FINALLY...! this book has been two years in the making...! This post is just to show where the idea came from, and how the book took shape. its also quite useful for me to put together this post because its always such a long process that i kind of forget where the ideas came from to begin with.

My first idea for this book was a cause and effect sequence called Oh No!... it was an idea for a sort of elaborate circular accident... i may come back to that idea in future in fact...

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oh-no-george-the-making-of-B7L1d5SZ2Qxea62C5Eh6.zip (220 KB)

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oh-no-george-the-making-of-0cs3LeHOkutXVIL4437p.zip (1.34 MB)

some initial character sketches...

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oh-no-george-the-making-of-xGhGHDq5yRzdv1a7fKWM.zip (1.44 MB)

I usually draw from my head without using much reference but i found myself googling 'guilty dogs' to see if i could find some good material. It turns out there's a lot about this on the internet. the video below is really worth watching if you havent seen it.

 and i sent the bologna draft from this internet cafe (the monks were on facebook)

This is the part of the book im most proud of.. the first page builds up in three images to a large close up of george with the text 'what will george do?' When the page turns the following double page spread tells us exactly what george has done.. OH NO!!! 

as you can see george does some pretty terrible things, but all is forgiven in the end

the end-papers are a kind of before and after 

i quite liked having a little quote on the title page for A Bit Lost. i decided to go with this one from the stoic philosopher epictetus for George. 

Oh No George is out on the 1st March 2012 or available for pre-order in these countries, im told there are more to follow soon

Oh No, GEORGE! IRE/UK              here 
Oh No, GEORGE! USA/CANADA    here
Stoute Hond Netherlands                here
Oh Non, GEORGE! France              here
Oh Nein, PAUL! Germany               here
Voi Sinua SULO! Finland                here

 The making of 'A Bit Lost' is here 

Im a big fan of the late scottish poet and comedian Ivor Cutler. I had read an interview with David Shrigley ages ago and he mentioned him as his biggest influence and since managed to get hold of some of his amazing recordings... he has a wonderful surreal and skewed view of the world. This BBC4 documentary is really really worth watching if you dont know his work..

I was absolutely in AWE when my editors Deirdre and Lucy mentioned they worked together with him at Walker. I didnt even know he had done books... they were big fans of his and david lloyd who i work with now  was his publisher and editor. WOW! Apparently Ivor had a thing for printing his own stickers and then sticking them all over the office, this is david's old typewriter...

I also discovered at Walker recently that not only has my old editor Lucy studied as a clown (amongst many other fascinating things) but that my new editor David worked for 12 years as a clown and successfully taught a goose how to dance (!)

What a magical place Walker books is....!

this is david, maria and deirdre (taking the photo) and me editing our new book 'dont worry, i have a plan' recently.. 

I will be sure to keep you up to date with any new stories i hear from the office. In the meantime you can follow them on twitter. they meet very interesting people and eat a lot of cake

I have been nominated as one of Booktrust's 10 'Best New Illustrators'!!!! 

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Booktrust_Best_New_Illustrator.zip (498 KB)

Wow!!! I LOVE this. So lovely to get this in the mail this morning.

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Zamorano_Arts_in_San_Diego..zip (605 KB)

My proudest moment ever....! A Bit Lost made it onto the Late Late Toy Show in Ireland!!!!!! woo hoo!

Im doing a panel discussion in Dublin at the amazing OFFSET design festival. Myself, Niamh Sharkey and Childrens Books Ireland are doing a panel talk at 12pm on Sunday 3rd Oct about childrens books. 

You can order it in the countries/languages below

Here are the first few pages...

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a-bit-lost-is-out-tuFmgHlFfGJlBCluvqAz.zip (404 KB)

I have been getting some great reviews for Little Owl Lost and i thought i would try to put them all in one place

Goodreads review here   

USA
Carthage Centre of Children's literature  John Warren Stewig, Director
"In our world, understatement is becoming a lost art, and elegance a disappearing quality.This book has both" "Exemplary design qualities"
TimeOut NYC 'Picture book Pick'
swiss-miss.com design blog
36pages.com Craig Frazer's picture-book blog "has nearly every redeemable quality of an exemplary book"
Book-by-its-cover picture book blog
FastCompany feature
brainpickings.com 'the best childrens books 2010'
PRI Public Radio 'Recommendations for Childrens Books' < listen to the radio programme

IRELAND
Irish Times Great Reads for the under 10s "a stunning literary and visual achievement"
Sunday Business Post "this stunning book from rising Irish star Chris Haughton is one of the top picks of the year"
Today with Pat Kenny radio show < listen to the radio programme
Kim Harte picture book blog
Hughes and Hughes staff picks
 

UK
The Telegraph Books of the year 2010
The Guardian Reading with kids
Preston illustration blog
Katriona Chapmans blog
Daddy be good blog

AUSTRALIA
Readings bookshop 'Best Kids' Books 2010' full article here
Timelessbooks.com book blog
Nest studio blog

FRANCE
TOURNER1 review in french http://bit.ly/hIIm9M english translation http://bit.ly/fHGYYw

SPAIN
Club Kirico blog 
Pizca de papel blog

NORWAY
Bokmerker blog

My first picture book A Bit Lost was actually first published in Korean. I had met the excellent Borim Press at the Bologna Book Fair in 2007 and was blown away by their catalogue. I went over to visit them and ended up illustrating and making most of the book with them from Korea. Their set up is amazing so i thought i should post a bit about it.

