Look what I was sent this week:
The lovely Missus B emailed to ask permission from myself and Damian Harvey. I'm not sure that she actually needed it, but it was lovely to be asked and even lovelier to listen to her reading our book.
If you have children of the right age (or just like to have a story read to you - I know I do...) then take a look.
Sadly, my one man show in Salford, Llamas in Pyjamas, has come down now, but the mixed show, Picture This!, has just opened at Gallery Oldham - hurrah! Things have been so crazy-busy that I haven't been to see it yet, but Anna, the curator, has sent me a couple of photos of the huge, vertical jigsaws they have created from a couple of my illustrations.
On the other side of the board, is another jigsaw, created from a spread from Giddy Goat by Jamie Rix:
0 Comments on Illustration Exhibition: Giant Children's Jigsaws as of 1/1/1900
Not a hill with berries, but Berry Hill Primary School in Mansfield. It's quite unusual for me to be doing school visits in January, yet this is the 2nd, not counting the lecture. 
And what a lovely school! All the children were really excited in advance and so they were all smashing sessions. I spent the whole day with KS1, and we had great fun with the stories.
I read Stinky!, which is a current fave, as I love getting them all to be the flies - 60 kids all buzzing together! I did my latest, Bears on the Stairs too, complete with rap poem (I even remembered the words this time!) and, of course, Class Two at the Zoo to Class Two. Plus, with Reception, we read An Itch to Scratch: I get them all singing, and scratching different bits of their bodies, to the tune of 'If You're Happy and You Know It', but changing 'happy' to 'itchy'!
They did great drawings too - nice to see children who are happy to do big images that fill the A3 paper edge to edge. The drawings here are the ones I did one the journey to Mansfield and back.
So many children bought signed books after school, that we ran out, so I have to spend most of this afternoon signing loads more, ready to post back to school - how lovely.
Thanks to everyone at Berry Hill - really nice to meet you all!
Remember the window display I'm working on for Sheffield city centre? Well, the roll of window vinyl came back from the printers on Friday. The courier arrived with a very heavy, very tall parcel - much taller than me. I couldn't wait to get it open!
The roll inside was 6ft wide and very, very long, so cumbersome in fact, that the only way to even unroll it, was over the dining table.
I then set about cutting out all the animals, to save time for the team at the other end. It was a bit tricky, as the vinyl kept flopping about, but it didn't take that long in the end.
It's all pretty exciting, as I'm imagining how dramatic they are going to look! The white is the backing paper, that peels off to leave clear, sticky-back plastic, much like the stuff we used to cover our books with, way back when.
This is stuck on to the inside of the window (apparently, you wipe the glass with soapy water first, which buys you re-positioning time), then another roll of white backing is stuck up behind the images, to make them more opaque and show up better.
If I've got it right, this then has to be cut to fit the animal shapes after they are actually up on the window, which sounds a pretty gruelling job. I will deliver them to the designer this week and then have to leave it to him and his team (which will be the hardest bit for me - I confess, I'm a bit of a control freak).
The publishers' sales reps are on the case, trying to arrange some kind of tie-in with the nearby Waterstones. Maybe an in-store event; not sure yet. I'll keep you posted and take LOTS of photos when it's done!
By: Lynne Chapman,
on 3/25/2015
I really like these drawings!
Thank you for coming to my school on Monday. I really enjoyed Stinky and I'm looking forward to my signed book. Mummy likes the picture of Mansfield Railway Station.
Issac Hibberd
Hello Isaac! So glad you enjoyed my visit. I had a fun time too.
Tell you Mummy 'thank you' and say hello to your class from me!