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⭐️A love letter to life
📖Sunday Times bestselling Author
☀️The Lion Inside, Love Monster & many more
🎨Artist
👧👧👼🐶🐱🐹❤️Mum

POSTS STORIES REELS

$I’m not sure anyone’s ever ready to see their face all huge on a billboard…I certainly wasn’t! In fact the day Jim and I had our first joint photos done after creating 6 books together (on account of us living in different countries!), I didn’t really think about make up and stuff 😂 Haha! Now I wish I had 😂 But seriously…I feel so, SO happy to be at #bolognachildrensbookfair2023 in Italy…happening right now…with so many of the characters and books I have co-created with the endlessly talented genius @_jimfield and the utterly wonderful team @hachettechildrens albeit in 2-dimensional rather animated, makeupless form 😊✨ When I first started writing…and children’s stories tumbled out…before anyone had read a single word (well maybe my mum), I’m not sure I could have dreamt of this😊✨Though of course I have been lucky now to spend most of my life dreaming and seeing those dreams come to life on the page 😊(best job in the world!) Watch this space for a behind-the scenes look at how these images were created…so we could hang out with Lion, mouse, Cyril and Bruce the squirrels, Kevin the Koala, Wilf the Wolf, Humphrey the Whale and Crystal the Crab, Goldy the Gecko and soon…some new characters to add to the crew 😊✨ Turns out really huge billboard-style dreams do come true 😊 Massive thank yous to @debrahurfordbrownphotographer for using her absolute genius to capture magic with two rather inexperienced and slightly unprepared subjects 😊✨💖 @bolognachildrensbookfair #theworldofrachelbrightandjimfield #thelioninside #thekoalawhocould #thesquirrelswhosquabbled #thewayhomeforwolf #thewhalewhowantedmore #thegeckoandtheecho #rachelbrightbooks #rachelbright #jimfieldillustrations #picturebooks #childrensbooks #children #kids #bookstagram by @rachelbrightbooks$

As promised, here’s my ‘How to draw Love Monster’ tutorial, if you want to try making your very own Love Monster costume courtesy of @creative_mama_che (see last post)or if your creative juices are just flowing!

Thanks again to the wonderful team at @huecameras for the amazing pro camera that made this tutorial possible!

Don’t forget to tag me in your creations 😍

#lovemonster #lovemonster #worldbookday #worldbookdaycostume #worldbookdaycostumeideas #rachelbright #rachelbrightbooks by @rachelbrightbooks

🎃Happy Halloween!🎃

One of my favourite bits of making Love Monster & The Scary Something was deciding that when Love Monster mistakes his teeny tiny bunny friend for something terrifying coming up the stairs (letting his imagination run away with him!) and he ends up jump scaring the little carrot-nibbling friend…that friend goes ‘Fffffneeeeeeeep!’ 🤣 They end up snuggled with a hot chocolate at the end though (my ideal conclusion to any Halloween personally 🤣)

I also loved making the illustrations for this in Solar Etching 🥰

Natalie Dormer @nataliedormerig read it brilliantly on @cbeebies on Thursday and you can still catch it on iplayer 🥰✨

Published by the dynamic folk @harpercollinsch

#lovemonster #halloween #spooky #fear #love by @rachelbrightbooks

Come and meet the people behind your most-loved books and discover some new favourites at the Dukes Festival of Stories. Here’s our fantastic line-up of shows that we recommend for younger readers:

Benji Davis - Draw with Benji! @benjidavies

Katie Rolfe - Let Your Words Wiggle! @katerolfeart

Rachel Bright - Roar, Draw and Imagine! @rachelbrightbooks

Simon Mole & Gecko - The Great Big Bug Show - @si_mole

Long Nose Puppets - @longnosepuppets

Som Holliday - Stories with Som - @som.holliday

Plus a special tea party, and many more wonderful authors, illustrators and storytellers for the whole family to enjoy!

📅 Saturday 21st November 2026
📍 Eaton House Schools the Manor, Clapham
🔗 Book your ticket at www.dukesfestivalofstories.com. Early bird tickets end this Friday! by @rachelbrightbooks

I believe stories can change the world. One word, one sentence, one book at a time.

It starts with an idea and ends in getting the right book in the right hands at the right time. In between is an almost unfathomable symphony of people all over the world coming together with a shared vision…a flow of happenings that is, quite frankly, a little bit magic.

@londonbookfair sits at the heart of that symphony…connecting people who care with stories that matter…so ever more readers have the chance to experience that life-changing magic, as early in life as possible.

Which is why it’s an enormous honour to announce that I’ll be half of a familiar pair (one we both know so very well after 10 Years and 10 Books together so far!) with @_jimfield …as Children’s Creatives of the Fair 2027 celebrating everything it embodies ✨📚 @londonbookfair Thank you for inviting us to be part of your story!

