of a girl trying to save the planet. By Jasbinder Bilan, Walker Books 6 Nov. Ravishing and magical use of colour and decoration and fantastical Hindu imagery. @walkerbooksuk.bsky.social @janeray.bsky.social

#NewIllustrationoftheDay by Lou Baker-Smith from Welsh Children's Laureate Nicola Davies' The Secret World of Seahorses. An absorbing and beautifully composed and coloured scene of the destructive practice of turning sea horses into potions and trinkets. Walker Books 6 Nov @walkerbooksuk.bsky.social

#NewIllustrationOfTheDay by Joe Lillington. One of his straightforward illustrations in black & orange for A M Dassu’s Wild Journey, 5 stories about kids in 5 countries who see starlings flock & begin their own journeys. @headofzeus.bsky.social 6 Nov @joelillington.bsky.social @amdassu.bsky.social

This event I'm chairing at Stroud Book Festival is selling out fast. I shall be talking to Michael Morpurgo and Jamila Gavin about First World War stories, at noon this Sunday 9 November. The eloquence of both is always breathtaking. stroudbookfestival.org.uk/events/first...

#NewIllustrationOfTheDay by Dermot Flynn from Fia and the Last Snow Deer. Verse novel set in prehistoric Ireland, by Eilish Fisher. Longlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Illustration. Reindeer, “Deer Mother“ & magic feast, in a room as “bright as the sun“. Puffin pb 6 Nov @puffinbooksuk.bsky.social

For Bonfire Night, #NewIllustrationoftheDay by Grahame Baker-Smith is from The Flickering Fires, in a series that puts the history of humanity's relationship with the 4 elements into a story. Decorative tracery of trees and dramatic use of light and dark. Templar pb 6 Nov. @templarbooks.bsky.social

‪I'm very pleased that 40 of the 62 nominations for the 2026 Carnegie Medal for Illustration have also featured in my #NewIllustrationoftheDay on Bluesky (and on Instagram). Congratulations to all the artists who demonstrate the range & skill of picturebook illustration. @carnegiemedals.bsky.social

#NewIllustrationOfTheDay by Goldsmiths graduate Yibing Deng from her A Song of the Seasons, which follows a mother bear and her cubs through the year. Gentle, decorative pencil illustration with simplified shapes, pretty colours and a sense of softness. Post Wave 23 Oct. @postwavebooks.bsky.social

#NewIllustrationOfTheDay by Luke Pearson from Hilda and Twig Wake the Ice Man. The latest in a graphic novel series that became a Netflix franchise. (Twig is a ‘deerfox’.) Classic cartoon strip with a hint, I think, of Mafalda. Flying Eye 6 Nov. @flyingeyebooks.bsky.social @lukepearson.bsky.social

#NewIllustrationOfTheDay by German illustrator Michele Ganser from non-fiction study Amazing Shark, with narrative by Michael Stavaric. Painstaking, monochrome image with the elegance of an old-fashioned etching. Pushkin Children’s 6 Nov @michaelstavaric.bsky.social @pushkinchildrens.bsky.social

Last night’s #HalloweenBooksGiveaway (of which this is the tip of the iceberg) was fun. Many lovely kids choosing books with care and enthusiasm. Makes me sad though that some say ‘no thanks’. I hope it’s not because someone has made reading an unhappy experience for them.

#NewIllustrationOfTheDay by Harry Woodgate from My Small World Frozen. Prettily decorated fish in a scene composed of many textures & patterns. Collage includes plasticine and sheet music. Text by Caryl Hart. Simon & Schuster paperback 6 Nov. @simonandschuster.bsky.social @harrywoodgate.bsky.social

#NewIllustrationOfTheDay by Merve Atilgan from her book The Forest of Dreams about adventures in a little girl’s imagination. From Big Picture Press. It’s been out a few months but it’s a witchy picture for Halloween, full of movement, magic and luminous use of colour, that I’m sorry I missed.

