Growing up, I could always be found with a book or a pencil in my hand. I wrote and illustrated my own stories and devoured the YA section at my local Borders. When it came time to decide on colleges, my guidance counselor wisely suggested I look into graphic design. This seemed to encompass all the things I loved, an intersection of words and images. Before this, I never thought that there were people whose job it was to make books!

I studied Communication Design at Carnegie Mellon University, and was lucky enough to land an internship in the design department at HarperCollins Children’s Books between my junior and senior year. I began working there full time after graduation as assistant to the creative director, and grew from there. After 5 years at Harper and 1 year at Quirk Books in Philadelphia, I returned to NY to work at Macmillan  at Children’s Book Group as a Senior Designer, then Associate Art Director, and finally Art Director!

In my current role, I am responsible for the cover and interior design of middle grade and young adult fiction and nonfiction. This includes reading manuscripts, coming up with ideas for the cover, artist research, presenting cover concepts to multiple stakeholders, hiring and art directing artists, and creating print-ready jackets and cases. I also create the book interiors, choosing fonts and layout and adding art when necessary. As an art director, I have my own list of titles and also oversee two designers and their lists as well. 

A big part of the job that I didn’t necessarily anticipate when I got started was the importance of communication. I liaison with many different departments and have to be able to express what can be complex ideas in meetings and in writing over email.

The best part about book design is that every day and every book is different! Each project has it’s own voice and I love getting to work with so many different artists, authors, editors, and collaborators.

It’s so hard to choose! I’d have to say Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy, A Face for Picasso by Ariel Henley, A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal, The Ones We’re Meant to Find by Joan He, and Eagle Drums by Rainey Hopson

Every book presents different challenges, but one that comes to mind is The Ones We’re Meant to Find by Joan He. The story tackles things like sisterhood, climate change, and a dystopian future, which can be difficult to visualize. And the read is so good that I wanted to make sure the cover did it justice! I started out with some photographics directions, then some that were more type-driven, before we ultimately went with an illustrated approach. There were a lot of comps on the cutting room floor, but I Iove where we landed!

Design works closely with Sales to make sure that the covers we’re creating are a good fit for the market and our target audience. We hold meetings with Sales and Marketing to share the different stages of a cover, from sketches to final art, to make sure they will appeal to the readers we’re hoping to reach. We each bring an area of expertise so that we can create the strongest final product!

I’m working on a new middle grade right now with Vanessa Flores and the cover sketches she sent in had so much action and personality! I love that her characters always feel so genuine and spunky. The art has wowed me at every stage and I can’t wait to share the final cover soon. 

I love getting to work with so many talented illustrations, some of whom I’m already a fan of!! The cover of Sawkill Girls was based on a Ruben Ireland print I had hanging in my living room for years. The cover art for Dumplin’ was inspired by an artist promo I received in the mail. I discovered Liliana Rasmussen, artist for A Tall Dark Trouble, at a local art fair and knew I wanted to find a cover project for her. 

Working in kids’ books is a unique joy. I am always working on a wide range of projects, from a spooky middle grade to a touching memoir to a sweet YA love story. This gives lots of opportunity to work with new artists and new imagery that keeps things interesting (and inspiring)!

The best advice I can give is to fill your portfolio with the type of work you want to be hired for, whether that is a certain subject matter or age range. I want to hire artists for work they are excited about and that we can all feel confident in! I would also encourage artists to include a bio and a bit about themselves. Finally, make sure you include an active email so I can contact you about working together :)

An art director once emphasized to me the importance of maintaining relationships. Publishing can be an insulated industry, and it’s always valuable to maintain connections as you often reconnect with old colleagues and friends. I would also encourage those that are interested in breaking in to reach out to the people who worked on books you love! Building these relationships is important to help make publishing more transparent and accessible to new talent. 

A few years ago I visited my old high school to talk to the art classes about cover design. After I shared a bit about what I do and some of the books I’d worked on, one of the students came up to say that a book I’d designed was her favorite, and how excited she was to meet me. It’s always exciting to see the work we do out in the world, and that is made even more special when it connects with readers!

From as young as I can remember, I LOVED picture books. But more so for the visual aspect – getting lost in the world they create and the detail on the spreads. One of my earliest memories was reading the Lion and the Mouse in reception class at school. I was obsessed with the illustrations and I drew my own version of the cover. That day when I came home from school, I told my Mum that when I was older I wanted to “make” picture books. I feel so incredibly lucky that my journey has led me to where I am today.

After a very arty and creative childhood, I went on to study a degree in Illustration at the University of Cumbria. Both the Illustration and Graphic Design courses ran alongside each other, so we had the opportunity to dabble in both. It was when I got to second year that I realised graphic design was my true calling. I particularly recall doing a book cover project that I absolutely LOVED! In 2015, Scholastic came across some of my work at a degree show I was attending in London. I jumped at the chance to send them my portfolio, not really knowing what would come of it, and I was ecstatic to get an interview for their Junior Designer position. After a second interview and a one-word design challenge, I got the job and started at Scholastic in 2016 – I have been thanking my lucky stars ever since! I hit the ground running and with an abundance of unicorn, rainbow poo, dancing dogs and celebrity books under my belt, two promotions and a baby(!) later, I landed the role as Design Manager for Illustrated Books in January of this year. As well as continuing to work on the fiction and non-fiction list, part of my role now means I get to work very closely with the Picture Book team and oversee many of our fantastic titles, scouting out new illustration talent and collaborating with the team, to create new and exciting ideas. My almost two-year old has now become somewhat of a book guinea pig and I can’t wait for him to grow up with the books that I have been part of creating. (Yes, I was ‘that mum’ who sent my child to nursery dressed as a character of one of the books I designed for World Book Day… and I will do it again!)
 

