Eva Eland grew up in Delft, Netherlands. She studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York as well as at the Cambridge School of Art, where she received a distinction in children’s book illustration. Eva won the 2020 Klaus Flugge Prize with When Sadness Comes to Call, which also won a V&A award, book cover category.  Where Happiness Begins was published in 2020.

With such a broad range of illustrations and all the different approaches to storytelling in the longlist of this year’s Klaus Flugge Prize - the prize for the most exciting newcomer in picture books - it has been very inspiring for me to delve into and analyse the books. The shortlist contains five very distinctive books, that feel fresh, original and demonstrate a high standard of work. Parents, children and book lovers in general are lucky with all the new picture books they can choose from these days.

The fact that the books and illustrations are very different from each other in how they look and what they accomplish, reminds me of just how many functions a book can have. Picture books can be these beautiful and rich objects we can share with each other, talk about, enjoy and be comforted by. They can invite us to reflect on our life, our relationships and put our feelings into words and images, giving us the vocabulary we might need to deal with some of the more complicated issues in life. They can offer an escape and stir our imagination, make us wonder and test our own understanding of the world and our preconceived ideas. Some might even encourage us to be brave, as they remind us of the things that truly matter and that we can always return home.

Illustration, and especially the space between text and image and how they relate to each other, has such a vital importance to bring all these elements out in a book. It can build worlds for the words to live in. For children, a picture book can be their first encounter with art and art, in turn, I think, can help stimulate an appreciation for the beauty that can be found all around us. An appreciation that will enrich our lives and help to cultivate a sense of childlike wonder.

To have a prize that is focused on illustration alone, and that encourages new talent by celebrating their work and giving them more visibility, is hugely important in a time where so many new books get published every year, and new makers might otherwise get lost.

The longlist for the Klaus Flugge Prize is well worth perusing, as each of the books has their own story to tell and there are some exceptional and original new voices in illustration that I’m sure we will see more of in the future.

From these books, five of them stood out in particular, and make up this year's shortlist.

My Red Hat by Rachel Stubbs is a tender tale, full of love, showing the relationship between a grandfather and child. They share stories, adventures and dreams together and we get a sense of all the things that a grandparent might want to pass down to their grandchild, and the encouragement they can offer to go and discover the world on their own. This story unfolds in a very organic way and at a gentle pace, from spread to spread, with the red hat as a visual and thematic thread holding the words and images together. The unusual landscape format and the hand drawn typography fit the story and the illustrations perfectly.

Rachel Stubbs cleverly depicts childhood, with all its ups and downs, and the moments when you might get lost but are found again and return home, ‘to where you belong’. The looseness of the marks and the delicate lines add to the gentle and imaginative atmosphere and the limited colour palette gives it that extra nostalgic flavour, cherishing the innocence of childhood and the special bond that can exist between child and grandparent.

A book that stands out for its very original approach to the illustrations is While You’re Sleeping, illustrated by John Broadley and written by Mick Jackson. The book takes us through a night and its creatures, workers and wanderers. With its absence of a story arch or protagonist, there is a consistency and rhythm to the words and images that could work like the perfect bedtime lullaby.

The bold lines, limited colour palette and collage of patterns are reminiscent of the great English print-makers of the thirties and forties like Eric Ravilious and Edward Bawden, yet it feels utterly unique and there is an otherworldly quality to the artwork, with its wonky perspectives and stiff characters, adding a layer of mystery to this whole different world that seems to emerge at night.

The way the light is depicted in this book caught my eye - for the dark nighttime spreads we see beams of yellow light, with the indoor spaces like the hospital using the white of the page to indicate brightly lit spaces. Time passes slowly in this busy night, with clever transitions from the left hand to the right hand page, some compositions framed by walls and lamp posts, and other spreads bleeding off the borders creating a sense of vastness and timelessness. Though this book doesn’t tell a conventional story, it leaves you with a lot of threads of little narratives and a diverse range of characters you could make your own stories for. The illustrations are so rich with detail, that you will have plenty of room to meander through this book, and its night, and wonder about all the different lives that people are living simultaneously, and maybe in doing so, one might slowly drift away to sleep.

