Childrens Books - Blog Posts

Winnie the pooh is a nostalgic show.

you forgot the best part of the book 😂

Gwen: have you seen Morgana?

Arthur: No. Why are you asking me? I haven’t seen her. I haven’t seen any Morgan as around here. I would not kill any Morganas. Stop asking me anymore questions.

I want my Merlin back.

fancy nancy by jane o'connor

rainbow fairies: showtime fairies by daisy meadows

pink is for boys by robb pearlman

pinkalicious, purplicious, and emeraldalicious by victoria kann

"Come away, come away!"

The example book cover for my Peter Pan and Wendy personal project.

My design for Peter's outfit here actually has elements from the stage play, because I thought the vines would make a wonderful belt and the autumn colours add a bit of pizzazz!

I've been working on a little personal project I set myself recently for fun and to add some sparkle to my illustration portfolio ✨ I'll be posting the rest of the art soon but for now here's a sneak peek!

These original illustrations of 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' make me dislike the films even more

A small piece from the book I was working on this spring

Awkward blue horse:)

Just a funny horse:)

Plants lover

A Character design for Magnus the Owl, a character from The Moon Fox, illustrated by Marie Denham. check out her tumblr here: http://mariedenham.tumblr.com/

A study of Sir John Tenniel’s illustration of Alice cozying up with a kitten and a ball of string 🐈‍⬛

Afraid of the Dark 👻

A spread for a children's book I'm working on 🐻🐢

Character design progress for a children's book I'm working on :)

Incredibly popular and influential book series I read as a kid: Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Magic tree house, Thea Stilton, The lion the witch and the wardrobe, Wings of fire, Bone, A series of unfortunate events.

The book series that all of my writing takes after: Spirit Animals

Frog and Toad; Tales of a simpler life

Hello. This is my first essay post - maybe I'll make a masterlist, maybe I won't.

''Frog and Toad'', a short book series written and illustrated by Arnold Lobel in the 1970s, is a collection of tales about two friends - Frog and Toad. They both live in the forest and go on many adventures together. Every time my mind reminds me of the existence of the duo, one word comes to my mind - Home. Frog and Toad is a cozy sort of series, and every tale has a comforting feeling attached to it. In this post, I'd like to address the philosophy of Frog and Toad - Simple living.

• Most Frog and Toad stories have a similar premise - one of our two protagonists has an everyday issue he has to face and the other helps him overcome this. When we think about everyday life, we think about moving forward - getting promoted, making more money, moving away, getting fitter - always an additive, and fast. A great example for this is hustle culture - the glamorization of putting all of your self into your line of work. I personally strongly dislike hustle culture - as a communist I believe that the improvement of the self should not be calculated with money, but with health and happiness, and that instead of success being isolated to an individual, if someone succeeds it should benefit their surroundings. "Frog and Toad" doesn't fit with those sort of ideals of hustle and constant improvement. The duo's problems are, well, very simple.

• Arnold Lobel describes himself as a domestic kind of person ;

"I'm really not much of a traveler or wanderer or adventurer and I think that feeling certainly comes into my books. I notice that all of my books are rather homebound"

He is certainly right. In his writing and illustrations, Lobel creates a very welcoming (ahem cottagecore ahem ahem) atmosphere - his language is simple and inviting and his coloring style consists of warm earth tones. Even the protagonist's houses have this feeling, consisting of wooden furniture and warm, fluffy pillows. (I'd like to add Frog and Toad are both very middle class, and these stories are affected by their privilege). Although they don't own many possessions - honestly, the most common item you'll see that costs any money in the Frog and Toad series is the protagonist's bed - Frog and Toad find their place in moments and people.

• Allow me to give an example (my favourite personally). The story "A list" follows Toad - a usually anxious and worried type. He wakes up and realizes he has many things to do, and so he writes a list of the things he wants to get done that day;

- wake up

- eat breakfast

- get dressed

- go to frog's house

- take (a) walk with frog

- eat lunch

- take (a) nap

- play games with Frog

- eat supper

- go to sleep

Before the story even starts, we can see Toad doesn't really have many things to do that day, and yet he puts heavy emphasis on what he does have. That is one of the building stones of simple living - the silent agreement to enjoy every minute you get out of your life.

