Task: to source an illustrator for a new middle-grade book to be published for 6-9 year olds. The book features two children, a dog and is mostly set in a city/street scene. The story is very funny, energetic and a little anarchic. It is being published in the UK only.

Sophie Eves

lemonadeillustration.com

Sophie features animals and children predominantly in her work and has a cheerful feel to her work. She has many examples of city/street scenes in her work which tie into the brief. The playful colours and facial expressions of the characters reflect the funny elements in the story yet it seems that she can include an element of adventure into her work.

Chervelle Fryer

jellylondon.com/illustration

She makes the animals extremely expressive which would lend itself to the feature of a dog in the brief. The cheeky facial expressions are perfect for a funny adventure theme. Although there aren’t any examples of children, the human characters are sweet and youthful but have an older feel compared to some children’s illustrators, this could work well in the story but the images have a static element to them which may not be as fitting for an adveturous/anarchic storyline. I think the detail of her scenes would transpire well in a city/street scene however.

Stevie Mahardhika

Childrensillustrators.com

Work by Stevie has a character focus with elements of fun, humour and dark scenes. The animation and age of the characters is suitable for middle-grade readers, and the use of bright, bold colours makes it light hearted. The city scene is light-hearted and nicely detailed and the animals have a cute, humourous look to them which would suit the book well. I particularly like how the illustrations have different angles and show movement which will reflect the feelings of adventure and anarcy in the brief.