Illustrator and writer Sarah McIntyre is easy to spot in her pointy glasses and hats. Sometimes she writes and draws picture books and comics herself, sometimes she illustrates books for other people, including Giles Andreae, Alan MacDonald, Gillian Rogerson, Anne Cottringer and Claire Freedman. When she makes books with Philip Reeve, they both brainstorm the story ideas together, then Philip writes them and Sarah illustrates them. But occasionally they swap roles for a bit. And they love dressing up.
Photo by Sarah Reeve
But does Sarah wear these clothes when she’s hard at work in her Devon studio?
“Well, of course, dahling.”
Photo by Brian Doben, as part of his At Work Project
Sarah was recently blogging as BookTrust Writer-Illustrator in Residence, and you can read her articles here.
Here’s her TEDx talk, How to grow by embracing our mistakes:
If you’re a fan of illustration, find out about the #PicturesMeanBusiness campaign Sarah launched in 2015, showing how everyone benefits when illustrators are properly credited for their work: picturesmeanbusiness.com
Link to Guardian article by Alison Flood, another by Kat Brown in the Telegraph
Download free library posters to print in various sizes and formats, created originally for #SaveLibraries marches:
Sarah’s an Ambassador for a charity called Read for Good, which helps schools to run fundraising Readathons. Most of the money the kids raise goes into buying clean, new books and book trolleys for children in hospital, and 20% of if it goes back into buying books for their school libraries. Find out more about it on their website.
Sarah’s books have won several awards, including:
* Alligator’s Mouth Award 2024 – Best Illustrated Early Fiction for Adventuremice: Otter Chaos
* The Independent Bookshop Week children’s award 2016 – Pugs of the Frozen North, with Philip Reeve
* UKLA Book Award 2015 – Oliver and the Seawigs, with Philip Reeve
* Lancashire Fantastic Book Award – Oliver and the Seawigs, with Philip Reeve
* Prix Enfantasie 2015 (Switzerland) – Oliver and the Seawigs, translated into French by Raphaële Eschenbrenner
* The Leeds Graphic Novel Award 2011 (now called The Young People’s Comic Award) – Vern and Lettuce
* The Bishop’s Stortford Picture Book Award 2010 – Morris the Mankiest Monster, with Giles Andreae
* The Sheffield Children’s Book Award, Overall Winner 2010 – Morris the Mankiest Monster, with Giles Andreae
Sarah regularly updates her blog on LiveJournal with drawings and event photos. You can follower her on Twitter, on YouTube (for #DrawingWithSarah videos), Facebook and on Instagram. (There’s also a joint Reeve & McIntyre Facebook page.)
Find out more in the FAQs section of the website!
Interview with Irish Children’s Book Laureate PJ Lynch (and learn how to draw a PUG):
Learn how to draw a Sea Monkey with Sarah in this four-video Booktrust series on how to lead a Comics Jam session in the classroom.
Interview with Dan Berry on Make It Then Tell podcast:
Here’s a video of Sarah with her former studio mate, Gary Northfield, on Irish telly:
And another blast from the past! Here’s Sarah’s first visit with her husband Stuart to visit the Reeve family on Dartmoor. Many years later, she and Stuart moved to Devon!
(Also see our ‘Meet the Creators‘ video from Oliver and the Seawigs.)
And here’s a deliciously creative interview by writers Emma & Peter Newman on Tea & Jeopardy:
