The Family Quiz, illustrated by Yasmeen Ismail, out now
last updated 09 April 2026
Who’s ready to answer the family quiz?
Let’s try to work out what a family is!
Illustrated by Yasmeen Ismail and written by Robert Tregoning, this joyfully inclusive picture book celebrates every kind of family - and the love that lies at the heart of each one. Published by Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) and available today! Get your copy here!
We caught up with Yasmeen to chat a little about this latest project.
The book celebrates family and togetherness—how did you reflect that visually?
I wanted to make sure that the illustrations really reflected Robert’s vision of everyone coming together whether they are in a traditional family unit or not. I had a vast array of characters who would come on together as if players in a play in various scenarios. So on each spread each character is playing a part to illustrate the meaning of family. The “togetherness” comes along in these images, but also in how they are all collaborating to tell the wider story in the book.
Do you have a favorite character or scene that you particularly enjoyed illustrating?
My favourites are the “Mums and Chums” spread, where we have our “players” being acrobats, and the lovely image of them all dancing in a circle holding hands.
The first image that I worked out was the “Snug like a scarf” spread. At first the boy was standing in the jaws of the crocodile, but we ended up with the croc doing a handstand, and the boy balanced on his feet. I did imagine that this picture was a story of adoption, the boy being loved unconditionally and accepted regardless of species (in this case!)
What do you hope young readers (and their families) take away from your illustrations? The best I can ever hope for with any book I work on is that someone enjoys looking at my pictures. When I am painting and planning I often find myself with a big grin on my face. I hope my illustrations can make someone else grin too.
Yasmeen is represented by Vicki Willden-Lebrecht. To work with Yasmeen, get in touch here.