Dogs Don’t Dance is a fabulous picture book that published in February this year, written by Strictly and CBeebies Toddler Club star, Gemma Atkinson. We were in search of a commercial illustrator who could capture lovely humour and interaction, particularly in their animal characters. I came across Lisa Hunt, who is agented by Susan Penny at the Bright Agency, and instantly thought she could be a perfect match! We asked Lisa to do a sample of the two main characters Dusty and Dave – two dachshund siblings who couldn’t be more opposite.

When we shared Lisa’s cheeky characters, there was no doubt from the reaction in house that she was the artist for the job. I supplied Lisa with a layout of the book and a loose artwork brief for each spread, asking Lisa to have fun with it and insert humour where she saw fit. And boy, did she deliver… Not only was Lisa super fast in sending us the rough artwork, but it was also fabulous! So many ‘ooh’s’ and ‘aahh’s’ came from that design meeting, (which is always lovely!). We of course had some comments and suggestions along the way, but nothing was too much trouble for Lisa and we both had SUCH fun bringing this book to life.

This question is a very hard one as I have collaborated on so many amazing books. But if I had to narrow it down, I would have to say, Lightning Girl by Alesha Dixon, Omari McQueen’s Best Bites Cook Book and the Stephen & Anita Mangan series. There are so many more I could name, but these three will always stand out for me.

When I first started, I had the opportunity of working with Alesha Dixon on her debut children’s book, Lightning Girl. This was one of the first high profile fiction series that I worked on, and although it was a little daunting at first, with so much promise expected from the package, I absolutely loved working on these books. Creating the Lightning Girl branding and collaborating with Steve Simpson and James Lancett to bring the vision to life was amazing. Alesha Dixon and Katy Birchall were the perfect pairing and SO lovely to work with, which made it all the more rewarding. The Lightning Girl series has remained one of our best-sellers and I’m extremely proud that I was part of its creation!

Omari McQueen’s Best Bites Cookbook was a special project for me. I came across an article about Omari whilst travelling into work one day on the tube. I instantly thought, ‘we need to work with this young chef!’. As a bit of a foodie myself, the prospect of proposing the idea of a cookbook with Omari was very exciting! The team got on board, and we invited Omari and his family into our office to pitch him our idea (I like to think the vegan cupcakes I baked for the pitch sealed the deal!). The seed of that idea led to us creating a fabulous vegan cookbook for kids called Omari McQueen’s Best Bites. Omari and his family were amazing, and Omari’s positive attitude proved that if you’re determined to put your mind to something, you can make your dreams come true. He really is an inspiration, and I am so glad that I came across him that day on the tube.

The Mangan’s books are one of my more recent projects, with The Day I Fell Down The Toilet which published in April this year. Stephen and Anita are a fabulous brother and sister duo and together create such exciting, inspiring, and hilarious books. I’ve had the pleasure of working closely with Anita on four of these books and each time has been a joy, even with our super tight, if not slightly stressful deadlines! Anita’s artwork is so quirky and full of humour and warmth – you never quite know what she is going to send in next and then bam, you have an ogre doing the chicken dance! Being part of the process in bringing these wacky ideas and characters to life will always remain one of my highlights.

Squirrel from the best-selling Leaf Thief series by Alice Hemming. Illustrator, Nicola Slater (member of Childrensillustrators.com) captures his humour PERFECTLY! Just look at these examples of Squirrel… need I say more?

It is totally dependent on the project, audience and market we’re aiming for. We publish such a vast array of subject matters and stories for different audiences, cultures and ages, so we’re always on the hunt for different styles of illustration. If I had to pinpoint a style, I would say that for the majority of my titles to date, I’ve been in search of more commercial styles with a bright colour palette and endearing characters full of personality and humour. The characters are crucial in bringing the book to life – especially in picture books; so it’s vital to find an illustrator who can carry the feel of the book and immerse themselves in the story. You can always tell when an illustrator is having fun with their work as it shows in their art and makes for a successful book.

I have a particular love for patterned and decorative illustration, especially anything linked to animals – being a mum to a Husky and two Bengal cats, I am a bit of a crazy animal lady! So whenever I come across an artist that catches my eye, I keep them in my back pocket ready to put forward for the next beautiful non-fiction or novelty project. We’ve also been known to create projects to pair specifically with illustrators that really stand out to us – we love to collaborate!
 

I think the proudest moment in any book designer’s career, is the moment you see one of your books in a book shop and watch a child pick it up. Nothing can beat it and it means more than anything knowing that something you have helped to create has made its way into the hands of a budding reader. I know how much I valued my favourite books as a kid, and young Aimee would be so proud that I’m now part of creating that for kids today.

I also have to give a mention to the time that I was featured on a book cover with my cat – that was a real win for the crazy cat lady in me!

Scholastic Children’s books have published some absolute gold over the years – being the largest publisher of children’s books in the world means we’re home to a huge range of best-sellers from picture books all the way up to YA. One of our most recognized is probably the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins which as I’m sure you know, has made its way onto the big screen! We’re also home to many of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s picture books, such as Stick Man and Zog, in the fabulous Alison Green Books imprint. And Liz Pichon’s Tom Gates is one of our all-time best-sellers having sold a whopping 16.5 million copies in 47 different languages. I was once involved in a World Record attempt for the largest disco dance at a primary school in celebration of the release of Tom Gates Epic Adventure. Liz Pichon herself was there, and we managed to secure the World Record!

