King Leonard's Teddy
"King Leonard is so rich that he can buy whatever he wants. Anything old or broken is thrown onto the growing pile of trash outside his castle. But one day something breaks that can’t be easily replaced. And what’s worse, King Leonard can’t find anyone who knows how to fix it. Phoebe Swan’s striking illustrations grace this powerful story with a strong environmental message"
Published 2019 by Child's Play​​​​​​​
Shortlisted for the Little Rebels Award 2020Â
and the Teach Early Years Awards 2019
King Leonard's Teddy came out of my Masters Project on the MA in Children's Book Illustration at Cambridge School of Art. Originally the artwork was made with linocut but I used more of a digital process to achieve a similar visual effect in the final book.
In the video below, made for the National Shelf Service, I explain more about how and why I wrote the story and and made the pictures.
"Funny and smart tale of a lion whose penchant for new things changes when his teddy tears, forcing him to embrace recycling." i News Books
"This instantly felt like a truly classic picture book in every sense of the word, with a thoroughly entertaining story, an important moral message and of course a brilliantly realised central character in Leonard himself. Fantastic stuff!" Read it Daddy
"Phoebe Swan’s lovely lino cut style images are bold and cheerful, the important environmental messages are communicated with skill and care in both the words and images" Little Parachutes
"I bought this book to read to young children who were staying with me - and we both loved it, despite the very considerable age difference. The illustrations are glorious and the story is humorous, kind and socially responsible - to say any more would be to give the plot away." Goodreads review (see more here)Â
"My 2 year old absolutely LOVES this book! It’s currently ‘on repeat’ about 4 times a day and it’s great as he’s talking about when he could repair his teddy if it breaks!" Amazon customer (see more here)
