Picture Books

Before enrolling at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge where she completed and got a distinction in her MA in Children’s Book Illustration, Julia worked for twenty years in animation, including several years at Dreamworks in Los Angeles. When Julia returned to the UK, she embarked on the Cambridge course and loved the fact that the course challenged her to experiment with different processes and that it took her in a fresh new direction.

Julia’s work was shortlisted for the AOI Awards in the New Talent, Children’s Books category and her first picture book as author/illustrator, Giraffe on a Bicycle was published by Macmillan in 2016 and was read on Cbeebies Bedtime Stories by Sir Chris Hoy. Her second picture book, Lazy Cat was published by Templar in March 2017. Julia illustrated the picture book Not Yet, Zebra written by Lou Kuenzler which was published in 2018 by Faber & Faber. Julia’s latest author illustrated books are Duck & Penguin are Not Friends, was published in June 2019 with Andersen Press and was longlisted for the Kate Greenway Prize. Duck And Penguin Do Not Like Sleepovers published in August 2020! Julia’s second book with Faber & Faber, Calm Down Zebra!, was published in April 2020.

Alongside her published work, Julia’s The Fox in the Forest was the inspiration for the architects Hawkins Brown’s design of Ivydale Primary School in South London, which subsequently won the RIBA London Award for 2018. In the same year Julia won the ARU Alumni Contribution to Culture Award.

Julia lives in Kent with her husband and daughter.