Hans de Beer

Hans de Beer is a favourite artist of mine.  He has written and illustrated many books for children.
His very well known ones feature Lars the little Polar bear and his adventures.

I have other books that are beautifully illustrated by him.  He has a muted approach with watercolour and delicate inkwork in his art work. His animal characters always show great empathy without going overboard in the facial expressions.

Ollie the Elephant

Little Polar Bear

Illustration Hans de Beer

Ahoy There Little Polar Bear

Prince Valentino

 All his works are worth looking at for his fine drawing and reading for the amusing and heartwarming stories written by Hans de Beer and other authors.

Jean Chapman

I was very sorry to hear of the loss of Jean Chapman recently.  She was an author who wrote specifically for young people and made a long lasting impact and contribution to the world of children's literature.
She was a lovely person with a lively humorous spirit.

My sister Kilmeny and I were fortunate to have illustrated many of her stories over the years.
Jean compiled various collections of folk tales, poems, activities and songs, retold in her easy going style with close attention to detail.

Her works have been consistently popular, and although the collections I mentioned are now out of print, they are well represented in libraries around Australia.

The illustrations below are from the book, Tell Me Another Tale, a collection written and compiled by Jean Chapman, and first published in 1976.  Kilmeny and I had a great time creating some imaginative illustrations inspired by Jean's writings.

Jean will be sadly missed.

 

 

All illustrations are by Deborah and Kilmeny Niland.

Korean edition of Double Trouble!

I've recently received advance copies of the Korean edition of my book Double Trouble.
This is a story of the day to day antics of twin toddlers.

Originally published in English by Penguin Books Australia, this new edition has been published by Glbburi in South Korea in 2011.
It is a beautiful production.

No matter what language my story is in, I'm sure twins do the same funny things all over the world.

The magic of twins

I enjoyed the opportunity to portray a day in the life of twin toddlers in my book Double Trouble.

Being a twin I can well remember the sense of unity our twinship had.
Always someone there to share the good times, and always someone there to commiserate with you during difficult times. I saw it as an advantage in my life and never envied the status of the 'sole trader'.
There is a special bond between twins.

Double Trouble was published as a picture-book by Penguin Books Australia in 2008. The story and illustrations were great fun to do.


Some of these illustrations are shown below.

Who can jump higher?

United in purpose

Feeling proud and pleased with creative work

Equally matched