For Dog Lovers

David Shannon has a special way with dogs.  Any dog owner reading or looking at this book will recognize that the author has nailed it.  The illustrations captures the quirky nature of Fergus, his beloved West Highland terrier.

The pictures below are from Good Boy, Fergus. It was written and illustrated by David Shannon, and published by The Blue Sky Press in New York.

A funny cheerful book for children.

Annie's Chair

Annie's Chair is the title one of my children's books which I wrote and illustrated.  First published in 2005 by Penguin Group Australia, it has been incredibly successful with editions published in Korea, China, USA and Canada.

I have received some lovely letters and emails from kids about this book.

You can read more about Annie's Chair here.

I based the dog in the story on my own beautiful dog.  He's been a great companion and enjoys life every day.  He still thinks he's a puppy even though his increasing white whiskers betray that notion.

I have created an activity for the kids based on an illustration from my book.
Click on the image to print out in the size you want, and colour in bright colours.

Some Black and White Illustrations

I've been looking through a lot of my older work of late, scanning and sorting. 

The works below are from a title published way back last century, in 1974.
The title of the book is Tell Me A Tale, stories retold and copyrighted by Jean Chapman and illustrations copyrighted by Deborah and Kilmeny Niland.

It's weird looking at your ownl work again after such a long time.  It was gratifying to see that the originals are so much finer and delicate as compared with the printed version.  As an illustrator you tend to forget that the printed work can be quite dissimilar to the original art.

Printing methods today are so much better which means good quality is more easily achievable in book production.

A Niland Art Exhibition

 
I've been busy the last couple of months sorting, painting and framing many of my works to be exhibited alongside my sister Kilmeny's fabulous array of her own paintings from her art collection.

This exhibition is presented as a tribute to Kilmeny's lifelong interest in art and will be held at the Artarmon Galleries in Sydney from the 6th to the 23rd October, 2012.

There will be a wide variety of artwork on show and for sale: original illustrations from books, oil paintings, watercolours, ink, humorous paintings, serious paintings, enigmatic paintings, portraits of people and portraits of fruit. There will be a scattering of hippos, monkeys and cows, dogs and cats, but no pigs.
You'll see big paintings and tiny paintings.

Come and visit the gallery if you are interested in book illustration and painting. Kilmeny has left a beautiful legacy.

Some more paintings on show from the exhibition.

Kilmeny Niland

Deborah Niland

Annie's Chair

I've recently received copies of my book, Annie's Chair, which has been published in a new Chinese edition.
The publisher is Beijing King Ear Images.  It looks a beautiful production!

I believe this edition is not available in Australia but copies are selling online from here.

Here are some pictures from the book.

Let's Play!

I've written and illustrated this book for very young children.
Using bright colours and a simple theme, this story takes a look at friends having fun together in the playground.
The version shown below is the delightful Spanish edition published by Kane / Miller Book Publishers in California.

Let's Play! Cover of Spanish edition

Red Dog climbing

Blue Cat and Yellow Bird Swinging

 This story tells of three friends having a great time by sharing and co-operating with each other.

A favourite book

Mister Dog is a childhood favourite!
The combination of the quirky story by Margaret Wise Brown and the perfect illustrations by Garth Williams makes this one a winner.

It was many years later before I stumbled on a reprint and I had just as much enjoyment from this book as I did when I was a child.

Garth Williams (1912-1996) as an illustrator was able to convey the furriness and character of the many animals he drew in his books.  As a child this is what appealed to me looking at his illustrations.

Garth Williams has a well-known reputation as an artist, writer and illustrator. His classics include Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little.

From an obituary article by Mel Gussow in The NY Times 1996:

"In his review of "Stuart Little" in The New York Times Book Review in 1945, Malcolm Cowley praised the book as "one of the best children's books published this year," but never mentioned the name of the illustrator (often Mr. Williams's fate)."

Another quote from Mel Gussow:

"He (Garth Williams) believed that books "given, or read, to children can have a profound influence." For that reason, he said, he used his illustrations to try to "awaken something of importance . . . humor, responsibility, respect for others, interest in the world at large."

May Garth Williams continue to delight generations of children with his thoughtful, skilled and humorous illustrations.