The Artist

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Ed also works on many projects related to his books . . . from speaking at festivals fromRio to Mexico toKerala, tocurating festival experiences in the UK, tolive drawing onstage at The Barbican Centrealongside the Britten Sinfonia, and atThe Wigmore hall withthe Neil Cowley Trio. A young dinosaur artist (looking a bit like a T-rex but a cute one) sees the dinosaur world as full of joy and beauty, something that some dinosaurs are too busy to notice. She sees all that, draws and paints it and makes it into her art. Later she decides to go live in the city with lots of empty walls to paint so more people can see her art and really look. But she has a crisis of confidence when she starts to make mistakes and colour outside the lines - she almost gives up on art until she finds out it’s the heart in art that really matters. By the time a child arrives at primary school they’re able to use this visual vocabulary creatively when they‘read’pictures and when they draw, yet we don’t harness either. Worse still, most children have given up drawing by the age of 9 or 10 (believing there’s a right and wrong way – there isn’t). In doing so, they lose a vital form of self-expression which they don’t have another outlet for. Careless of us in these times where we’re supposedly more aware than ever of emotional wellbeing. Bedtime for Monsters' was shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize in 2011 and the next year Ed had the honour of being one of the four Roald Dahl Funny Prize judges, along with Michael Rosen. From the award-winning Ed Vere comes a joyful and inspirational celebration of beauty, mistakes and the artist in all of us

Puffin started out as a non-fiction publisher, with its first title appearing in 1940. As the most iconic and well-known children’s book brand in the UK today, we are always on the lookout for innovative ways to tell the world’s favourite stories and for brilliant new debut talent and brands that connect with today’s young readers, from newborn up to twelve years old. As a writer who also draws, I’m interested in how we connect with another person through words and pictures. How we engage, how we animate, how we get an idea to live in another mind. When I read to children, I’m endlessly amazed by the power of a picture book. That a character is grippingly alive for those kids. An inky drawing of an enormous, lonely gorilla playing a piano, transforms in the mind into a living breathing being, deserving of love. It blows my mind. Every time. Vere is the 2020 Illustrator in Residence for Booktrust. While there he will champion drawing in primary education and attempt to start a national conversation about the benefits of drawing for mental health. How to Be a Lion, by Ed Vere (Penguin Random House, June 2018) Nominated for the 2019 Kate Greenaway Medal and the 2019 Carnegie Medal Vere has worked with the Britten Sinfonia and the Neil Cowley Trio to stage live concerts for schools and family audiences. With the Britten Sinfonia, adaptations of Mr Big and Max the Brave have been staged in concerts which bring together live drawing and classical music, the most recent at The Barbican Centre. The concerts were devised with and presented by Hannah Conway.Yn ddiweddarach, mae hi'n penderfynu mynd i fyw yn y ddinas gyda llawer o waliau gwag i'w paentio fel bod mwy o bobl yn gallu gweld ei chelf ac edrych o ddifrif. Ond mae hi'n colli'i hyder pan mae hi'n dechrau gwneud camgymeriadau a lliwio y tu allan i'r llinellau. Mae bron â rhoi'r ffidl yn y to â'i chelf nes iddi sylweddoli mai'r galon yn y celf sy'n wirioneddol bwysig. Positive role models showing boys how to be a whole person are few and far between these days. This marvelous book triumphs in that essential job." Kirkus We understand complex expressions and emotions through drawings from a very early age, in ways we can’t yet do with the written word or spoken language. Someone who sees beauty... Someone with a mind full of colours, feelings, and ideas... Someone who plays and dreams and makes... Vere travelled to Kenya in early 2019 to explore, paint and write about Born Free’s work. Writing about and painting lions, their natural habitats and the local populations they live alongside. Discovering the work Born Free does to ensure that the world's remaining 20000 wild lions have a secure and sustainable future. Ed and Born Free will be publishing a book in 2022. There will also be an exhibition and fund-raising auction.

Publishers Weekly- 'Even if readers don't need encouragement to unleash their own talents, they should be intrigued by this protagonist's arc toward artistic assurance.' Realizing that making mistakes is part of the process could be a game-changer for the many kids who can't conquer their discouragement when their art falls short of their expectations Booklist

As I mentioned at the beginning,it’s about howwe connect with another person. By using drawing and pictures, we engage, we animate - we get an idea to live in another mind. From the moment a child comes into the world they are searching for visual clues. Trying to understand if you are friend or foe, through facial expression and body language. Pictures speak this language fluently. Pictures intimate emotions, feelings and nuances that words cannot because of this sophisticated visual vocabulary (which we are constantly building). Pictures are open to interpretation – there’s nothing concrete to get right or wrong - which means they’re open to discussion. Ed has worked extensively in schools across the UK and abroad running reading and drawing workshops... including teachingat International Schools in Kathmandu, Nanjing &SauPaolo. For that to happen the Power of Pictures author/illustrators must re-instill a sense of drawing confidence in the teachers we’re teaching. Many haven’t drawn since they were at primary school. We demonstrate a few simple confidence-building drawing exercises which show how a character can be easily created. From there a drawn character can interact with another. An idea for a story often sparks soon after. Booklist- 'Realizing that making mistakes is part of the process could be a game-changer for the many kids who can't conquer their discouragement when their art falls short of their expectations.'

Vere describes the book as 'a painted and written travelogue, a journey of discovery, it aims to engender a love of nature in a world increasingly disconnected from it. The book will discuss issues around freedom, conservation and what we can do to create a world in which wildlife thrives, rather than perishes.' The book aims to properly discuss the issues at hand and consequently is aimed at a wide-ranging audience from 8 year-old to adult. Sunday Times Children's Book of the Week(Ireland)-'Perfect for creative minds, Ed Vere’s beautiful children’s book The Artistfollows a young dinosaur on a mission to share her art with others...This book features joyful illustrations and a powerful message about what it means to be an artist.' - Lynn Enright This witty, resonant picture book is a manual for anyone's life, young or old." Sunday Times Children's Book of the Week Vere staged 'Mr Big plays Jazz' at Wigmore Hall, London & Birmingham Symphony & Town Halls with the Neil Cowley Trio. Vere worked with CLPE to co-create the Power of Pictures, a 12-week scheme in which author/illustrators teach teachers about writing techniques.A piece written for 'Teach Primary' magazine about my 'Power of Pictures'visual literacy work with CLPE) I struggled enormously with literacy projects at school, English comprehension was an unending nightmare. I just didn’t get it. Drawing was another matter. Some children are academic thinkers – others, just as bright, think in other ways; spatially or visually. We must learn how to engage them, so they don’t come to believe, as I did, that they aren’t worth much.