Rebecca J Rose
Children's book writer, artist and illustrator
Two children enjoy an unexpected adventure when they peek inside the cover of a giant-sized book.
It's a grey day by Grey's Monument - but the umbrella provides a rainbow of colour.
Library bookshelves should never be too tidy.
The Big Book Adventure
I was one of twenty-two North-East emerging artists chosen to produce a new work inspired by a rare collection of books at Newcastle’s City Library.
I wrote and illustrated a 32 page children’s book.
I wanted to show the colour and inspiration that books give us, so my story starts with a very grey day in Newcastle; then each character introduces a new colour, until it becomes a rainbow of inspiration at the end.
My inspiration was the Fifth Size Books themselves. They are all tucked away in the library’s storerooms because of their size, and I loved the idea that they were hidden away and unseen; waiting to be discovered.
They vary greatly from technicolour black and white drawings of railway engineering works to vivid colour plates of Middle Eastern carpets. This inspired my use of colour in my book.
The book was printed and loaned out to children by Newcastle City Library as part of this Arts Council project, and the original artworks were displayed in the library exhibition in November 2017 for two weeks.
The book is now on sale through Tyne Bridge Publishing.