WIN $150 GIFT VOUCHERS: ALADDIN'S GOLD
Dapo Adeola is an illustrator, author and character designer who rocketed into the picture book world with his greatly acclaimed illustrator debut, Look Up!, written by Nathan Bryon, which won the Waterstones Children's Book Prize in 2020. Dapo illustrated My Dad is a Grizzly Bear and My Mum Is a Lioness written by award-winning author Swapna Haddow, and collaborated with Malorie Blackman on their picture book We're Going to Find the Monster. Dapo is the author of Hey You!: An Empowering Celebration of Growing Up Black, featuring eighteen talented Black British illustrators. Born in Britain and of Nigerian heritage, Dapo's work tends to revolve around creating characters and imagery that challenge gender norms and equality politics in a fun and upbeat manner. An avid believer in the importance of equal representation in the creative arts, Dapo runs illustration and character design based workshops with children and adults to help highlight the possibilities of a career in illustration to inner city people of various ethnicities. Dapo lives in London and in 2022 he was named Illustrator of the Year at the British Book Awards.
Bursting with humour, defiance and the joy of the title, it features mythical whales, young boxing champions, talking books and the taste of Nan’s jollof rice. A beautiful book for 8+ to give as a gift, or keep in the school library. -- Imogen Russell Williams * Guardian * An exuberant collecction of stories, poems and pictures by 40 writers and as many illustrators . . . full of delight: warm stories of success and making friends -- Nicolette Jones * The Sunday Times * outstanding book . . . although a book for children, it is a must for adults as well! -- Laura Henry-Allain MBE, author of My Skin, Your Skin and creator of CBeebies' JoJo and Gran Gran characters A joyous collection of stories and poems celebrating Black voices, with universal appeal. The perfect gift for any child ready to dive into a variety of voices and situations * BookTrust * A wonderful collection of short stories and poems from 40 black writers and illustrators including Alex Wheatle, Malorie Blackman, Sharna Jackson and Snalo Ngcaba. This is one to be dipped into and savoured with stories about the joy of baking crumble or capturing the love to be found at a wedding or stories where bicycles become spaceships of the imagination. Brilliantly curated by Dapo Adeola and beautifully produced in hardback by publisher Two Hoots. -- Joseph Coelho, Waterstones Children's Laureate This is indeed a joyful book, beautifully produced, and recommended -- Diana Barnes * Books for Keeps * Joyful Joyful is visual feast and a collection of dazzling stories and poems . . . could make any child fall in love with books forever -- David Walliams
