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ARU illustration students and graduates publish over 70 books in a year

Published: 12 October 2020 at 13:30

Illustration of two naked men and one naked woman seen from behind by Rosie Haine

Cambridge School of Art plays major role in UK children’s publishing

Since October 2019, students and graduates of our BA (Hons) Illustration, MA Children's Book Illustration and PhD Children's Book Illustration have released, or agreed release dates, for over 70 publications.

Despite everything else that's happened this year, the UK children's book industry still goes from strength to strength - and Cambridge School of Art continues to play an important role in that success.

Among our published illustrators are MA Children's Book Illustration graduate Rosie Haine, whose picturebook It Isn’t Rude To Be Nude (pictured) has been making waves since its release in September. Rosie has been interviewed by BBC Woman's Hour and BBC Radio Scotland and featured in articles on Outspoken Education and Inews explaining the idea behind the book: "I wanted to show children normal bodies and that there’s loads of different ways to be and they're all fine. I don’t want to be prescriptive to readers – I want them to find themselves in the book or relate to it in their own way."

Chloe Coles (BA Illustration) has taken a slightly different route to our other graduates. Rather than picturebooks, she has been writing her own Young Adult fiction series, Bookshop Girl, as well as creating the cover art for it. The third in her series, Bookshop Girl in Paris, was released through Hot Key Books in January 2020.

Some of our illustrators have taken to YouTube too, sharing news about their books as well as their writing and drawing tips. They include Sarah Lodge, who illustrates Holly Webb's Museum Kittens series, the latest of which, Museum Kittens: The Midnight Visitor, was released in May 2020; and Harriet Muncaster who released both the latest book in her Isadora Moon series, as well as the first in a spin-off series, Mirabelle Gets up to Mischief, in March 2020. You can watch videos of Sarah's drawing tutorial, and Harriet's writing tips.

Congratulations to all our illustration students and graduates who had new publications in the past year, including: