Book illustration
Cyril the Squirrel and his Adventures through the Seasons
written by Jessica Christie, illustrated by Helen Leslie
“Helen is a joy to work with. I appreciated her professional and approachable manner when it came to working on the illustrations for my book.
This was a new venture for me so I was grateful Helen was able to stay flexible, adapting the illustrations as needed.
I am thrilled with the end result and if you’re thinking about working with an illustrator, I would definitely recommend Helen.”
Me with the published book!
A tale for young children
Jessica contacted me via social media to ask if I’d like to create the illustrations for a story she had written and would be publishing. It’s been a long-held ambition of mine to illustrate children’s books so I jumped at the chance. Jess’ writing brings together the magical and mystical with the natural world, which we both felt
worked well with my illustrative style. We share a love of vintage children’s books and paintings, English woodlands and the magic of fairies, toadstools and imaginative worlds.
We worked together to create visual drafts for each part of the story, which tells of Cyril the Squirrel’s magical adventures through the four seasons and the characters he meets along the way.
We made sure to include many little details and creatures for young children to spot as they are listening to the story, so something new can be noticed each time.
We both love the resulting tale, which we are sure will delight parents and children and spark imaginations, especially as the seasons change. Do you believe in fairies and pixies?