Friends' author/illustrator sites can be found underneath this list of international resources for picture book creators. All input welcome!

Picture book illustration

Writing with Pictures by Uri Shulevitz (Watson& Guptill NY). The classic book on how to illustrate and create children’s picture books

http://picturingbooks.imaginarylands.org/ A good explanation of the structure of the picture book - see the ‘anatomy’ section of (examples of spreads, borders, endpapers etc)

http://picturingbooks.imaginarylands.org/links/pblinks.html An excellent list of picture book links

http://www.underdown.org/articles.htm Publisher Harold Underdown’s Purple Crayon site for illustrators, writers and kid’s book people, full of excellent articles, resources and links.

http://www.scbwifrance.com/ourwork/index.htm Illustratorswho are members of SCBW France (The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) can show their work on this site

International illustration competitions

http://www.bookfair.bolognafiere.it International Bologna bookfair illustration competition with a deadline mid November. Open to individual illustrators of any nationality.

http://www.accu.or.jp/project/3_10noma.htm For artists in the countries of Asia-Pacific, Africa, the Arab States, Latin America and the Caribbean the Noma Concours for Picture Book Illustration deadline is December 31.

http://www.salon-livre-presse-jeunesse.com/professionnels/01professionnels/createurs/figures-gb.htm Site of the French children’s book fair, in Montreuil, Paris which hosts a competition for new illustrators and illustration schools.

International sites for children's book creators

http://scbwi.org US home of The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators with regional groups all over the world.

http://www.scbwifrance.com The French / mainland European end of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (see above)

http://www.ibby.org The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) is a non-profit organization which represents an international network of people from all over the world who are committed to bringing books and children together.

http://www.ricochet-jeunes.org This French site has developed over several years into a very useful database of information on children’s books, their creators and more. A European perspective on children’s books; in French, Spanish, and English.

http://childlitnavigator.imaginarylands.org/international.html CLISS, Children's Literature International Summer School U.K. A biennial five-day period of study about children's literature, organised by National Center for Research in Children's Literature see http://www.ncrcl.ac.uk/cliss/about.htm

 

Other informative sites and books for children's book creators, by country

Australia
http://www.cbc.org.au The Children’s Book Council of Australia.

http://www.booksillustrated.com.au/ Australian illustrators gallery. A unique concept which incorporates a gallery dedicated to original book illustration, a special children’s bookshop and an education programme.

http://www.thestylefile.com is an Australian Society of Authors and Society of Book Illustrators initiative to promote the work of Australian book illustrators in Australia and overseas.

France

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/cielj/charte/charte2.htm La Charte des auteurs et illustrateurs jeunesse. French public sponsored association 1901 promoting and supporting 700 professional writer / illustrator members

http://www.ricochet-jeunes.org A densely-packed informative site with a European perspective on children’s books; in French, Spanish, and now in English.

http://www.lajoieparleslivres.com French children’s book review site.

http://troisourses.online.fr/ L’association Les Trois Ourses défend des artistes dont elle aime le travail en direction des enfants, diffuse leurs livres introuvables, conçoit et organise des expositions.

http://membres.lycos.fr/amisperecastor : Information on 1930-60s illustrators for Pere Castor books.

http://www.salon-livre-presse-jeunesse.com/professionnels/01professionnels/createurs/figures-gb.htm Site of the French children’s book fair, in Montreuil, Paris,

Great Britain

http://www.sevenstories.org.uk site of the new heritage museum and Centre for Children's Books in Newcastle.

http://www.booktrusted.com/ information and advice about British children’s books,author, illustrators, prizes, publisher

http://www.ukchildrensbooks.co.uk UK Children’s Books – a great way to access British publishers, authors, illustrators and review sites.

http://www.achuka.co.uk/index2.php : Informative up-to-the-minute kid’s book news, articles and resources.

http://staffcentral.brighton.ac.uk/graeme/Bookbinding%20web%20site/bookart/ba_welcome.html
Japanese bookbinding formats explained in detail.

http://www.readingmatters.co.uk A useful review site for kids and parents that concentrates on fiction and divides it by type - magic, time travel, adventure, etc. There’s an intriguing search engine called the Bookchooser where you click buttons to input the type of story you want (realistic or lots of magic, not too scary...) and receive a list of suitable books.

