It’s been a brilliant couple of weeks for our immensely talented Children’s Book illustrator, Poonam Mistry.
Poonam, who illustrated the Agency’s first picture book, You’re Snug With Me, has been longlisted for the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal at the CILIP Carnegie & Kate Greenaway Children’s Book Awards 2019 for her first picture book, You’re Safe With Me.
Judged by children’s librarians, the awards celebrate the best in children’s writing and illustration respectively. The Chair of the judging panel at the awards, Alison Brumwell, said: “As Chair of the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medal 2019 judging panel, I am overwhelmed by the calibre of this year’s longlists. The authors and illustrators recognised this year for their outstanding achievements have produced works which entertain, challenge, inspire, and even outrage. The forty books selected by judges offer intimate insights into family life, superb world-building and thoughtful, incisive explorations of complex themes and issues.”
The shortlist will be announced on 19th March, and the winner will be announced on 18th June 2019.
Last week, it was announced that You’re Safe With Me has been longlisted for the Klaus Flugge Prize – awarded annually to an illustrator of a debut picture book. The shortlist will be announced on 15th May by illustrator Anthony Browne, one of this year’s judges, and the winner will be revealed on 11th September.
You’re Safe With Me, garnered a starred review from Kirkus Reviews, one of four starred reviews for the book.
Poonam’s second book, You’re Snug With Me, written by Chitra Soundar, was chosen as one of Kirkus’ best books of 2018, and was published in November 2018.
At the start of winter, two bear cubs are born, deep in their den in the frozen north.
“Mama, what lies beyond here?” they ask their mother.
“‘Above us is a land of ice and snow.”
“What lies beyond the ice and snow?” they ask.
“Beyond the snow is the ocean, full of ice from long ago.”
And as the earth dances on her toes and the nights get longer, the little bear cubs learn from their mother the secrets of the earth and their place in it, while their Mama whispers, “You’re snug with me”.
Published in the UK and US by Lantana Publishing, it is the second in the series from Poonam and writer Chitra Soundar.
Poonam Mistry is a freelance illustrator living in the UK. She graduated in 2010 with a degree in Graphic Design and Illustration at the University of Hertfordshire, and her style incorporates her love of nature and her Indian roots, exploring the relationships between pattern, shapes and colour.
