"Drawing Words" is a new exhibition of children’s book illustration commissioned by the British Council, curated by the Children’s Laureate, Lauren Child, and shown in Bulgaria in partnership with the British Embassy.
The exhibition brings together some of the most exciting children's book illustration to come out of the UK in recent years − celebrating illustration as an art form for all ages.
While Peter Rabbit, Paddington Bear and Winnie the Pooh are universally recognised and demonstrate the rich history of children’s book illustration in the UK, Drawing Words looks to the future with contemporary illustrations of long-established illustrators as well as artists who are at the beginning of their career.
The exhibition features ten amazing illustrators from across the UK whose work makes an important and original contribution to contemporary British picture book illustration – a snapshot of a vibrant and flourishing sector.
"The ten illustrators exhibited in this show are all skilled artists who draw and paint beautifully. But more importantly, their work is distinctly personal, it is of them."
Lauren Child, curator of the exhibition
The "Drawing Words" exhibition is designed in the UK by the innovative Etcetera Studio with graphic design by Regular Practice.
The artists
Jill Calder, Robert the Bruce (Birlinn)
Lauren Carlin, A World of Your Own (Phaidon)
Rebecca Cobb, Aunt Amelia (Macmillian Children’s Books)
William Grill, The Wolves of Currumpaw (Flying Eye Books)
Emily Hughes, Wild (Flying Eye Books)
Yasmeen Ismail, Time for Bed, Fred! (Bloomsbury)
Neal Layton, Emily Brown and the Thing (Hodder Children’s Books)
David Mackintosh, Marshall Armstrong Is New to Our School (HarperCollins)
Emily Rand, A Dog Day (Tate Publishing)
David Roberts, Tinder (Hachette)
The "Drawing Words" exhibition is part of the programme of British Council and the British Embassy for marking the 80 years since the establishment of the first office of the British Council in Bulgaria and 140 years since the establishment of bilateral relations between Bulgaria and the United Kingdom.
Sofia City Library will be closed from 1 until 15 August.