SHAZAAAaam - Life is Magic by MAGNIFICENT Meg McLaren

Buy a copy HERE 

ALAKAZAM and piff paff poof, 

It's almost here! 

Life is Magic by Meg McLaren

publishes this week!

I have been waiting years for this book, literally YEARS, I first spotted Meg's exquisite work whilst browsing the magical world of Twitter, ever since I've been completely smitten. 
I was a thousand million miles over the moon when I heard that brilliant Libby Hamilton at Andersen Press had finally pulled this magnificent book out of the big publishing Top Hat. 
Meg's illustration style is delicious, cute but not too cute, cool yet uniquely accessible and full full FULL to the brim with clever humour and cheering charm. 

Life is Magic is nothing short of perfection, featuring a merry band of good-willed bunnies who belong to famous magician Monsieur Lapin. 
The great magician needs a new assistant and he thinks he knows just the rabbit for the job, Houdini is everything a good magicians assistant needs to be, he LOVES magic, he's good at looking after his fellow bunnies and he is very VERY enthusiastic.....What could possibly go wrong? Mayhem and back stage anarchy ensue in this picture perfect celebration of the wonderful world of magic. 

Although it is only March, 2016 has already been an interstellar year for children's books and in terms of book design Life is Magic is the creme de la creme. 

The attention to detail from the dust jacket with it's 'make your own magic trick' to the the hardback casing and the tiny advertisements dotted throughout, this book is an example of the love, passion and thought that goes into producing a truly magnificent book for children and adults alike. (Congratulations to all involved) 

Click HERE to learn how to draw your very own bunny! 

Click on the button in the right hand banner

 to visit Meg's website. 

Follow Meg on Twitter @tinyrexwrecks 

Visit the Andersen Press Website

How to draw Squirrel & Mole by Ciara Flood

To celebrate the publication of Ciara Flood's fabulously delicious second picture book with Templar Publishing 'The Perfect Picnic'  we have an amazing step by step guide to drawing your very own Mole and Squirrel! 

We'd love toy see your doodles so do tweet us @maybeswabey @TinyFlood! - Have fun! Happy sketching. 

Buy a copy of the book here! 

National Hug Day with David Melling and Hugless Douglas

HIP HIP HOORAY 

it's National Hug Day! 

What better way to celebrate such a special day than to welcome dear friend of the Sniffer and creator of none other than Hugless Douglas himself Mr David Melling! 

David popped up to Sniffer Towers to give us a sneak peek at some of the development work from his latest fabulous Hugless Douglas adventure 

'Hugless Douglas and the Great Bake Off' 

published by Hodder Children's Books in March. 

Take a look: David Melling talks about Hugless Douglas 

DAVID:  I usually start building ideas by doodling random scenarios of the main characters, then hopefully picking up threads that could lead to a story idea. I can often draw most of a story before I get to the writing.

David: Douglas licking finger 'Whose been walking on MY bed?'

DAVID:  Honey glazed sheep hanging from tree, Douglas finds his missing honey - 'Why are you wearing my honey?' asked Douglas

DAVID: The afterglow effect of consuming many honey cakes.

DAVID: Watching paint dry...(masking out honey foot prints)

DAVID: Last spread showing detail of the sheep as they demonstrate how to decorate honey cakes; rolling out chocolate icing

Follow These guys on Twitter

@DavidMelling1

@HuglessDouglas1

@hodderchildrens 

Visit David Melling's website here 

Find some fantastic Hugless Douglas downloadable activity sheets HERE! 

See the full range of Hugless Douglas books here 

COMPETITION

You could #WIN this bumper pack of Hugless Douglas books by David Melling, including copies of Hugless Douglas, How to Hug with Hugless Douglas, Happy Birthday Hugless Douglas AND Hugless Douglas Goes to Little School! 

HOW DO YOU ENTER? It couldn't be easier, send me a picture of a cake that you have baked! it can be a drawing OR a photo, you can tweet it to me on Twitter @maybeswabey or post it on my Facebook page or even email it to me emma.booksniffer.odonovan@gmail.com 

#huggyduggycomp 

A winner will be picked at 5pm on the 28th Jan - 

SORRY UK only 

A HUGE HUG and a big THANK YOU to David Melling 

and Hodder Children's Books

The Perfect Picnic by Ciara Flood!

Almost exactly this time last year I was thrililled to have Those Pesky Rabbits by Ciara Flood in my greedy book sniffing paws, It was a triumph of a picture book and the last I had the pleasure of working with Libby Hamilton at Templar Publishing on. To celebrate Ciara designed a FABULOUS 'How to Draw a Pesky Rabbit' guide for us, you can see that here! ! We had some fantastic entries in our competition, and I was beyond thrilled to see so many Pesky Rabbits popping up on my Twitter feed. 

Well it's time to celebrate and get the bunting out once again as this February sees the publication of Ciara's second book 'The Perfect Picnic' 

Pre Order NOW  £6.99 PB - Published by Templar Publishing 

Squirrel and Mole make the most delightful pairing, chalk and cheese they muddle along together best of friends and planning the perfect picnic together is just the ticket for a grand day out. Alas best laid plans result in near disaster as one by one the delicious picnic treats get lost along the way and they can't agree on the perfect picnic spot. Will the animals they meet along the way be able to save the day? and will Squirrel and Mole ever agree on whether to put butter in the sandwiches or not? You'll have to read to find out.  

Illustrated with unimaginable skill, the creatures in this book are simply brimming with life, each expression created with such thought and insight you will be completely charmed. The delicious textural pencil lines give you the feeling of having a sneak peek inside a magical hand drawn sketch book and the warm buttery colour pallet casts my mind back to basking under a tree on a balmy summers day.  

Ciara has created a book written with such a wonderful subtle humour children will be pleading to hear this story over and over again, not least to catch another delicious glimpse at that most magnificent  strawberry cake I have seen in a picture book for many years! 

Bravo Ciara, let's see what next year brings! 

HOW TO DRAW MOLE - COMING SOON! 

BUY THE BOOK HERE 

Psssst - You might like to make a delicious Honey Cake for your picnic, here's how! 

FOLLOW Ciara on Twitter