Without a doubt, this has to be The Day I Got Trapped in My Brain by Amy Hubberman. It’s a beautiful story about 11 year old Frankie Finkleton who finds herself dealing with grief in the most imaginative and heart-warming way. Frankie lives with a world inside her head called Thoughtopolis, full of weird-and-wonderful places and creatures, and together with her brother, Fred, and dog, Blue, they encounter all kinds of wild adventures. Until one day, Frankie gets trapped, and has to uncover a secret hidden deep within her if she is to get back to the Real World. I won’t say anymore, as I don’t want to give anything away. I was the designer on this book and so I had the pleasure of reading the manuscript whilst placing in all of the art and watching it come to life. I was HOOKED and I very literally could not stop reading. I think for most of the last third of the book, I was reading through tears. Granted, it probably didn’t help that I was pregnant at the time (!) but the emotion and message that Amy gets across in her writing, paired with the super sweet and hilarious illustrations by Katie Kear, is just so touching and downright genius. I highly recommend giving this book a read – but be warned, you need to have your tissues at the ready!

As well as The Lion and the Mouse, The Rainbow Fish, was another of my favourites growing up. So much so, when it was time to pick another book from the shelf at school, I would scramble to search out that sparkly fish scale. Again, it was more of the visual that appealed to me… I loved the holofoil finish (probably where I get my expensive foil taste from now!), and I just loved getting lost in the underwater scenes. Something about all of the lovely blue and pastel textures was dreamy.

I have to give the adorable Owl Babies a mention, as it was another of my staple books growing up. Like I said, I am and always have been a ‘crazy animal lady’ and I’m a sucker for a cute baby animal. Those gorgeous fluffy feathers – who could resist! I have actually just had the pleasure of working on a beautiful book called Unicorn Babies which took me right back to my childhood of reading Owl Babies. Unicorn Babies written by Lucy Rowland and illustrated by Tilia Rand-Bell is due to publish next year and we’re super excited!

These days, I love beautiful, gifty, pattern books – the chunky ones that are a real coffee table head turner. One that I have always admired for its lovely large format, beautiful typography and gorgeous textured illustration style is the Animalium book. Again, the animal theme creeping in!

My Creative Director, Andrew Biscomb has without a doubt been my biggest supporter since day one. He has taught me so much over the years, not just in the world of publishing and children’s books, but also about life itself. His knowledge and advice is invaluable, and I can categorically say that I would not be the person I am today without him. I am so incredibly grateful that I have been able to work with Andrew for the best part of a decade and soak up all of his design greatness. Our team really is like a little family and that is all thanks to Andrew.

I also have to give a mention to the hugely talented, Sean Williams. Sean was appointed as my line manager when I first joined Scholastic as a young junior designer. He took me under his wing and shared all of his tips and tricks in the world of book design. I will be forever grateful to Sean for giving me such an amazing start to my career and giving me the confidence to believe in myself.

I was an avid reader as a child, but never really thought about that as a career. I studied Advertising, Anthropology, and Studio art in college so moved to New York for Advertising. After quickly realizing that was not for me, I found my way to an internship at Penguin Young Readers Group and I fell in love with the whole process of how books were made. From there I worked on all types of books from readers and chapter books, to licensing and IP, to graphic novels and non-fiction, completed my Masters in Publishing at NYU, and worked with some amazing people along the way. I remember reading about Odd Dot when they first launched the imprint and was so impressed with all their innovative ideas. When they were looking for a new Creative Director a previous colleague recommended me to the role and as soon as I met the team I knew it was a place I wanted to be.

It's a tough choice, but these are 5 that I think epitomize Odd Dot's ethos of learning and exploring through play.

Pop-Up Planetarium: This book includes a starwheel in the cover to encourage users to get out and see the stars they are learning about in the book, but also has a pop-up in the back that you can put a light under to shine stars on your ceiling inside. We hired an amazing cut paper artist, Sarah Dennis, as a nod to the paper elements in the book and she really brought all the constellations to life.

Historically we've had a 10 person team with a mix of designers, innovators, editors, and production experts so that we can create about 20-30 books a year. Moving forward Odd Dot will publish a substantially smaller, more tightly curated list of titles, focused on both author-driven brands and select licensing opportunities.

Since I'm reviewing portfolios with book design in mind, style consistency really stands out as someone who would be able to maintain that look for a full project. In addition, something with a unique look and feel that matches the Odd Dot aesthetic also helps portfolios stand out.

Professionalism including answering emails, understanding deadlines, asking questions, giving and receiving feedback...it really is a collaborative experience so the more we can communicate and work together the smoother the process will be and hopefully we can push each other to make the best book possible.

At Odd Dot every project is unique so that creates some interesting challenges from the actual production of the book and creating dummies and mock-ups to help the printers understand the vision and explain what's doable to explaining to sales, marketing, and our customers what the books are. We love getting books in people's hands because we always like to exceed and surprise readers once they start exploring the book.

We have a book coming out next year called Read-and-Play Rocket. It's a board book that's shaped like a rocket with all kinds of wonderful information inside about the history of rockets, how they work, who was involved and more. And then the cover has velcro so it can be fully opened to create a 3D rocket that you can play with. This was a very typical Odd Dot creation as the idea was brought to our weekly brainstorm meeting, then went to our smaller Odd Squad to work out the details. Next we start to work on in-house prototypes, created by our amazing maker Phil Congliaro, so we can start talking to printers to see what is doable as well as present the idea to sales. Once the idea was approved we looked for creators to collaborate with and were so excited when author Bridget Heos and illustrator Sona Avedikian agreed to work with us to bring the project to life.

We're always interested in illustrators who can present non-fiction factual images in a fun, bright, colorful, engaging manner.

I'm especially proud of our Outdoor School series, it was an in-house generated idea, but then we brought together an amazingly talented group of artists, authors, copyeditors, fact-checkers, plus our in-house team to build a full brand that has something for everyone and encourages outside exploration. This was also fully designed during the pandemic so it involved lots of creative pivots in how we work together to get the books completed in a remote setting.

Working with the Odd Dot team to create joyful books for creative minds has been my dream project so we'll see what the future brings.

