Illustrations for dPICTUS unpublished picture book showcase.

Sorry, I’ve been AWOL, but I have a good excuse. I’ve been putting together a dummy for my picture book, Salty, about a salt-water crocodile who escapes from his cage and gobbles up the children he finds in the zoo – only to discover they taste disgusting.

I do have an interest in art but have been nervous about illustrating my work, mainly because the general advice is for authors not to illustrate their work if they want a publisher to take it on. But I heard about the dPictus unpublished picturebook show-case and the opportunity to submit my work was too good to miss.

A dummy picture book is mostly made up of sketches, with the final text, but includes two to three final artworks.

Here are mine:

It’s feeding time at the zoo, but Salty’s not impressed. He grumps and humphs and snaps his jaws until Giraffe cranes her neck over the wall.
“What is the matter with you?”

He finds two toothsome looking toddlers at the lions’ cage.

The images are linocut prints and coloured with water-colour pencils. I’m so happy with how they turned out, but what do you think?

Author: Wendy Allott

I'm an educator, mum and wife living in beautiful Victoria, Australia. I make learning resources for passionate, but time-poor, teachers in need of a better work-life balance. I'm a voracious reader, love a good curry, and believe life is always better with chocolate. View All Posts