Helen Kellock will see her first illustrated children’s book The Star in the Forest published next year. Helen has already won the Batsford Prize for Children’s Illustration and was highly commended for the Macmillan Book Prize. She also made the semi-finals of the international Adobe Design Achievement Awards.
The Star in the Forest tells the story of Maisie and Pip who decide to set out into the night to find a shooting star which they saw fall out of the sky and crash into the nearby forest. Driven by their curiosity, the girls navigate their way through the eerie forest towards the star and in doing so discover creatures and overcome their fears along their way.
Helen said: “I drew my first scribble for The Star in the Forest one night when I couldn’t sleep. I looked out of my window at the stars and, as I live beside a country park, I imagined walking through the trees with a torch. Suddenly I began drawing two little sisters and started to plot what they might be looking for and who they might meet along their journey.”
Editorial director Roger Thorp and commissioning & development editor Anna Ridley from Thames and Hudson said: “Helen came over from Glasgow to a portfolio review of new illustrators’ work that Vivian French kindly arranged when we came to Edinburgh to visit the Picture Hooks exhibition Vivian had organised at the Scottish Gallery of Modern Art.
“When we first saw Helen’s original artwork we knew we were looking at someone with remarkable talent. Helen’s illustrations for The Star in the Forest are so rich in atmosphere, they transport you to some other place entirely. As an art publisher, we are always on the lookout for illustrators like Helen who can present the world to us afresh and reveal something we hadn’t seen before.
“Combined with her charming story about the friendship between two siblings, Helen stood out as a young artist with incredible potential.”
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