Outdoor School: This is a series that was inspired by Macmillan's backlist Golden Guide book art. The company still had some of the original art in storage and we were able to get it rescanned and reached out to some of the original artists, including John. D. Dawson, to create a whole new series that encourages kids to open the door and go outside. It was a big project including definitive field guides with metal corners, flexi binding, and a ruler on the back meant to be thrown in your bag for outdoor adventures, to waterproof/tearproof essential guides, to sticker books exploring all different topics. It was a true team effort!

Sticker Jigsaw: This was inspired by the puzzle craze during the pandemic. One of the core elements of Odd Dot's creative process is a weekly brainstorm meeting so this idea came from those discussions on how to make jigsaw puzzles portable while still being engaging all while creating a keepsake of your favorite public domain stories.

Fairy Tale Science came to us as an outside submission but was such an Odd Dot idea we couldn't pass it up. Could Cinderella's glass slipper really hold up a human, or would it really be possible to climb up human hair? This book explores classic fairy tales and tests the stories using real science experiments kids can do at home.

And finally the Antiquarian Sticker Book: Imaginarium. I can't take credit for this one, the first book was conceived as the coolest, biggest, most impressive sticker book you've ever seen. It's hardcover with gold foil and over 200 pages of stickers. Imaginarium was our 3rd in the series and it was such a joy to work with fellow designer and original collage artist Tae Won Yu on this one.

I lead a team of editors who commission and manage OUP’s children’s trade list. We publish picture books and fiction for ages 5-10. We collaborate closely with authors and illustrators and with our exceptionally talented design team. Even picture books and fiction that seem incredibly simple from the outside have usually gone through a rigorous editorial and design process – with so few words and such a selective audience, every book needs to be as good as it can be, and as editors we spend a lot of time working on story structure and thinking about how that interacts with the visual elements. Publishing is always a huge collaborative effort and we also need to be closely aligned to our sales and marketing teams who provide valuable insights into how bookshops, schools, overseas publishers, and media are receiving our titles. It’s an ever-changing market and our strategy is always evolving alongside it.

Honestly, I couldn’t name the ‘most’ because I think that would be unfair on the many incredible illustrators I’ve worked with. But I can name one I’m very proud of working on! I was lucky enough to commission Yuval Zommer’s extraordinary The Wild. In this fable-like story Zommer imagines nature as an ever-changing creature – mysterious and mythological in scope. In this book we see  detailed artwork that rewards young readers who love to linger over every page, but the big picture is that all the components of the Wild make up this living being which people and animals live off. A changing colour palette traces the decline and restoration of the health of the Wild. It’s conceptually monumental but also speaks to children about big issues in a way that they absolutely understand.

When we look at portfolios we’re looking for a number of ‘tells’ that an illustrator is the right person for a job. So if someone doesn’t have children in their portfolio we’re unlikely to try them on a picture book which has human central characters. We’re also looking for range – both emotional and in terms of colour palette across different images. A picture book or young fiction title can sink or swim on the artwork, so if it’s a funny book we need an illustrator who can show comedy, a nature story we probably want someone who can make landscapes rich and inviting. Sometimes you need lots of different elements to work together, and I’ve often heard (and said) things like, ‘The scenes and compositions are lovely, but the characters aren’t engaging.’ It’s also not helpful when there are too many styles in a portfolio – it makes art directors worry about consistency and can be off-putting.

There are many wonderful benefits for children who read, but I think one of the most powerful is that it can help children develop empathy. I can’t think of a better way of understanding what someone else is going through than getting inside a book where you get to experience the thoughts and experiences of a compelling character. But that’s only going to be powerful if some of what children are reading about is outside their comfort zone. Any avid reader will know that so much of the joy comes from going to places and having experiences you never could in real life. Sometimes things might be scary or challenging, but a book is a safe, controlled environment in which to explore some of those ideas for the first time.

Obviously all of them! But a few which I think are very interesting for illustrators are:

• The Isadoa Moon Series: This is an internationally bestselling fiction series from storyteller and illustrator extraordinaire Harriet Muncaster. Her artwork is notable for its limited pink, white, and black palette and the elegant and energetic linework.

• Martha Maps it Out and Martha Maps it Out in Time by Leigh Hodgkinson. In Martha, Leigh has created a character who draws detailed maps to explain the world. It’s a wonderful example of how the illustration can become the core concept of a picture book.

• Reggie Rabbit and the Great Carrot Heist by Swapna Reddy, illustrated by Becka Moor. This is 7-9 fiction with graphic novel elements woven into the storytelling. The artwork is inspired by the Crime Noir genre, and shadows and a limited black, red and yellow palette make this an atmospheric title.

• Winnie and Wilbur: Witches’ Sports Day: This is the most recent Winnie and Wilbur adventure from Korky Paul and Valarie Thomas whose first Winnie book appeared in 1987. It’s unusual for a character picture book series to continue for so long, but Paul’s fantastically detailed artwork and the humour and energy he brings to it makes this classic series feel contemporary and fresh.

I’d say that all the best illustrators do this. In picture books especially a successful collaboration is when you have two storytellers – one the author and one the illustrator – working together in integrated but different mediums. Often we don’t give too much detail in picture book briefs because we want to see what the illustrator will bring to a story without us dictating too much. An illustrator provides the subtext of a story – that’s any part of the storytelling which is unspoken or unnarrated – and that can include characters’ emotional responses, action which plays against what the text is saying, or a composition which builds the world of the story without anything having to be said about it.

I grew up in New Zealand and started my publishing career in the New Zealand book industry, first at Mallinson Rendel in Wellington, and then at Penguin New Zealand. My biggest challenge was when I upped sticks and moved to the UK to broaden my experience. It was a step from a very small market with a local focus to a comparatively huge market with a much more global focus. As well as having to reforge all my industry contacts, I also had to relearn a lot of what I knew to fit a totally different publishing model. I think that doubles as the proudest moment – leaving everything you know to move to the other side of the world is somewhat terrifying but I’m still here ten years later.

