Very pleased to hear that former UCLan graduate and Advocate art illustrator Katie Saunders has been shortlisted for the Sheffield Children’s book award in the Baby category. Katie's book Touch and Explore Little Frog is full of touch and feel patches and textures designed to engage little ones. Last year over 5000 Sheffield children took part in the Book Award and Baby Book Award project making it one of the largest local authority schemes in the country. The children who read and voted for their favourite books also attended the award ceremony in Sheffield which was also attended by 15 of the shortlisted authors and illustrators.
Baby book illustration is an area of illustration that few students think of as especially challenging or glamorous however I think it an incredibly difficult area of design in which to innovate and yet incredibly important to the development of children. Pre school children deserve to have beautifully designed and well considered books and illustration - it is easy to be condescending to this area of children's illustration. Katie has been in constant employment as an illustrator since graduating in.... ahem... a few years ago. She has produced consistently excellent work as a children's illustrator and she deserves this recognition by the audience she works for.
