What Football Job Can You Do? Illustrations for a non-fiction book by Emma Juhasz for Mighty Shepherd Publishing

 My most recent illustration commission has been published!

What Football Job Can You Do? is the third in a series of non-fiction fully illustrated books for children aged six-years-old upwards. The series aims to educate children about jobs they might like to do when they're adults. Other books in the series are What do Vets do? and What do Construction Workers do?

What Football Job Can You Do? has 52 pages of: information about many different kinds of jobs in football; interesting facts about football; information about finding work in football in the UK and some fun activities. It was written by Emma Juhasz and published by Mighty Shepherd Publishing

What Football Job can you do? can be bought online on at EmmaJuhasz.com

If you'd like to know more about What Football Job Can You Do? and other books in the series contact Emma Juhasz. What Football Job Can You Do? is published by Mighty Shepherd.

What do Construction Workers do? Illustrations for a non-fiction book by Emma Juhasz for Mighty Shepherd Publishing

Front cover for What do Construction Workers do?

What do Construction Workers do? is the second in a series of non-fiction fully illustrated books for children aged six-years-old upwards. The series aims to educate children about jobs they might like to do when they are adults. The first book was What do Vets do? and more books are planned.

What do Construction Workers do? has 48 pages of: information about many different kinds of construction work and the equipment used; interesting facts about buildings and construction; information about finding work in construction in the UK and some fun activities. It was written by Emma Juhasz and published by Mighty Shepherd Publishing.

What Do Construction Workers Do? can be bought online on at EmmaJuhasz.com

If you'd like to know more about What Do Construction Workers Do? and other books in the series contact Emma Juhasz. What Do Construction Workers Do? is published by Mighty Shepherd.

Rovertown Dynamos vs. Mogford Juniors - a story about the camaraderie of football

The title page for the story. The main character's name is Bernie.

Rovertown Dynamos vs. Mogford Juniors is one of three illustrated stories I wrote and illustrated for a children's book published by The Neuro Foundation - a charity that supports people of all ages with Neurofibromatosis.

The Neuro Foundation wanted the book to be warm and life affirming and for one of the stories to be about bullying (they had requests about the other stories but I will talk about them another time).

At first I was worried about how I could write about bullying in a positive context and then I thought about setting the story in a football team.

I should point out that I know very little about the game of football, although I have been around football fans all my life somehow the game itself washes over me. However, my partner Mark Panton and our daughter have shown me something I can relate to - the positive side of the culture of football. They are both fans of Dulwich Hamlet FC in South London, a non-league club that goes out of its way to be inclusive and supportive of all kinds of people. Our daughter is autistic and has mild learning difficulties. She has been watching Dulwich Hamlet matches with Mark since she was very small and has been able to have a level of independence and interaction during the games that is difficult to achieve elsewhere. Both on and off the pitch there is warmth and camaraderie; my daughter is safe to wander around during matches and no one judges her.

It occurred to me that if a football player was insulted during a match their team would immediately rally round to support them. This was the starting point for Rovertown Dynamos vs. Mogford Juniors.

The teams in my story are both made up of girls. There are lots of stories about boys playing football and I feel that girls are too often overlooked. I know from experience with my daughter that girls can be passionate about the game and that there aren't enough opportunities for them to play. In my small way I am trying redress the balance a little by showing girls being good at football and being taken seriously.

The moments of emotion that are in any game of football helped drive my story along.

I won't give away the plot except to say that the main character has Neurofibromatosis and she is teased by an opponent because of one of the outward signs of the condition. But she is a great goalkeeper, her team help her see that it doesn't matter what others say about her and there is a happy ending.

The book is called Friends and it is available on The Neuro Foundation website.

You can find out about Dulwich Hamlet Football Club on their website and go to the FA website to find out about women's and girl's football.

Many thanks to Mark Panton for advising me on the detail of football games.

Friends – three illustrated stories for children with Neurofibromatosis

Friends by Amanda Lillywhite

I loved working on this book.

The charity I created it for, Nerve Tumours UK, was supportive and positive all the way through. They help to improve the lives of those affected by Neurofibromatosis and helped me understand the condition by introducing me to a specialist and to children with Neurofibromatosis. The children and their families spoke to me about their lives and experiences, I am grateful to them for their time and honesty - they were inspirational. 

I was commissioned to write and illustrate three life affirming stories that featured main characters with Neurofibromatosis. The Neuro Foundation wanted the stories to be fun, fully illustrated and easily accessible.

In the first story, The Windiest Playground in the World, Isaac wonders if he'll be able to make friends after moving to a new area.

Part of an illustration for The Windiest Playground in the World by Amanda Lillywhite.

The second story is Rovertown Dynamos vs. Mogford Juniors. Goalkeeper Bernie needs help from her team when an opponent says something mean about her.

Part of an illustration for Rovertown Dynamos vs. Mogford Juniors by Amanda Lillywhite.

The final story is The Missing Fish. Chandra is worried about a fish that seems to be missing from the waiting room tank when she goes for her regular check up at a clinic.

An illustration for The Missing Fish by Amanda Lillywhite.

Friends is available on The Neuro Foundation website, along with information about Neurofibromatosis and support for those with the condition.

One Hundred Thousand Jumpers - illustrations for a children's book about adoption

One Hundred Thousand Jumpers: written by Rachel Braverman and designed by Erik Christopher. Front cover typography, and all illustrations by Amanda Lillywhite. A book for children about an adopted girl.

When Rachel Braverman told me that she was looking for an illustrator for her story about an adopted girl I was immediately interested, especially when she said it was based on the real experience of adoption. I have an adopted daughter who came to live with us at 27 months old (she is now 14) so I am aware of the unique challenges that many adopted children face and I know that it is hard to find books that show the difficulties and joys of their experiences in an easy to read format*.

When I read the story I was impressed, Rachel has explored the fears of a newly adopted child but it is an uplifting read. Becca (that's her on the cover) has just arrived at her adoptive home. She immediately builds a rapport with her ready-made older sister, Fallon, and the family cat, Oscar. However her relationship with her new mother, Mummy Mo, is more difficult. The story is about how Becca learns to trust that this will be her forever family. It's also about knitted jumpers, Mummy Mo is a keen knitter, hence the title.

One Hundred Thousand Jumpers was designed by Erik Christopher. It is available in Kindle and print versions on Amazon.

If you have any comments or questions about the book please feel free to contact me via this blog, Facebook or Twitter.

*I am aware of the Tracey Beaker stories of course and I think they are brilliant but they are a bit too long and complex for some readers. This book has twenty four story pages split into five chapters and each chapter has an illustration.