NORTHERN HIGHLIGHTS EMMA REYNOLDS Why did you become a writer & illustrator? I've always loved writing and drawing and making up stories, since I was a kid! I used to make little books about these creatures I'd made up, and staple them together. Then I went on to study art in school and at university, and I fell in love with making picture books! After that I spent six years in the animation industry before signing with my agent in August 2018. I've been making picture books as an author-illustrator ever since. It is my dream job and I am so happy I ge t to tell my own stories now. My first illustrated book, 'Rescuing Mrs. Birdley' written by Aaron Reynolds, is out in July .  It's about a girl called Miranda Montgomery who is  obsessed  with the Nature Joe Animal Show where Nature Joe helps lost animals get back to their natural habitat. So when Miranda sees her teacher, Mrs. Birdley, outside of school in the supermarket... she knows...

NORTHERN HIGHLIGHTS CARYL HART Why did you become a writer? After my first child was born, we spent a lot of time in our local library in Sheffield and we read some GREAT books! We spent many happy hours reading both in the library and back at home. Books were a fundamental part of our lives and we read during the day, at bedtime, at potty time, at mealtimes, during nappy changing, in the car  -  you name it!  We always had a book on the go.   But I also read some poor-quality books and, one day, I came home from the library and said to my husband, "I could do better than that!". He replied, "Go on then..." and that's what got me started. Of course, I soon realised that writing picture books is a lot harder than it seems, but I kept going, and seven years later I got my first deals.                     Illustrated by Sarah Horne           ...

Welcome ...  Its a couple of months since we held our inaugural Children's Books North networking get together, and don't things look different now! It was a dark, rainy night when we all packed ourselves into a basement bar in Manchester's Northern Quarter to meet up with old friends, discover new ones, share a drink and talk about our plans for what we want CBN to become.  Thank you to so many of you for braving the typically Mancunian weather to join us and to bring with you your thoughts and ideas for the network. While there may be the small matter of a global pandemic stopping us from physically meeting again for a while, we've been taking your ideas and planning lots of ways to strengthen our ties, and celebrate the North.  For now, we're sharing some photos of the evening ... of biscuits, drinks and people standing alarmingly close to each other!  Emma, Liz and Tilda xx Children's Books North Trade press coverage in BookBrunch Delic...