#NewIllustrationOfTheDay by the late Geoffrey Hayes, from his peaceful, pocket-sized 1976 book, Bear By Himself, about the joys of solitude. Among its charming, square, green-and-brown, ink-and-wash images, this is “Smelling the rain“. Reissued on 4 November by NYRB Kids. @nyrb-imprints.bsky.social

#NewIllustrationOfTheDay Sumptuous handmade image by Molly Crabapple whose work is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. From Tiger Slayer, the story of Nur Jahan, 17th-century Empress of India. Text by Ruby Lal. Norton Young Readers Sept. @mollycrabapple.bsky.social

#NewIllustrationOfTheDay by Jackie Morris from One Cheetah, One Cherry: a Book of Beautiful Numbers. A playful board book about counting to 10 with rich animal paintings embellished with gold leaf, like heraldry or illuminated manuscripts. Otter-Barry Books 30 October. @otterbarrybooks.bsky.social

#NewIllustrationOfTheDay, as we approach Halloween, by Julia Sarda, from her book The Witch in the Tower. Walker Studio, Sept. The story of an unhappy girl who learns from a witch to have confidence in herself. Stylised and surreal, with striking patterns and caricatures. @walkerbooksuk.bsky.social

#NewIllustrationoftheDay by Tove Jansson from Comet in Moominland's new 80th anniversary edition. A story about being welcoming to outsiders, published by Sort Of Books on 23 October. This image would feel timeless too, if we didn't know how long Moomin, Snuffkin and Sniff had been around. #Moomins

#GetBritainReading if you sign up to The Sunday Times’s campaign you can access my newsletter piece today with advice about how to get children to read. @thetimes.com

At its 75th anniversary, my piece on The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe in The Sunday Times. "Lewis’s childhood was unhappy — at his Hertfordshire boarding school he was 'beaten, cheated, scared, ill-fed'.... His mother died when he was nine." www.thetimes.com/magazines/cu... @thetimes.com #Narnia

W H Auden reviewing C S Lewis: "There are good books that are only for adults, because they presuppose adult experience. But there are no good books that are only for children." I hope the #childrensbooker will make more adults read the best of our children's books. Written by adults. For everyone.

#NewIllustrationOfTheDay by Rob Biddulph from I Follow the Fox, out in paperback from HarperCollins 9 October. A picturebook about a lost toy, a lost fox cub and a wild nighttime adventure. A captivating depiction here of light on snow at sunrise. @robbiddulph.bsky.social @harpercollins.bsky.social

Just in the wake of Diwali (sorry, a batch of books arrived late), #NewIllustrationOfTheDay is a lovely handmade spread by Aditi Anand from One Diwali Day written by Dev Kothari. With free pencil drawing and glowing pastel crayon. Walker 25 Sept. @walkerbooksuk.bsky.social @aditianand.bsky.social

#NewIllustrationoftheDay by Axel Scheffler. This is the picture after you add water to a black-and-white inage in a 12-page Christmas Magic Painting Book. Axel is a master of the slightly daft expression & the faces are as cheerful as the colours. Campbell Books 23 Oct. @macmillankidsuk.bsky.social

#NewIllustrationOfTheDay by Rose Blake from Art School (in a Book) by actor Russell Tovey & gallery director Robert Diament. Blake’s simple bright images complement original artworks. This endpaper is inspired by Aboriginal Australian Emily Can Kngwarray. Laurence King 23 Oct @roseblake.bsky.social

#NewIllustrationoftheDay by Khoa Le from a picturebook that came out in the summer, but is timely today. The Glass Pyramid: A Story of the Louvre Museum and Architect I M Pei by Jeanne Walker Harvey, making elegant and imaginative use of graphics. For anyone whose curiosity is piqued by the heist.

