Between 1999 and 2002 Random House New Zealand commissioned me to illustrate four anthologies: 100 New Zealand Poems for Children; Another 100 New Zealand Poems for Children; 30 New Zealand Stories for Children and Another 30 New Zealand Stories for Children.
The collections gave me a wonderful opportunity to work with material from many Kiwi writers I admired. They also, in some cases, got me into a bit of a muddle...
In 100 New Zealand Poems for Children I decided to give each poem an illustrated block in which to place it’s number – which worked fine for about the first dozen. Then I had to wrack my brains to come up with ideas for the remaining 78 poems!
100 Poems number blocks.
To the Show
E Muriel Attewell
Skin
Bev Kemp
Tuatara
Lauris Edmond
Uncle Trev, Old Tip and Old Toot
Jack Lasenby
There’s a Solemn Wind Tonight
Katherine Mansfield
There is a solemn wind tonight
That sings of solemn rain;
The trees that have been quiet so long
Flutter and start again.
Original art from these poem and story collections are now for sale here