Finally! I’ve handed in the final draft for the sequel to my YA novel Chinglish. I started back in December 2021 so it’s taken 3 and half years to complete - about the same amount of time it took for Chinglish. They were both bloody hard to write. No, I didn’t have to tell the [...]
My latest school event took me to Tyneside, where I used to live for 7 years, so I know it well and still have friends there - a great excuse for more visits. I did two days of drawing challenges based on my middle-grade Maddy Yip's Guide to...books, which went down a treat. The kids [...]
My first overseas author trip took me to Beijing and Shanghai, thanks to organisers Authors Abroad. A schedule like this is not for the faint-hearted, especially with jet lag. But I thank my 20 years in the London advertising industry for my ability to tough these kinds of things out. I have to say, it [...]
I've been an Empathy Lab member for four years, integrating empathy learning into my school sessions. Serious science goes on behind the work they do, for their mission to teach empathy skills to the next generations through reading. At Empathy Lab's 10th birthday party at the Artworkers' Guild, London, I met Imogen Bond, the new [...]
It's always a nice start to the new year when you get lured out of hibernation to do some people meeting, especially when it's at a central London Waterstones and the Christmas lights are still up. Anyway, the Diverse Book Awards is 5 years old! And to celebrate, a big group of past winners were [...]
These Rights Are Your Rights by Amnesty UK goes free range today, and we managed to get the whole team to celebrate at the publishers. It means a lot to be part of this project, so I want to thank Amnesty and Andersen Press for choosing me as illustrator. As an essential guide for kids [...]
I’m sticking an extra flake in my ’99 ‘cause Maddy Yip’s Guide to Holidays has only gone and been shortlisted for the LOLLIES Awards! The Laugh Out Loud Book Awards celebrates the best and funniest children’s books in the UK and Ireland, so I can't quite take in making the list. This is so much [...]
I’m a big fan of the 500 Words competition as the emphasis is on storytelling, imagination and creativity - not spelling, grammar and all that bumf. The awards were given at Buckingham Palace this year and I was invited because I illustrated one of winning stories. I can’t tell you how excited I was to [...]
I'm SO proud of Maddy Yip, my illustrated humour series for kids age 8+. We've laughed our ruddy socks over it for the past three years, but now it’s time to say goodbye and move onto the next exciting project. I'll leave you with this message I received from a parent: “I really wanted to [...]
I’m so lucky to bean Andersen Press author. The team is first class, and I get invited to grand publisher parties like this! It's especially exciting to meet authors and illustrators in the flesh that I've only chatted to online before - Zoe Antoniades is one example and was just as lovely as I'd imagined! [...]