#NewIllustrationOfTheDay by Luke Adam Hawker, illustrating a poem by Robert Macfarlane. The way the child climbing out of the water is drawn recalls Mabel Lucie Attwell, and the tree has something of Arthur Rackham about it. Firefly published by Magic Cat, 23 October. @magiccatpublishing.bsky.social

#NewIllustrationOfTheDay by Chelsea O’Byrne from Soup’s On Around The World with text by Denyse Waissbluth. A collection of local soup dishes from many countries, and what they signify. People and objects depicted with patterns and simplified shapes. Greystone Kids 23 Oct. @chelseaobyrne.bsky.social

#NewIllustrationOfTheDay by Didier Cornille from BIG, Little: A Book of Opposites, a small pocket book of tiny, witty, inventive graphics, full of visual jokes, in which each image is surprising in a different way including the use of pullouts. Post Wave Publishing 3 Oct. @postwavebooks.bsky.social

Today’s #NewIllustrationOfTheDay is not new, but it is part of a new exhibition. It comes from the Helen Craig show at the Ruskin Gallery, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge until 5 Nov, curated by Pam Smy. This Red Riding Hood scene shows some of many skills including for photography & sculpture.

#NewIllustrationOfTheDay by Grace Easton from her lift-the-flap picturebook The House with the Little Red Door. A young girl & a mouse escape their loneliness & live together. This colourful, crisp spread of a cosy kitchen exemplifies its charm. Thames & Hudson 23 Oct. @thamesandhudson.bsky.social

#NewIllustrationOfTheDay by Jacques Goldstyn from Sketch, a wonderful (& very grown-up) graphic novel about a child who is drawn differently & is creative, imaginative and unconventional in a strictly conventional community. Skilled, lighthearted cartoon in ink & watercolour. Greystone Kids 16 Oct.

#NewIllustrationOfTheDay by Esme Shapiro from Don’t Eat Me! The Almost True Story of Belladonna, written by Kate Finney. Pretty foreground detail in a wide scene illustrates a charming picturebook about a poisonous plant. Enchanted Lion 14 October @enchantedlion.bsky.social @esmeshapiro.bsky.social

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#NewIllustrationOfTheDay by Britta Teckentrup from the picturebook Family by Patricia Hegarty about how creatures look after each other. Otters holding hands as they sleep, & moonlight on water. Out in paperback Little Tiger Press 2 October. @brittateckentrup.bsky.social @littletigeruk.bsky.social

#NewIllustrationOfTheDay by French illustrator Isabelle Simler from her picturebook The Ocean at Night. Translated by Michele Hutchison/Sofia Smith-Laing (both credited). Tiny luminous creatures that make up plankton seem to glow in the dark. Pushkin Children’s 9 Oct. @pushkinchildrens.bsky.social

#NewIllustrationOfTheDay by Katherine Child, debut author-illustrator of The Notted Island, a fantasy novel about an island in black-and-white which is waiting to be coloured, and about a deity who is in charge of the night sky. Skilled and lovely work. Flying Eye 9 Oct. @flyingeyebooks.bsky.social

#NewIllustrationOfTheDay by author/illustrator Holly Surplice from her first novel The Horse Dreamer, set in the Outer Hebrides. A girl dreams up a horse who helps her through grief. Merryn & her horse are conjured with a wild inky navy blue line. Chicken House 9 Oct. @chickenhousebooks.bsky.social

#NewIllustrationOfTheDay by Oliver Jeffers from his picturebook I’m Very Busy about friends who are importantly crossing things off a list & nearly forget a birthday. With his trademark stick legs, an empty setting & toys whose faces reflect the mood. HarperCollins 9 Oct @harpercollins.bsky.social

#NewIllustrationOfTheDay by James Mayhew from his collection of 10 stories, My Book of Classic Nursery Tales. Characterful creatures in an image from The Tortoise and the Hare, made with collage using paper printed with patterns and textures. Otter-Barry Books 9 October @otterbarrybooks.bsky.social

#NewIllustrationOfTheDay by Annie Booker from her debut picturebook The Great Bear about a mythical creature who protects the oceans & teaches a destructive human to protect them too. Handmade image of the towering bear & a tiny figure slumped in shame. Two Hoots 9 Oct. @twohootsbooks.bsky.social