Author Study: Emily Gravett

Author Study: Emily Gravett

Author studies are brief posts about authors I enjoy, why you might like them, what they are known for, and a bit of bio.  Many of these will be picture book authors/illustrators, because I find it more manageable to think of picture books in groups. -Becky

Author Biography:
Emily was born in Brighton, England.  She attained a BA in illustration from Brighton University.  She has a partner, Mic, and a daughter named Oleander.


Awards:

• Won annual British book awards three times.
• Kate Greenway medal for illustrations with her book Wolves (2005)
• Booktrust Early Years Best Emerging Illustrator Award for Monkey and Me (2007)
• Kate Greenway medal for illustrations with her book Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears (2008)
• Shortlisted for many other awards

Style:  Gravett has a very recognizable and distinctive illustrative style.  She uses primarily pencil and watercolor on stark white backgrounds.  Often she uses a muted color palette of grey, brown, pink and tan with bright patches of red.  She does all of her wok in a cartoon style with whimsical, exaggerated shapes and circular or pear-shaped bodies with thin extremities. 

Writing Style:
Gravett writes her own books and is known for the shock value in "Wolves",  "The Odd Egg" and "Wolf Won't Bite", where animals are eaten at the end.  She also has faint themes from familiar stories like "the ugly duckling", "the three little pigs".

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