Guest Post: Illustrating Sophie Johnson - Ella Okstad

I'd love to give a warm welcome to Ella Okstad today, who has written a great post about coming up with the initial illustrations for a new picture book series and to share some of her early sketches! I'm very much a fan of Ella's style and it's one which I admire and would love to be able to emulate!

Illustrating Sophie Johnson - Ella Okstad

When I first read the Unicorn Expert it was instantly clear to me how Sophie would look. As she is a self-confessed expert on unicorns and a detective genius it was very important to capture this in how she moves and behaves. For the Unicorn Expert, the publisher sent me a link to a John Lewis Insurance commercial video to describe her personality which I felt was really on point.


I wanted her to have a simple stripy dress and a couple of thin legs. This way it would be quite easy to mover her around. Her face is dominated by a large pair of round glasses which gives her an important look; she is, after all, an expert and it also makes room for lots of different expressions.

Whereas Sophie's look came quite instantly, the real Unicorn was a little more tricky. At first, I imagined it to be quite flamboyant with a more horse-like body and a long wavy tail and mane. Then after re-reading the text and sending a couple of emails back & forth, we decided to go with the chubby quite insecure type of unicorn. It is, after all, seeking unicorn advice from the world's best unicorn expert!

In Detective Genius, Bella the dog is always there with an attentive look keeping an eye on Sophie. She is the true detective!



The guinea pig from Unicorn Expert can be spotted a couple of times in Detective Genius. Have another look and see if you can spot it hiding in the pages!

Review Links

Sophie Johnson: Unicorn Expert

Sophie Johnson: Detective Genius

Daddy Hairdo - Francis Martin & Claire Powell

A hilarious story for anyone who has ever had to tangle with a head full of hair!

When Amy is born she doesn’t have much hair. Not for long! Soon her hair is the stuff of fairy tales - so long she could throw it down a tower to let up a handsome prince. Only, hair this long is also really inconvenient, especially on windy days. So Amy’s dad comes up with some innovative solutions, and soon EVERYONE wants one of Daddy's Hairdos!

I'm a huge fan of picture books, for both children and adults alike, so when the opportunity came up to review Daddy Hairdo I jumped at it! With stunning illustrations by Claire Powell, illustrator of Have You Seen My Giraffe? this is Francis Martin's picture book debut.

Before I got a chance to read it the twins grabbed it and devoured it, so I had to wait my turn but it was worth the wait. Full of whimsical but stunning illustrations between them Claire & Francis have come up with a picture book that is a delight to read. 

Amy might not have had much hair to start with but soon she is out-Rapunzeling Rapunzel and it's up to Daddy to come up with some inventive hairstyles to allow Amy to carry on! Some of the wonderful masterpieces though, mean that Amy can't do the things she wants to. The Triple Beehive, for example, means she can't visit the sweet shop and my personal favorite, the Castle In The Clouds, means playing hide-and-seek isn't very much fun. This all leads to Amy's own favorite Daddy hairdo, which you'll need to read the book to discover...

The twins loved Daddy Hairdo, especially F, as he loves to play with hair and everyone always assumes that this is very much a 'girl' thing to do. I can assure you it's not, and over the years F has come up with some inspiring hairdos of his own. This is quite possibly one of the best, sadly without a name, but involves bobbles, clips, and a blanket!

Daddy Hairdo - Francis Martin & Claire Powell

ISBN - 9781471147876

Publisher - Simon & Schuster

Release date - September 6th, 2018

Find - Book Depository

Francis Martin can be found here on Twitter, whilst Claire is on Twitter here, and her website can be found here.

Huge thanks to Olivia, and S&S for inviting me to take part in this fantastic blog tour! Do check out some of the other stops for the inspiration behind the story and other reviews.