Children’s illustration is one of the most popular fields and many young artists often dream of some day illustrating a children’s book, or writing and illustrating a book of their own. It is important to be advised that the odds of landing a contract to illustrate a children’s book with a major publisher are somewhat low. This is not intended to discourage you from attempting to crack into this market, but rather to clarify the realities of achieving success in a very competitive field; publishers often look at dozens of artists for a children’s book before making their choice.
The good news is that the children’s illustration market is not restricted to children’s books. It also includes children’s magazines as well as educational publishing and comic book art. In fact, working in these related satellite markets (art for coloring books, game box covers, and educational publishing) is an excellent means to not only developing a strong “kid’s” style, but also a way to learn the ropes of the industry as a whole, and may even eventually lead to illustrating that children’s book you may be dreaming about.
Eye Count, A Book of Counting Puzzles © 1995 Chronicle Books / Linda Bourke
The Last Job © 2014 Michał Dziekan
Sunflowers © 2014 Irena Roman
The Attack © 2014 Nicholas McNally
Pirate Read © 2014 Robbie Short
Stitchburgh-Fanny Featherbottom and Dr. Darnit Illustrations
© 2014 Pomegranate / Ilene Winn-Lederer
Snow Fight! © 2013 Katia Wish