As the day progresses, Toad crosses out what he accomplished, until he takes a walk with Frog. As they are walking, a gust of wind blows over his list, and he is frozen in place. Frog starts running towards the list, while Toad stays back, claiming that running after his list is not on his list, and thus not something that he should engage in.

• Frog didn't manage to catch Toad's list. Toad claims "I cannot remember any of the things I wrote on my list of things to do. I will just have to sit here and do nothing." In this instance, Label criticizes the close minded way people who are only interested in 'the grind' (Jesus Christ I can't believe I just wrote that) think - they only see the things they want to achieve as goals worthy of energy, and nothing else. Toad may have wanted to play games with Frog to strengthen their bond, but the intention or the way didn't matter - it was the goal that did.

• Frog and Toad sit around all day. After a lot of nothing, Frog says "Toad, it is getting dark, we should be going to sleep now". Suddenly, frog realizes that was the last thing on his list, to sleep, and they both slip into unconsciousness. I think this ending really clears out they way Label thinks about always moving forward - sure, maybe they weren't on Toad's list, but there were many activities he and Frog could have partook in he skipped out on out of sheer stubbornness. Instead of trying to make the most out of his day, he wallowed in his own sadness over not achieving every goal he had, and let a whole afternoon slip by.

• to summarize, Frog and Toad are friends. They are friends and they enjoy each other's company. They prefer to have a cup of tea instead of building a bigger house, and they'd never call each other on the telephone, if they want to talk to each other, they simply walk over to their friend's house. I personally have started to pick up some of their habits - I now drink my morning Tea or coffe without any distractions, I spend more time outside, and I try to not get hung up on every little detail. As a perfectionist this is a... Hard task, at the least, but it's worth it. I have calmed down. I have become more at peace with less.

Thank you for reading - Stay yourself, stay curious.

Yes, I am a dunce.

Kittens and cats; a book of tales 1873

my very first step in illustrating children's books 

Rosa Illustration by Dazhkaclaire    https://www.instagram.com/dazhkaclaire/

www.claireobrienillustration.com

A little Vietnamese Girl 

Little Viet, by Claire O’Brien

Saumyi and the Stars by Claire O’Brien Illustration

Drawing dragons, RAWR!

Part of a page from an upcoming book I have been illustrating. Copyright © 2014 Angela Hadrill.

BUG POEM: still image ed. cuz the other one was bad on some people’s eyes (very fair lmao)

here is a poem i wrote at work (instead of working) over a year ago and finished illustrating the other day! (using Shake Art DELUXE on itch.io, the shaking version is here)

Transcript below:

bug i am, yes i am bug

(also known to some as grub)

but either bug or or grub you see i'll always be snug as can be

where am i snug? i'm glad you asked! (the answer's truly clear as glass)

for as a bug who's snug, you see there's only one place i could be!

snug as a bug in a rug i'm sure, is something that you've heard before

a common phrase... a simple rhyme... (matters little to most, just a throwaway line...)

but to me it's something more, for in that rug its ME who snores!

so next time you wish goodnight, i wish you may, i wish you might,

remember bug, snug as can be for in your rug that bug is me <3

here is a poem i wrote at work (instead of working) over a year ago and finished illustrating today! (using Shake Art DELUXE on itch.io)

Enjoy :D

Transcript below:

bug i am, yes i am bug

(also known to some as grub)

but either bug or or grub you see

i’ll always be snug as can be

where am i snug? i’m glad you asked!

(the answer’s truly clear as glass)

for as a bug who’s snug, you see

there’s only one place i could be!

snug as a bug in a rug i’m sure,

is something that you’ve heard before

a common phrase… a simple rhyme…

(matters little to most, just a throwaway line…)

but to me it’s something more,

for in that rug its ME who snores!

so next time you wish goodnight,

i wish you may, i wish you might,

remember bug, snug as can be

for in your rug that bug is me <3

Zephyrus ou Le Brise-Vent

My 2021 entry for my college illustration contest. We were tasked with creating a 5-page illustration children's book. Le Brise-Vent is the story of a young girl who befriends the western wind, Zephyrus. But in inviting it inside her house, faces the damage left by the unruly, uncontrollable wind.