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A Stellar Year for Creator of The Bear and the Piano, David Litchfield
last updated 24 November 2017
David Litchfield is a picture book maker. His ideas are beautifully infectious — from page to stage, to screen — this journey is one to watch.
You only have to glance through David Litchfield’s own blog to see that this talented man owes his success, not only to the fact that he has beautiful ideas with artwork to match, but that his dedication to his audience, and the way he shares his gift means the legacy of his work will certainly stand the test of time along with greats like Maurice Sendak, and Judith Kerr.
Along with all of this, David is a pleasure to work with — always happy to attend events and run workshops, he has toured the country painting bookshop windows, and even a school wall. Not only that . . . but he has even brought The Bear and his Piano to music festivals this year, which certainly validates our founder’s long-standing claim that children’s picture book makers are the rockstars of our day.
David has now been nominated for a Kate Greenaway award, for not one but two of his books: Grandad’s Secret Giant, and The Building Boy with author Ross Montgomery.
In celebration of this exciting news, here are some highlights from his career so far . . .
June 2013: David talks for TedX in his home town of Bedford.
May 2014: David joins Bright having been spotted by Anne Moore Armstrong.
“I’m going to let you into a secret now, but when I quit my full time job to become an illustrator in January 2014 I was completely terrified.
But suddenly from out of the blue I received a message from Anne Moore Armstrong who had seen some of my work on twitter and asked if I would be interested in signing for Bright and developing ideas for picture books. And all my worries went away.” David Litchfield
— From Art School to Publication: Why Having an Agent is Key . . . Read full article
September 2015: Frances Linclon publishes The Bear and the Piano, which has now been translated into over ten languages and a beautiful electronic sounds book to boot!
April 2016: David Wins The Waterstones Book Prize in best Illustrated Picture Book category.
A Bear in every window for 2016 as David tours the UK with The Bear and the Piano.
April 2017: David’s second self-penned picture book, Grandad’s Secret Giant is launched at The Bright Emporium with Frances Lincoln.
June 2017: A Giant in every bookshop window across the UK and even a mural on a school wall!
July 2017: Camp Bestival with a live perfomance of The Bear and his Band!
September 2017: The Bear and the Piano is made into an animated film by Carrot Productions and goes on tour with The Snowman this Christmas along with full orchestra and narration by Joanna Lumley. Read more here.
November 2017 Grandad’s Secret Giant and The Building Boy nominated for a Kate Greenaway Award 2018.
Super chuffed to bits that both ‘Grandads Secret Giant’ and ‘The Building Boy’ are up for the @CILIPCKG #CKG18 prize Wow!! pic.twitter.com/ukqZo3x2xJ
— David Litchfield (@dc_litchfield) November 6, 2017
There is so much more than this — and if you’d like to have a look, visit David’s blog here.
If you’d like to work with David, you can reach him via his agent, Anne Moore Armstrong here.