This week we are celebrating the work of Natalie Smillie as Twice Upon a Time, written by Michelle Harrison hits the bookshelves featuring Natalie’s fabulous cover and interior artwork. Natalie has a very special talent for character creation, and this truly comes to light with her numerous fiction cover designs. This spellbinding mystery adventure is brought to life with Natalie’s eye-catching cover concept which is sure to lead this a best-seller. An energetic and dynamic mix of colours and characters projects the action-packed nature of this brilliant story.  Natalie works digitally an ..read more

Marie-Alice Harel creates a stunning new portrait of Britannia for The Royal Mint. Every so often we get to share something truly special and unique with you. This week we are celebrating the work of Marie-Alice Harel who was selected to design a new portrait of Britannia for The Royal Mint. From Roman times to 2024 - Britannia has appeared on the United Kingdom's coins to symbolise the nation and its people. Each year, a new artist is carefully selected to reimagine Britannia and give a fresh take on the changing face of Britain. The selection process is a lengthy one and Marie-Alice was init ..read more

Carnegie Medal winning author Katya Balen and Richard Johnson reunite for their third story together, Little House published by Barrington Stoke - an enchanting and thought provoking novella. Juno would prefer to be spending her summer having fun with her friends and her mum but instead, she's sent to her grandpa's so her mum can go off to help save the world from earthquakes, wars, floods and famines. Despite her grandpa's best endeavours, Juno's furious she's been left behind... until she dicovers a long-forgotten, cracked and faded little wooden house along with it's tiny inhabitants in her ..read more

Gigantosaurus by award-winning illustrator Jonny Duddle is back and better than ever. There is something thrilling about seeing our artists’ work move from ideas in a sketchbook to the pages of physical books held in the hands of readers, and there is something even more magical in watching a picture book transition from a story captured on the page to a successful international brand. Gigantosaurus by Jonny Duddle is just one of those very special projects which we have been lucky enough to be part of from the moment it hatched as an initial concept in Jonny's little sketchbook. No ..read more

Frances' eye-catching posters for The Heart Shopping Centre in Walton-on-Thames celebrate the history of film. Frances Castle was commissioned to illustrate 12 very tall and thin banners to hang along a walkway at The Heart Shopping Centre in Walton-on-Thames showing films from the 1930's through to 2010's. Each movie banner had to be instantly recognisable and colourful and celebrate the history of the site's past. Little do the shopping public realise that The Heart retail centre was once the site of a pioneering British film studio which released the first film adaptation of Alice's Advent ..read more

Get ready to blast off on a brand-new space-based adventure created by award-winning author and illustrator Alex T. Smith in “Astrid and the Space Cadets! Attack of the Snailiens!” We are thrilled and delighted to showcase Astrid and the Space Cadets, a hilarious brand-new illustrated fiction series for younger readers. Alex shares his home with a number of small dogs and a gaggle of obstinate chickens who supply endless inspiration for the characters in his stories. Alex has an intuitive talent for storytelling and character creation such as the Netflix sensation Claude, the zany Coop Troop s ..read more

This week we were lucky enough to spend some time with Beverley Coraldean to catch-up with her latest projects as we update her stunning online portfolio. Let’s start by taking a look at some of Beverley’s newest artworks. Death in Mexicali (cover design) “This piece is based on a real book, the title of which is Mexican Gothic, a young adult horror story set in Mexico. With that audience in mind, the brief was to combine text and images for a cover design based on a story, with a very specific Victorian, gothic feel. The book is very descriptive of the environment where the story is based, so ..read more

Steve May masterfully illustrates the latest adventure by Charlie P. Brooks as we emBARK on a rip-roaring diamond heist adventure. This week we celebrate the publication of Sammy and the Extra-Hot Chilli Pepper, written by Charlie P. Brooks with a stunning jacket and internal illustrations by Arena’s very own Steve May. Setterpoo Sammy is a dog with an extraordinary sense of smell, in fact, she has the best nose in the business if you're a sniffer dog! She can sniff out ANYTHING - diamonds, watches, explosives and even parrots! But in an incident involving some extra-hot chilli pepper she comp ..read more

Neal Layton’s best-selling The Story of Things is set to reach a whole new audience as it hits the bookshelves once again but now in a brand-new paperback version. Our brains are boggling and almost fit to burst as we have been investigating The Story of Things by award-winning author/illustrator Neal Layton. Originally published as an extravagant pop-up, this book has now been made into an accessible paperback edition, still packed with all of Neal's fabulous illustrations and trademark humour perfect for information hungry readers. Each spread bursts with nuggets of information ab ..read more

Hold on to your Viking helmets, you are about to meet the inimitable Murray and Bun for the very first time. Arena Illustrator Adam Stower is set to create unique, hilarious illustrated fiction adventures for Harper Collins Children’s Books featuring his latest character creations Murray (a cat) and Bun (a rabbit!) - not an iced bun.   Murray and Bun! Murray the Viking the debut title in the series hits the bookshelves this week and is set to take the book world by storm. Illustrated throughout with Adam's infinitely recognisable illustration style. This series will feature a huge cast of ..read more