@hachettechildrens

#stories #londonbookfair #creatives #changetheworld #childrensbooks by @rachelbrightbooks

Illustrations by @apaintedmouse for ‘Sometimes it Rains’ written by @rachelbrightbooks and published by @hachettechildrens.

Born in Warwickshire, Richard Jones has been living and working in Devon for over 20 years.

After graduating from the University of Plymouth with a first class degree in Graphic Design and Illustration, he stayed on a little longer to complete a PhD. Richard’s style is something different, working with beautifully layered textures, he creates stand-out illustration, with a gentle, muted palette and memorable character design.

Richard is represented by @sus.penny, take a look at his full portfolio on the Bright Agency website. Link in our bio! by @rachelbrightbooks

📣LIVE📣 from Dorset Kitchen-Table Fashion week…

Daring new styles constructed exclusively from tea-towels, flannels and sellotape cause such a stir everyone is having a lie down.

Barbie’s wedding is set to be the most high fashion event of the season. Except Barbie has dumped Ken so it’s all over 😢🤣

An hour of completely immersed imagination #dolldiaries over here whilst I make dinner. PLAY rocks ✨🥰

Shout-out to the brilliant @nadiashireendraws for providing one of them a much needed literary pillow (and my girls utterly hilarious reading material). Always effortlessly at the chic-est events without even trying! 😘

*check out the pipe-cleaner hair accessory by zooming in

#play #kids #imagination #happy by @rachelbrightbooks

🐿️🍂 We’ve been reading The Squirrels Who Squabbled and loved the ending where the squirrels realise that sharing is so much better! 🤎📚

We also explored how squirrels collect and store food to help them through the winter, linking our story to the changing seasons and the natural world. 🌰🍂

We linked our maths to the story, exploring different ways to make 10! 🔟 Using tens frames and autumn treasures, the children worked together to find two amounts that add up to 10.

There was lots of fabulous mathematical language, discussion and problem solving as they shared their ideas, took turns and worked together! 🧮🐿️🍂

A lovely way to bring a story to life through practical maths, learning about nature, collaboration and a little reminder that sharing really is caring! 🤎✨

Printables @miss_e_early_years use code honeyhive10 to save

📘🐿️ The Squirrels who Squabbled such a fantastic book for this time of year! By @rachelbrightbooks @_jimfield @hachettechildrens

#earlyyearsmaths #mathsthroughplay #childrensbooks #learningthroughplay #bookishplay by @rachelbrightbooks

After nearly a year of conversations through screens, @rachelbrightbooks and I finally met in person on Tuesday.

We had about thirty minutes together before becoming co-hosts.
For anyone unfamiliar with Rachel, she’s the author behind The Lion Inside, The Koala Who Could and so many other bedtime favourites. Her books have sold millions of copies and have been translated into 47 languages across the globe.

Her stories were part of our family life long before we met. Now she’s become my writing mentor and a great friend.
I’ve told her about my ambition to become a children’s author. She reminds me that these letters are already stories, already reaching people and creating ripples. Having her beside me meant more than I could properly explain on the day.

Then I looked around the table.

Twenty people, each with busy lives, who had chosen to make space for this. People listening, laughing, reading and writing. I felt so touched by the care everyone brought into the room, and I genuinely can’t wait to see those faces again.

So much of life moves quickly now. We communicate constantly, but a letter asks us to pause. To think about one person and what we really want them to know.
Writing can help us understand what we feel. Receiving those words gives us something to hold, to revisit and to keep. There’s a reason we save letters long after the envelopes have been opened. My dad kept the letters I wrote, Rachel’s dad did the same, Louise has kept everyone I’ve written to her. And I am sure you have kept letters from loved ones too.

I began writing to Leo to leave him something of our life together. I never imagined those words would bring all of this into mine.

Thank you, Rachel. To everyone around that table, everyone who reads Letters to Leo, @petershamnurseries for welcoming us so warmly, and @jomalonelondon , @karstgoods, @audiuk and @yeti for the thoughtful touches that made the day feel so special.

Some guests have already told me they’ve posted letters of their own.
I can’t think of a more wonderful thing to have come from our afternoon.

Keep writing to the people you love. The world needs something real.

R 🐝 🐻 by @rachelbrightbooks

$I was just going through some old files and found the colour roughs for THE LION INSIDE. Swipe if you’d like to compare between colour rough and final… Crazy to think this book is 11 years old already. @rachelbrightbooks and I had an amazing time last week celebrating the launch of our 10th collaboration THE MOST MAGNIFICENT MOOSE 🫎 with many children and families and fans of the book. A real pinch me moment for both of us. This is where it all began… @hachettechildrens #thelioninside #theworldofrachelbrightandjimfield #rachelbrightjimfield by @rachelbrightbooks$

Rachel Bright Author

@rachelbrightbooks