The first one I’d call out is Dame Lynley Dodd, who is the author and illustrator of Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy. I started my career at Mallinson Rendel, which was the independent Wellington publisher that originated Hairy Maclary. Lynley is a model of integrity, professionalism, high standards, and kindness and I learned a lot from her.

I’ve also been lucky enough to work with a number of fierce, creative, intelligent women – from my first publishing job under Ann Mallinson who ran a successful independent publisher until she retired at 75, to the brilliant creative team I now work with at OUP. I’m constantly in awe of my colleagues’ ingenuity, dedication, and raw creativity.

I vividly remember Harry the Dirty Dog, Peepo!, Where the Wild things Are, Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy, The Night Kitchen, The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch, The Church Mice and then some more sophisticated picture books as I got older like Cinderella in New York, Henry’s Quest and Rose Blanche.

We’ve got an exciting list planned for the year ahead. A few highlights:

Picture books

The Legend of the Wild West Twins by Jodie Lancet-Grant, illustrated by Katie Cottle (May): Meet Buffalo Lil, and Buffalo Lil. These two cowgirl twins couldn’t be more different! A thrilling Wild West setting and an important message about being true to who you are.

Flow with the Snow by Robert Tregoning, illustrated by Oliver Averill (October): Join Snow on her exciting journey through the water cycle. Lyrical storytelling with stunning illustrations.

Fiction

Croaky, Search for the Sasquatch (March) & Croaky, Quest for the Legendary Berry (Sep) by Matty Long: An excitable young frog joins the woggle scouts and adventure ensues! An exuberant new series from the author of Super Happy Magic Forest.

Gordon, the Meanest Goose on Earth (May) & Gordon Starts a Band (Oct) by Alex Latimer: Gordon is mean. He’s so mean he’s won the ‘meanest goose’ prize eight years running. Can the meanest goose on Earth change? Hilarious 5-7 fiction from Alex Latimer.

I started at Weekly Reader, and over 13 years, worked my way up to Executive Art Director, managing a staff of 25 designers, illustrators and photo researchers. It was extremely rewarding.

Designing for children is a great way to learn about design. Kids are new readers, so everything you create must be visually logical and read easily. The most important thing you learn is to partner closely with your editors. Read and understand all the concepts and copy you receive before ever starting to design. Secondly, I usually sketch out a project before touching the computer. Only then can you truly get a sense of priorities, proportion, focus and pacing.

With Weekly Reader, we created a TV show for Showtime Network called KidsTV. I worked with the puppet creators and photographers at Children’s Television Workshop to create people-sized puppets of the characters in our magazines. The show only filmed for less than ten episodes, and Showtime folded, but the experience was fun.

At Scholastic, we developed many great book series for the classroom & library division. My favorite was Mythlopedia: a funny series spilling the tea on all the crazy behaviors and experiences of the gods, goddeses and mythological creatures.

Right now at Highlights, we are developing a CoComelon magazine. It has been fun working with CGI illustrators for the first time in my career!

Humor! We are ALWAYS looking for illustrators who bring a sense of humor to their work.

One of our illustrators Rich Powell sent me a banjo playing hog, singing in the moonlight. I love this art!

Hands down, The Wonky Donkey!

Sense of humor in the art, timely delivery, and openness to feedback.

We do both. As far as nurturing new artists, our designers frequently groom new artists into learning the ins and outs of creating Hidden Pictures. There are a lot of visual nuances that most don’t get by simply examining a Hidden Picture, but once trained, they become an invaluable addition to our roster.

Losing staff is always challenging. Most rewarding is I have the most awesome staff in the world. All very different, kind, and fun.

My boss at Scholastic, Jackie Carter. She was a true visionary.

Harold and the Purple Crayon, and The Snowy Day

My job involves designing books and covers for a busy list of general and children’s books, and commissioning and art directing artwork across the board.

In particular, my job has a large focus on commissioning art for children’s books.

I work from home mostly but spend one day a week in the office. I live in rural Co. Wexford, in the southeast of Ireland, and the office is an hour away in Dublin. A typical day might involve going out to my office at home, which is in a renovated outbuilding, and putting on some music before I head into my mailbox.

It’s necessary to be a multitasker and as my work involves conceptual work, design and layout and then illustration commissioning. I work with a team of editors and a sales team.

It varies at different times of the year, but in January and February I am busy creating design concepts for the Autumn list covers; similarly in November and December, I work on concepts for the Spring list of the following year. This involves ideas for children’s illustration. I have a design meeting once a week where I present these ideas, including creating a shortlist of illustrators whom I think might work illustrating a title.

As well as the core practical work, one of the big aspects of the work is communication – this can involve email, zoom meetings and also face-to-face meetings.

In terms of the children’s picture books, I am given an edited text by an editor, I get it on pages then give art direction notes, which I then send to an illustrator and discuss possible approaches. It can vary, but it usually goes to scamps first, then first line and then colour. With discussion and author and editor involvement all along the line.

Hard to choose! But I am very excited by three upcoming books this season.

Over the Red Brick Chimney by Úna Leavy and illustrated by Shannon Bergin is a gorgeous story about a little goose who is migrating to Ireland for the Winter. He gets blown off course and is injured, but helped back to health by a little boy called Finn and his mother. It was my first time working with Shannon and she did an amazing job capturing the characters and atmosphere of the story.

I See The Moon And The Moon Sees Me, Favourite Rhymes From An Irish Childhood by Sarah Webb and illustrated by Paul Delaney is a beautiful collection of children’s nursery rhymes. Paul’s quirky, energetic and vivid illustrations really bring new life to these wonderful age-old rhymes.

