Louise Yates
(Jonathan Cape)
Dog loves books so much that he opened a bookshop. But his Aunt Dora thinks it is time for something new so she sends him a little something, which turns out to be a sketchbook. This book is not for reading, but for creating your own stories through drawing and writing and as Aunt Dora puts it so beautifully to “open a door to some wonderful adventures” . So Dog sharpens his pencil and literally draws a door on the paper, then steps through, where he doodles himself into a new world full of wonder, new friends and unexpected twists.
The celebration of the power of the imagination and creating stories is at the centre of this beautifully illustrated tale which features the gorgeous little Dog that we met in Dog Loves Books (see my review here). Packed full of energy and joie de vivre, Dog Loves Drawing will be a wonderful inspiration for budding artists. There is pure love of illustration and drawing pouring through this story. Yates really shows her skill here, not only with her gorgeous signature pastel illustrations but also incorporating pencil drawings showcasing a multitude of skills from expressive stickmen to the wonderful monster drawn in very much a child-like style. There is therefore a lot to see on each double-spread, a lot to spot, a lot to laugh at. Dog’s facial expressions are particularly superb.
The book also lends himself to so many follow-on activities, each spread urging the reader to get hold of his own pencil and get involved in the story. This could be used alongside Allan Ahlberg and Bruce Ingman’s The Pencil, another slightly madcap story of a pencil taking charge of the story.
Dog Loves Drawing is utterly gorgeous and a wonderful ode to the power of drawing and following wherever one’s imagination may take you. Louise Yates is a talented and witty illustrator and her work is well-worth checking out if you have not come across it yet.
She won the Roald Dahl Funny Prize for Dog Loves Books.
All illustrations © Louise Yates
Many thanks to Random House Children’s Books for sending me a review copy of “Dog Loves Drawing”.
This is one book we’ve received recently that has really stood out, head and shoulders above others. It’s brilliant! Witty, warm hearted, wonderful. So glad you love it too.
It is very gorgeous. Something about that dog’s face is so endearing! Do you know The Pencil?