Pick out a number and give it a name pack it with story and let it find fame read all its letters and hear all it says and let it surprise you in wise wordy ways. — Illustration courtesy of, and copyright, Jools Wilson. Follow her on Twitter.

Listen to the rain as you lie in your bed and wonder what the wind has said to the clouds above to make them cry and pour their hearts and wish to die. Which of the following two illustrations is your favourite? —

For me, finding an illustrator to bring stories to life for children isn’t a question of a choosing a style. It’s a question of choosing a vision. Interpreting a text can lead to mundane mirrors rather than the much more desirable doorways to new worlds which the best picture books represent. The key to finding…

Child. Stay on the small size Don’t become old or wise Always be first to rise Never wear shirts or ties. —

When eight-legged creatures fall from the sky They fall with a splash and become Octopi. They fall in a heap, they fall in a muddle And this, my dear friend, is a large Octopuddle. — I’m in an octopuzzle over how illustrators approach a piece of text. How can a single, tiny bit of nonsense…

How far away is the corner of your eye? Is it just past the hill where Lollopods lie? Is it up, it is down, around or abound, Is it miles from where the Falafulls are found? Is it under the sun or over the moon, Or hiding and waiting in just the next room? Is…

I heard a hornet with a cornet make a terrible noise. Beneath the moon it buzzed a tune and scared away the boys. — Stick around with Monday However bad it smells, Keep a hanky close at hand And ring upon your bells. — Out in space you’ll find your face soon breaks up into…

Read the story below and then buy it in a beautiful paperback edition. Illustrated throughout by Nicola Anderson. — Tiny the Giant was a giant, he was, and a giant needs big things to eat. So from under the tree by the old fish pond he licked his lips at the Moon. ‘I WILL EAT…