The Borim Press office is in Paju Book City (above) which is a new development by the Korean government. Printing was actually invented in Korea more than two hundred years before Gutenberg 'invented' it and Korea has a long and proud history of printing and literacy. In order to promote and modernise the industry and put Korea on the worldwide publishing map they subsidised the setting up of Paju Book City. It was set up as a super high tech printing facility right next to all the top Korean Publishing houses. It is a very modern sustainable development built as a satellite town 30 mins from Seoul. It also has high tech looking wind generators (which never seem to be working? hmm...)
You can read more about it here. South Korea spends more of its GDP on education than almost any other country so the shiny educational buildings are a more common sight there than in Europe or the west.

The Borim office. The spaceship looking part is a children's theatre. Inside their publishing house is a children's theatre, a childrens picture book gallery (with waist high pictures) and a little childrens bookshop (with knee high tables). You can see better pics from their site. I was very honoured to be Borim's first non-Korean author.

The lobby/reception. The 'wavin' looking pipes on the right i had originally thought were some weird Korean office communication device....but i was told it was a sculpture. You can still talk into them though if you want.

The childrens theatre. I saw a nursery rhyme gig one afternoon (in Korean) for an audience of 150 expecting mothers. It wasnt really my thing so I had to sneak out the back.

The next door office. All the big publishing offices in Seoul moved out to here to use the shared printing presses/conference hall/facilities etc.

The high tech printing facility next door.

This is where my book was printed!

Having a meal with the Borim team. Jinsuk (my Art Director) Sangon (Production Manger who i lived with for a month!) myself and Ines Yoo (my Editor and the person who first introduced me to Borim in Bologna)

Jinsuk my art director in the best jumper I've ever seen... Happy Pig!!! YAY!!!!

The CEO of Borim Mr Kwon and his wife outside their beautiful home. They have a traditional stone ondol system in their newly built home which was also built by a mixture of traditional Korean and modern sustainable methods. They are a really interesting couple, Mrs Kwon is a traditional Korean musician (drummer)

I managed to stay for week with Mr Kwon and his family. In Korea everyone sleeps directly on the floor (the underfloor heating is pretty nice in winter and makes it hard to get out of bed...) The book is taking three times as long as i thought it would. Thats probably why im not smiling in the picture. Oh dear. I blamed it on the ondol. Check out the Kimchi pots outside the window. He collects them, there were a LOT of them.

Finally finished after 10 and a half months! Woo hoo!
Myself, Mr Park, Borim's editor in chief and Sang Me who did all the translation.

감사합니다 to everyone at Borim!!!!

If you are interested in seeing more of Borim Press and their outstanding books and illustrations take a look at their site. Its in Korean so its kind of hard to navigate but you could requst a PDF catalogue by email.

This is the first review of A Bit Lost in English.
Its from The Bookseller. Very exciting to see a review in English, I still havent seen an actual copy of the book yet myself as Im still in India! 'A Bit Lost' should be out properly in September.

The Bookseller- 18 June 2010 -Booksellers Choice
Chris Haughton's delightful picture book 'A Bit Lost' has a simlistic charm and natual voice which will be enjoyed by the youngest children. The traditional separation tale of a lost child finds wrong mummy- then eventually right mummy is lifted by unusual colours and quirky, humorous illustrations. The last page is a joy.

Publishers weekly- July 2010
By sticking to simple shapes and a bold palette, Haughton has created a debut that reads like a tattered old favorite. A single half-page shows Little Owl dozing off in his nest, then--once it’s turned--bouncing softly to the forest floor. The animals who find Little Owl are flat, stylized creatures in jewel colors, but their eyes convey a wealth of feeling. Squirrel peers at Little Owl, his paws clasped in concern, his neck stretched out quizzically. “My mommy is VERY BIG,” says Little Owl. “Yes! Yes! I know! I know!” says Squirrel. “Follow me.... Here she is. Here’s your mommy.” Squirrel points to an enormous teal bear, staring befuddled at readers. A few more cases of mistaken identity ensue before locating Little Owl’s mother (careful readers will have noticed her seeking out her progeny). With instinctive skill, Haughton uses spreads of the forest to establish atmosphere and set up jokes, then delivers punch lines with spot illustrations that zero in on the animals’ dopey but lovable expressions. A promising first outing. Ages 2–up.

I also got a nice post from the very nice handdrawnpixels.com

A Bit Lost is available in UK/IRE     >>> here
LIttle Owl Lost in the USA               >>> here
Ihan Hukassa in Finland (Suomi)    >>> here