I was immediately drawn to the painterly and colourful illustrations by Charlotte Ager for Child of Galaxies, written by Blake Nuto. I was already familiar with her work, and it was interesting to see how she managed to bring her world and visual vocabulary to this text, and give a lot of abstract and big ideas a sense of place to simmer, allowing them to expand their meaning further. The fluid quality of the textures, marks and sketchy pencil lines, combined with a changing colour palette that help shift moods and meaning, fit the poetic text perfectly. Sometimes the words are paired with bold compositions, using what looks like collage with painted paper, or using the very spacious white of the paper itself, creating a lot of room for interpretation. Other times the text is accompanied by a more sensitive and emotive image, with shades of a limited colour palette and directional painted marks, or, for example, looming tree figures that frame a child. Scale, colours, textures and mark making are used to great effect by Charlotte Ager. The meditation on nature and the beauty all around in the illustrations, even when ‘shadows persist’, will offer the reader a lot of opportunities to reflect on the abstract ideas the text offers.The diverse range of characters makes this book feel inclusive and directed to all of us, just like the text reminds us we’re all made ‘from the stuff of the stars’.

Gustavo, the Shy Ghost is a classic story in its essence, about a shy little ghost wanting to make friends, who overcomes his own fear and reaches out. A story that will be relatable and comforting for those who experience similar shyness and insecurities (though I bet at times we all have a little bit of Gustavo in us and will recognise the universal fear of not being seen and invited to play). It’s hard not to like this character or not identify with the moments of longing and hesitation (oh, just imagine the anguish of missing a good opportunity like getting ‘eye-scream’ because you were too shy! Or wanting to get close to the girl you love but not knowing how to make yourself noticed).

This book is filled with details, textures, references and full of the strangest, yet adorable, creatures, that reappear throughout the book, with a lot to discover on each spread, making this book a joy to read and I imagine one to read again and again, reminding little ones that they are not alone.

The structure of the story and the pairing of text and image are very well crafted, there is not a word too much, and though the images are full of details to be enjoyed, it never feels cluttered or distracting, which is a remarkable feat. There is a strong sense of place, grounded in warm and muted colours, with Mexican influences and many references to The Day of the Dead, classic horror films and monsters. The palette of muted colours contrasted with warm orange and Mexican pink, and clever use of negative space as well, are integral to the storytelling and add to the sense of drama, and calm, where needed. Everything in this book, from cover to the final end papers, appears to be very considered, yet there is a light and playful touch that feels very generous and authentic, and Flavia Z Drago, not unlike Gustavo playing the violin, seems to reach out to us, the reader, by sharing her passion for illustration, storytelling and monsters, uncovering some of our deepest fears and longings with this very universal story.

I’m Sticking with You, illustrated by Steve Small and written by Smriti Halls is a character driven story, exploring friendship and the push and pull we can sometimes experience within relationships, especially with those people that are so very different to ourselves.

Bear and squirrel are very loveable characters, and Steve Small has allowed himself to zoom in on them, using only minimal background elements and props to nudge the story along, on otherwise crisp, white pages. The disparity between text and image is where the story is told and where the deadpan humour lays. The timing, scale and body language of the characters are always spot on, adding to the comedy and betraying Steve Small’s background in animation. There is a lovely twist in the book, emphasised by using a black background, and a change of direction to where the characters are going. Here we finally get to see and read the perspective of squirrel, who, after announcing he needs more space, actually misses his overBEARing friend a lot. An almost empty page shows his sudden understanding, and creates a very effective pause before he rushes back and we near the end of this story.

Looking at all these shortlisted books and seeing the different ways in which they excel and exemplify what illustration can do, reassures me that there are so many ways to tell a story, and so many stories to tell still. But also just how important it is to cultivate your own, unique (visual) storytelling voice as a picture book maker. The essence of the stories might not be new in any way - but the ways they are told feel original and personal, and give the reader the possibility to connect with the story, ideas and characters. I can’t wait to see what Steve Small, Flavia Z Drago, Charlotte Ager, John Broadly and Rachel Stubbs have in store for us in the future.

Find out more about the Klaus Flugge Prize on the website.

Do check out the picture gallery below showing:
Cover illustration and spreads for My Red Hat
Cover illustration and spreads for While You Are Sleeping
Cover illustration and spreads for Gustavo the Ghost
Cover illustration and spreads for I'm Sticking with You
Photograph of Eva Eland, copyright Signefotar

A big thank you to Eva Eland for a fantastic blog overview and to the Klaus Flugge Prize for the opportunity.