Windows Into Illustration: Caroline Magerl on illustration and technique

The ultimate guide to children’s books, Books For Keeps January 2025 issue has just dropped! In this issue Caroline Magerl gives an insight into her creative process and character development. This is excellent inspiration for young illustrators with tips on how to get unstuck if you’re in a creative rut. Click through the image below to read the full article!

Piano Fingers

“One of the happy accidents in the exploratory phase of Piano Fingers, was the emergence of Maestro Gus. This is a good example of one of those little leaps which turn out to be a nugget, worth keeping and developing. The lid of our old piano, which our daughter dutifully practiced

on every day, had three scratches on it. I found these marks while dusting and thought to myself that the previous owner of this clunky old thing must have had a cat. Although my focus in writing Piano Fingers was a little girl’s struggle to learn the piano, a little cat now began to appear in my drawings.”