I Am very proud to be the official
World Book Day Illustrator for 2019 and 2020.

World Book Day is a registered charity on a mission to give every child and young person a book of their own. It’s also a celebration of authors, illustrators, books and (most importantly) reading. In fact, it’s the biggest of its kind, designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, and marked in over 100 countries all over the world. Having worked with the team on the live events for a number of years, I was absolutely thrilled when campaign director Kirsten Grant asked me to perform this role for 2019 and 2020.

Click here to visit the official website

Animations by WeCanMake

For all of the marketing, promotional material and overall visual identity of the 2019 campaign, I came up with these little bookmark characters. Working alongside designers Nic&Lou, I drew over a hundred characters, the idea being that every child would have at least one that they would be able to identify with.

I also drew some author specific bookmarks…
(click on an image for more details)

The slogan behind the whole campaign was “Share a Story”. Spending just 10 minutes a day reading and sharing stories with children can make a crucial difference to their futures. By providing a free book to every child in the uk, we are hoping that more stories will be shared than ever before.  

We also made some physical bookmarks based on my characters that were given away at bookshops throughout the UK, complete with character appropriate book recommendations on the back…

In my capacity as the official World Book Day Illustrator, I was lucky enough to undertake lots of fun events as part of the promotional tour. Highlights included a visit to 10 Downing Street, appearances on BBC Breakfast and Blue Peter, filming a BBC Live Lessons show (broadcast to 4000 schools), performing at a World Book Day event underneath Concorde and visiting lots of schools. Here’s a few pictures…