We love the Klaus Flugge Prize! A whole award dedicated to illustrators and illustrations, yes!

Illustrator of My Hair is as Long as a River, and this year’s winner, Emma Farrarons has very kindly shared her journey with this book and what it means to win with us…

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Catching up with Emma Farrarons, winner of the 2025 Klaus Flugge Prize

Emma Farrarons has recently been announced the winner of the 2025 Klaus Flugge Prize for most exciting newcomer to picture book illustration. In this piece she describes what winning means, how she found her way into illustration, and why we should all carry sketchbooks with us!

Winning the Klaus Flugge Prize is really meaningful for me because I’ve always dreamt of illustrating picture books. I spent over 16 years as an in-house designer at Macmillan Children’s Books, starting as an intern at Campbell Books. I loved sourcing ‘touch and feel’ materials in fabric shops and making dummy pop-ups late into the night for the Bologna Book Fair. In the picture book department, I worked closely with the editorial team and my favourite illustrators, art-directing stories from text to finished book.

I made the decision to quit my job during Covid to pursue a career as an illustrator and worked hard to find my voice through daily observational drawing. I never imagined I’d go full circle, receiving Charlie Castle’s beautiful text for My Hair is as Long as a River and working with former colleagues in a whole new way. They’d seen an observational drawing of my son wearing a bike helmet and eating breadsticks on Instagram and asked for a sample. I couldn’t believe it when they commissioned me to illustrate Charlie’s book and I’m so thankful for the chance they gave me.

One of the joys of illustrating My Hair is as Long as a River was playing with art materials. Most of my drawing had been on cheap sketchbook paper, so this book was a masterclass in using proper paints and papers and seeing how differently they behave. I also loved collaborating with my editor Grace Gleave and designer Lorna Scobie. They pushed the art in exciting ways to bring out extra layers in the text. It was proper teamwork. They played a key role in helping me develop my picture book voice. For this I’m extremely grateful.

Illustrating the cover was the trickiest challenge. The interior art was painted as full pieces on single sheets of paper with minimal Photoshop, but the cover was a whole different story. How do you summarise an entire book and reflect the author’s story in one image?

I pencilled many versions but one with the river flowing out of the boy’s hair caught the team’s eye. They mocked it up and sent an A4 brief with all the key elements. The cover had to feel empowering, joyful, colourful, dynamic, and playful. What if the other children in the story are swimming in the boy’s hair?

I revisited observational sketches of Cornwall for rocks, my children swimming in a pool on holiday, and the flowers at Sexby Garden in Peckham. I tried some hand-lettering ideas, but they felt stiff. Lorna sent back a watery-looking style, which I traced and made my own.

To make everything align, I painted the river, children, plants, lettering, washes of blue, weeds, and rocks as separate pieces of art, 31 components in total, so we could move elements to fit around the title. Everything was wrapped up with the boy’s tendrils curling and framing the art.

Drawing from life is an important part of my process. When I first started drawing from life, I could barely capture more than a passenger’s ear or foot. Daily practice, and sketching my constantly moving two-year-old, taught me to work quickly and see movement as one of the most exciting things to draw. Drawing from life is playful, mindful, and pressure-free. Over nine years of sketching children and everyday moments, I’ve built a personal image bank that feeds my storytelling and gives my work a lively, personal quality.

I would recommend drawing from life as a practice for children too! My six- and ten-year-old each have their own sketchbook and pencil case, which we take everywhere. On a trip to the Hayward Gallery, we sketched unusual sculptures side by side, and the best part was when they started naming them: The Burnt Potato Crisp, Deflated Birthday Balloons.

There’s something special about filling a blank page, whether from life or imagination. I love how focused and peaceful they are, and I remind them there are no mistakes—it’s all about play.

What’s coming next from me? I’m currently painting a hilarious chapter book by Katie Clapham for Walker Books using acrylic gouache with muted minty pastel colours, and all the lines in chocolate brown.

I’m also waiting for layouts for my second book in my debut author series, Wands Away, following Ramona Spellstar, witch in training. It’s a highly illustrated early reader with 128 pages to fill, mostly black and white with one spot colour. We’re thinking of a zingy ultraviolet for the Spell Class. I love exploring black-and-white textures, from smudging charcoal with my fingers to using my scratchy dip pen. The spreads in this book are dynamic and visually playful, with 13 witchlings, trolls, magic, broom flying, and camping in the forest. It’s a dream project.

My Hair is as Long as a River is published by Macmillan Children’s Books.

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Many thanks again to Emma for sharing this insight. You can read more about Emma’s books and see our school specific discounts using the links below. You can also read about Emma’s editor Grace’s journey towards winning the Klaus Flugge Prize in our blog here. Warm congratulations to both Emma and Grace!