The Keeper of the Bees by Eimear Chaomhánach is a book about beekeeping in Irish folklore and I put the case for it to be illustrated. Jane Carkill created magnificent drawings that explore the many themes of the book associated with bees such as legend, folklore and the natural world. Her work emphasised the mystical nature of bees and their importance.

I always love it when illustrators include a variety in their work. To include: good characters, good drawing skill, and an understanding of colour. Show me work that you are passionate about, and that you feel says something about you - and your experience.

To avoid: lengthy text explanation about process. The work needs to speak for itself.

It changes constantly! A recent book would have to be Billy Conker’s Nature-Spotting Adventure by Conor Busuttil. The sheer level of detail in Conor’s work and his low-tech approach meant it was a challenging book to put together, but enormously rewarding. It was longlisted for the Wainwright Prize (Children’s) – 2023.

Another recent project has to be Paddy Donnelly’s The Golden Hare, just for the excitement that I would await in my inbox with new images arriving!

In terms of typography Jan Tschichold’s The New Typography, and Eric Gill’s An Essay on Typography, were game changing for me. Dave McKean’s illustration work on the Sandman graphic novels by Neil Gaiman, were astounding. And when I was small the Richard Scarry books made a huge impression.

Fox & Son Tailers by Paddy Donnelly. Wonders of the Wild by Éanna Ní Lamhna, illustrated by Brian Fitzgerald. The Moon Spun Round: WB Yeats for Children, edited by Noreen Doody and illustrated by Shona Shirley Macdonald.

Good characters, good drawing skill, and an understanding of colour. If an illustrator is passionate about what they do this will speak for itself!

I make a strong effort to commission artists that have a connection to Ireland in some way. Most of our list is around Irish subjects, even though we export them internationally, and it’s good to have someone who understands that cultural context.

It is exciting to work with someone new, and actually a lot of my work is working with debut illustrators. I love finding and developing someone new! As they are new to the process, I find the unfurling of talent and seeing a person grow enormously rewarding. Typically I often work with someone who isn’t used to books, or sometimes balancing their images with words. In terms of process it can require patience on the illustrator’s behalf, as there can be a lot of back and forth. It also requires an understanding of collaboration, but it is lovely to see the final result. I work with a new illustrator as I might with any illustrator: I work up a text with art direction notes, send it to them for scamps and roughs, and sometimes character development, and then it goes from there.

Very hard to pick one! I think Irish Myths and Legends by Lady Gregory, illustrated by Jillian Tamaki, published by Folio, is exquisite! It has been very inspirational for me in how it pushes the form of illustration, and I just keep on returning to it.

I was always a big reader growing up, so when I found out there was a whole industry dedicated to making the books I had loved, I did everything I could to learn more about it. I listened to podcasts like Minorities in Publishing, read posts by industry Representation Matters mentorship program professionals online, and researched mentorship programs. I ultimately was accepted into the which connected me with a senior and junior publishing professional who shared their insights in the industry. Simultaneously, I saw a call online for an internship at Clarion Books (which at the time was an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), interviewed, and got the role. Through my time as an intern, my mentors guided me, and when a role opened up as a full-time editorial assistant at the Books for Young Readers imprint in the company, I went through the application process got the job which was my first full-time role in publishing. Through my time at Clarion Books and HMH Books for Young Readers, I learned so much and ultimately transitioned into my current role as an Associate Editor when the trade division was acquired by HarperCollins’ Publishers.

Fibbed is my debut graphic novel as an author-illustrator. It was inspired by many things, from reconnecting with my family as a first-generation immigrant and my love of folktales and fantasy. Particularly, it draws from Ananse (Anansi) folktales from Ghanaian lore, which follow the trickster spider who is said to have brought all the stories to the world. In Fibbed, my main character Nana is visiting her family in Ghana for the summer after a series of incidents at her school land her in hot water. There, she discovers that there’s magic in the village forest and must team up with Ananse to save the magic from a group of greedy contractors trying to steal and sell the forest’s magic for profit. Nana’s journey is about finding your voice and learning from the past. Themes of family, environmental stewardship, and community play an important role in the story.

But most of all, it’s about searching for the truth, and finding instead, the power that comes in believing; in others, in ourselves, and in the intangible.

I grew up reading everything and anything as a kid, from fantasy stories, contemporary comics, to epic tales inspired by history and myths. Some of my favorites included Ella Enchanted, Fruits Basket, Kare Kano, Howl’s Moving Castle, and Eragon. Additionally, I read so many seminal books in high school and college that still stick with me today, like Brown Girl Dreaming and The Wrath and the Dawn. I definitely think these stories inspired my genre interests. As an editor now, I’m still particularly drawn to fantasy, contemporary, and historical fiction. For my list, I look for works that reflect the diversity of the world around us, from coming-of-age middle grade narratives about family, friendship, and adventure, sweeping young adult fantasies with a hint of romance, rom-coms and contemporary stories, to historical fiction and graphic novels in the contemporary and fantasy genres.

I think the great thing about portfolios is that they’re a reflection of you. To me, that’s so important to keep in mind, and the advice I would offer your members is to take your portfolio as an expression of this. How does the work in your portfolio reflect your strengths, your interests, your style as an artist and the work you’d like to do in the future? Sometimes as a creator, it’s easy to focus only of what you think someone else wants, even though that’s important in terms of figuring out how to pitch. But what’s more important is defining who you are, what your work represents and then finding the right collaborator. That’s what I look for in an artist’s portfolio rather than a specific subject matter, though of course depending on the project I’m working on, I would consider portfolios in the specific genres of that project. So for me, creators who are able to hone their craft and really showcase their strengths and creativity in their portfolio are the ones that resonate.