http://www.theaoi.com/ The UK Association of Illustrators site with excellent links and general resources for all types of illustrators

British published books:
Words and Pictures by Quentin Blake (Jonathan Cape UK), prolific artist, illustrator of Roald Dahl, picture book writer & the first UK children’s laureate

The Children’s Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook (first published for 2005) This is the first comprehensive UK guide to markets in all areas of the children ‘s media. In addition to the extensive directory of contacts, it includes twenty specially commissioned articles. Aimed at anyone wishing to write or illustrate a book, play or film for children.

India
http://www.childrensbooktrust.com/about.htm Pioneer publishers of children’s books in India, Children’s Book Trust houses a children’s library, and runs a museum and children’s painting competition

Pacific Rim
http://www.papertigers.org An inspiring site on Asian/ Pacific kids books - gallery well worth a visit.

Italy
http://www.ldj.tm.fr/munari/index.htm
inspiring Flash site in French and Italian on designer Bruno Munari

Russia
Book: Dictionnaire des Illustrateurs de Livres d’Enfants Russes 1917-1945, by Levèque/Plantureux 1997 (Agence Culturelle de Paris inspiring exhibition catalogue of pre-war Russian illustrators

Spain
http://revistababar.com/web/ Spanish kid’s books review site

http://www.cuatrogatos.org/ another review site

http://www.ricochet-jeunes.org/es/biblio/biblio.htm the Spanish wing of this French site has extra info on Spanish illustrators - in Spanish

USA
http://scbwi.org The US home of The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators now expanding internationally.

http://picturingbooks.imaginarylands.org/ : a rich informative resource site about children’s picture books.

http://www.kanemiller.com/corp/about.asp A US publisher importing some interesting titles from elsewhere. To quote their intro: “ the children of the coming millennium will not simply be citizen of their own countries, they truly will be citizens of the world”. (Kane/Millar)

US published books (on recommendation)
Childrens Books From Other Countries (Scarecrow Press, 1998). Carl Tomlinson, Editor. Global Perspectives in Children's Literature (Allyn and Bacon, 2001) E. Freeman and B. Lehman.The World Through Children's Bookss (Scarecrow Press, 2002) Susan Stan, Editor.

 

recommended author- illustrator sites:

http://www.davidbedford.co.uk Author site of David Bedford, friend and co-creator of Knock, knock! among many other books for children.

http://www.doug-cushman.com/ Based now in Paris, Doug Cushman is a friend and much published, highly inventive creator of stories both in pictures and words

http://www.erzsideak.com/ Author site of Erzsi Deak, friend, writer, editor and incomparably energetic founder of SCBWI France, and Chair of SCBWI International.

http://www.gbriankaras.com/ Beautifully designed site of G. Brian Karas, friend and much prized author-illustrator of many innovatory picture books.

http://www.jeannedesaintemarie.com/ Illustrator site of Jeanne de Sainte Marie, a fellow bilingual, SCBWI france member and friend living in Paris.

http://www.jshelley.com/ Site of the multifariousprolific illustrator and friend, John Shelley. Site in English and Japanese

 

artist sites:

http://www.mickfinch.com Even though Mick Finch is my husband, I continue to be amazed by this site - the more you look, the more you find !

 

favourite blogs:

http://drawn.ca / Drawn! is a collaborative weblog for illustrators, artists, cartoonists, and anyone who likes to draw.

http://makecomicsforever.blogspot.com/ Make Comics Forever is a forum for cartoonists dedicated to improving their productivity. Applies to children's book illustrators too. This is not a forum for wimps!

http://laboiteaimages.hautetfort.com/ La Boîte à Image - 'pour regarder les images autremen't - a great daily blog in French with some surprising new takes on images

http://www.paulcox.centrepompidou.fr/article-340499.html Last page from which you can return over a stimulating visual journey which artist Paul Cox made alongside his 2005 Centre Pompidou exhibition.The talk he gave with his picture book publisher Jacques Binstok for SCBWI France and Parsons Paris was memorable. Among many other things, Paul Cox refreshes the sense of what scale and space mean within and outside of the book.