Retro kids bedrooms...

I love collecting retro artwork and imagery for my kids bedrooms... here's a taste...

 In Clemmie's room... a poster from The Hambledon shop...

a wall organizer from byGraziela... (and of course a bit of Miffy)

 

In Benjy's  room...

 Owl wallpaper from Ferm Living and a monster I (pretty shabbily!) made out of some old tartan fabric.

 ...and another poster from The Hambledon shop;

And in Toby's room...

 Numbers and letter wall workboards from Isak.

 A 1960s Japanese painting I found for next to nothing on eBay...

 ...some wooden play cards from a 1950s 'picture lotto' game...

and some Vintage DC comics postcards.

Roger Duvoisin

Ok, so it's been a while but the summer has now well and truly left without leaving a note so it's back to it and I'm going to try to add to this weekly, yes, weekly from now on. Anyhoo, this week I'm celebrating the retro-charm of the work of Swiss-born American writer and illustrator Roger Duvoisin (1904-1980) - I've recently picked up a few of his books and they're all rather splendid, although my favourite has to be the gorgeously titled 'Hector Penguin'. Enjoy...

 

New stuff...

Have recently been working on the artwork for Mr Poopy Pants (due for publication next year by Lion Hudson)....

as well as a new title.... Bush Baby Blues... what d'ya think?

Decisions, de-poopy-cisions...

I've been working on the cover of my new book Mr Poopy Pants this week - but can't decide which is better - the dark background or light? I have a feeling the dark looks better on screen but the light will look better printed.  And it possibly looks a little classier.  But can a book about poop be classy? Who knows. What do you think?

A Room of One's Own.

Typical, no blog entries for ages then two come along atthe same time...

Anyhoo, I've recently (and cheaply), with a lick of paint, a tidy-up and a few choice items - namely my vintage children's book collection, a set of 1960s 'lotto' cards, the Puffin postcards set and a few other bits and bobs I already had ... updated my log cabin studio from this;

to this...

New prints shop!

I've gone all Etsy! Here's some of the prints I'm selling, and please pop along and check out the shop any time HERE.  Feel free to browse, snoop around, handle the merchandise but be warned, if you break it you buy it.

Mr Poopy Pants

Have just signed a contract for my next book - Mr Poopy Pants. An act which underlined the strange juxta-position in my profession twixt the dull business end of things and the infinitely more exciting puerile and ridiculous end.

It's a book about my new baby boy Benjy and what his older brother Toby thinks about him and his frequent and varied pooping habits.

Here's a sneak preview of the proposed cover... 

Jungle Mumble

Happy World Book Day everyone!

In celebration of this, here's a sneak preview of some illustrations from my new book 'Jungle Mumble'.

Romulus Candea - vintage children's book

Found this little gem the other day in a local antiques and general old crap shop - 'The Painters', published in 1963 and illustrated by German illustrator, caricaturist and artist Romulus Candea.

Whilst I haven't read the story itself yet (it's really long!) it seems to be entirely mental, surreal yet strangely charming in a way that only European children's books from the 1960s can be. 

Love the colours, love the expressions, love the use of white space, love the little rabbit on the spread with the bus.