So the spreads I’m selecting are from The Secret of the Ravens by Joanna Cacao. The story follows twin siblings, Elliot and Liza. In the story, Elliot must join forces with a mysterious and ancient mage to save Liza from a deadly poison after the two are swept up in a series of magical Raven Quests.

When I first came across Joanna’s art, I was immediately drawn to how beautifully she is able to bring to life worlds and characters through her stunning color palettes and expressive renderings. Her art has a vibrancy, energy, and emotional core to it that makes you feel like you’re in the story and the world and characters are alive. I have so many favorite pieces from the book. One of the previews we shared on the book’s catalog page showcases when Elliot and Liza first arrive at the Kawumiti Kingdom capital.

Here you get to see a taste of Joanna’s gorgeous landscape work, the expressive nature of her character designs, and the first sense of this world and the struggles the twins face as they try to build a better life for themselves. Elliot and Liza only have each other, so when that tragically changes, Elliot is thrust on a quest to save Liza—even if it means sacrificing everything.

When it comes to a creative block, I think my advice to illustrators would be to step back, reassess, and reconnect. Stepping back could mean giving yourself a break if you feel you’ve been creating a lot of work but haven’t felt that spark. It’s just giving yourself time to rest.

Reassessing to me is about reflecting on what you have created so far. A lot of times it can feel like creators need outside validation to celebrate a piece but taking the time to reflect on the work you’ve done with a positive outlook on what you loved, what you’d want to do more of, and how you’d like to continue honing your craft can help give space to overcome a creative block.

Finally, reconnecting with art itself can be so helpful to that end, whether that be celebrating the works of other creators you love or exploring a new style that you’ve always wanted to try. Finding a way to enjoy and be excited about creating can help immensely when overcoming a creative block.

Luckily, I’ve had a lot of mentors and cheerleaders throughout my career. From my mentors at Representation Matters, my early and current managers at HMH Books for Young Readers and HarperCollins, and my coworkers and peers. As challenging as this industry can often seem, it’s also filled with so many kind and passionate people and I’ve found those connections to be so rewarding.  

All of my dream projects were books I could never have imagined or dreamed up myself. That’s the magic of working in an industry where we get to share the stories of creators. To me, dream projects are when visions align across the illustrator, author, editor, and the team in the publishing house. I’m continually amazed by the many stories and voices there are to share and the incredible creators behind them. Every project has something magical and unique about it, and the heart of that is the creators behind the books and the collaborative process that’s the nature of publishing.

There are so many amazing releases coming from HarperCollins Children’s Books this year! We have everything from delightful picture books, heart-felt middle grade novels, to adventurous young adult novels and graphic novels. Some of them I have been lucky enough to work on like The Secret of the Ravens and The Lightstruck and others I’ve been excited to get to experience as a reader such as The Probability of Everything, Frontera, Cindy and Panda...

The Do-Over, and The Hills of Estrella Roja to name a few on both ends. But there are so many incredible stories coming this year and I can’t wait for readers to be swept away by the work of our amazing creators!

I actually started in publishing in high school. Back then, there was a press called Landmark Editions that used to run a contest for kids. To enter, you wrote and illustrated your own book, and if you won in your age group, you got a publishing contract. I don't think there were very many entries the year I entered, but I was thrilled all the same when I got the chance to publish my book. I fell in love with every part of the process—flying to their offices, drawing sketch after sketch, studying great picture books, tapping out meter and rhyme over the phone with my editor (those calls could get tense! but she was the matriarch of Landmark and I adored her). Most nights I stayed up into the early morning working on that book, just for the love of it. (Interesting side note: Landmark was the same company that gave Dav Piley his start with World War Won). I studied business in college, but when an internship opened up at a local publishing startup, I applied immediately. I started as a graphic designer and creative director there, then became the publishing director. We grew the company into one of the fastest-growing publishers in the US, and then I finally left to start Bushel & Peck with my wife, Stephanie.

I've never not loved working in book publishing, but it's a different level of passion when you run your own press. While you always have to keep your eyes on the numbers, your press eventually becomes an extension of you—what you're excited about, what you're curious about, what you want to share with the world. I remember staring at the ceiling once shortly after leaving my previous job, just thinking for a bit. We were in the middle of starting Bushel & Peck, and it occurred to me that I didn't have to start a publishing company. I could have started a new career, gone back to school, anything! But what pulled me to publishing like nothing else was knowing that making books gave me a voice. There are plenty of careers that are fun, creative, and everything else I love about publishing, but it's that voice that's so different from anything else. 

There are so many! I love The Interactive Constitution, because it takes something so dry to kids and makes it compelling and engaging with such a novel format, like its color-changing words to help teach vocabulary in the Preamble. (Plus, I'm passionate about American history and civics education, so it's a book we were thrilled to see do well.) But that's a hallmark of many of our books. Any good publisher looks for the perfect marriage of text and art. You might think of those as X and Y axes. But to me, a great publisher will add a third Z axis: format. Can the physical book itself be part of the experience? If it's a book on music, do you add sound? A book on something physical like anatomy, do you add flaps to enhance the physicality of what the kid is learning? If it's historical, do you choose rough woodfree paper to add a tactile sense of time and place? These are the details that make publishing exciting for me. 

Any time we nail the intersection of art, text, and physicality and align the result with the right market, the book tends to do well. Our illustrated poets series is a great example. In that case, we paired beloved poems with vintage collage art that is just so beautiful and really adds to the experience. You can almost feel Poe or Dickinson in the art itself, because so much of it is from the same era. It also created a series of crossover books that sell just as well for adults as they do for children, plus it differentiated our series from those that tend to have more kidlike art, which we felt wasn't the right choice for such celebrated literature. 

Both! More than anything, what we look for is an illustrator who can add an extra dimension to a book. Good illustrators draw what they're told and make a beautiful book. Great illustrators enhance the story and add an extra layer of richness, detail, and emotion beyond what the text can convey. Whether young or established, these are the types of artists we like to work with. 

I don't know about other publishers, but one of the biggest hesitations we have when hiring an artist is wondering what their work for us will actually end up looking like. Portfolios or past publications help greatly with this, but there's always a bit of a risk in hiring an illustrator you haven't worked with before. For this reason, a couple of pieces of advice come to mind. First, always put your best foot forward. Portfolios tend to be judged on the best and worst pieces, and sometimes the worst pieces tend to get the heavier weight because publishers are afraid that's what they'll get if they hire you. Trim them down to your best, most sensational pieces, and that will get publishers excited. Second, try to be clear about your style. You don't have to limit yourself to one illustration style, but be clear about the different ways you like to create and what a publisher might expect if they hire you. When portfolios are a bit all over the map with medium and style, it brings back that uncertainty for the publisher: what am I really going to get if I hire this person?  

Having the freedom to create what you're passionate about is always one of the top perks of running your own press. That brings a slew of its own headaches and challenges, but if you love what you do, all the stress takes a distant second place. That's not to say there aren't lows and sleepless nights, but they're nothing compared with the thrill of seeing a book succeed or holding something in your hands you carefully crafted from its inception. 

All the greats: Harry Potter, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, Little Britches, Winnie the Pooh, Henry Reed, and on and on. 

I learned so, so much from Christopher Robbins, the current CEO of Familius. And along the way, there have been countless people who have shaped my publishing worldview. Every interaction is an opportunity to learn!

Anything that lived years at the top of the New York Times, of course! But really, if a book somehow touches a life, then that's pay dirt for us. 

I started making and studying art in elementary school and was part of specialized art programs in junior high and high school. In fact, I went to the “FAME” school (LaGuardia H.S.), which is behind Lincoln Center. Then I attended the historic museum school, The School of The Art Institute of Chicago, for my BFA. It feels like I’ve always been surrounded by creative people.

My career began in newspaper and magazine design in Chicago and Silicon Valley. Then I moved back to NYC and began to pursue my dream of being a Book Designer. I spent the first half of my book career in adult books, first at Avalon, an Indie, and then at Random House Adult. I made the move to children’s books by joining the amazing team at Disney Hyperion. While there, I was best known for my YA and MG cover design, though I did some picture books too. And I found picture book editors and artists were some of the best people to know and befriend. I then became the Associate Art Director at Workman Kids, before co-founding RISE with Cecily Kaiser in 2019.

That’s tough…I wouldn’t say favorites, but the RISE titles I identify the most with are:

Who Was Celia Cruz? Board Book

I AM!: Affirmations for Resilience

Our Skin: A First Conversation about Race

I would say we are looking for thoughtful illustrators who want to work on books that are authentic to them. Books whose subject matter has some connection to their lived or learned experience. Our books help kids (0-5) understand and feel empowered in the world around them. So we don’t have a lot of “fantastical” books. And we tend to hire artists who have more realistic proportions, and who make art about our everyday world. We also like art that can be appreciated by everyone, including the many adults who select, purchase, and read these books to our young audience. We often hire fine artists, editorial illustrators, or artists who have never even thought of illustrating for children.

Make work on the subject you are passionate about.

Hashtag your work’s subject matter.

Write super long bios that tell me a lot about you and the things you are passionate about. I want to know what experience shaped you and your work. Where did you grow up? Are you a child of immigrants? Do you love math, science, food, typography, music? All of that should be in your bio.

For YA—

Conviction by Kelly Loy Gilbert, art by Chris Silas Neal

Picture Us In the Light by Kelly Loy Gilbert, art by Adams Carvalho

For MG—

Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty, art by Alexander Jansson

Miles Morales by Jason Reynolds, with art by the incomparable Kadir Nelson

For 0-5—

EVERY SINGLE BOOK on the RISE list, which I am SO proud to have co-founded.

Pretty much anything I get from Edel Rodriguez blows my mind. I literally can’t picture anything he is going to turn in. That really impresses me. When people are unpredictable BUT BRILLIANT. He’s a pro and one of my heroes. I feel so lucky that he was on our inaugural RISE list.

If you look at any page of I AM!: Affirmations for Resilience, you are looking at Edel’s first hunch on each page, with minor tweaks. That spread that reads, My Friends And Family Love Me! That shouldn’t work, but it does. The crazy bend of the kid’s body. It’s brilliant in that it captures the extreme joy of kid gestures. So smart!

I love nurturing and challenging talent. It’s the best part of the job.

My whole career, I have pulled artists I like into whatever age group I’m designing for. Rise is no different. If you are outstanding, I’ll want to hire you. There are many ways to be great. You can be starting out, but already be a stand-out. My job is to see which projects are a match for an artist.

Sometimes I hold on to someone for YEARS, before the right project comes along. That’s what happened with Being You artist Andy Passchier. Andy sent an adult graphic novel proposal to my last job. And I KNEW, Andy was IT. THE REAL DEAL. A smart, insightful, funny, visually powerful artist. That publisher passed on Andy’s project, but I KNEW that eventually I would find a way to work with Andy. When I read Being You: A First Conversation about Gender, I was jumping up and down, because I knew Andy was THE ARTIST, and their project had finally arrived.

Short answer, a style that feels universal. That can be many different things. I would say for me, they need to make fearless color choices. Pop colors translate very well.

Career Mentors—David Tran, Elizabeth Rendfleisch, Joann Hill, Rotem Moscovich, Lily Malcom

Design Influences—Elizabeth H. Clark, Nicole Caputo, Charlotte Strick, Jon Gray (Gray 318)

Picture Book Heroes—Minh Le, Isabel Roxas, Raúl the Third, Kadir Nelson, Yuyi Morales