Cambridge School of Art student wins New York Times Book Review Accolade

Press release issued: 5 December 2008



Detail from 'The Haunted House' by Kazuno Kohara
A Cambridge School of Art graduate's first book has been lauded in the international press. Kazuno Kohara, who graduated from the MA in Children's Book Illustration in 2007, has had her first book voted as one of 10 Best Illustrated Children's Books 2008 by a panel of judges appointed to select books from among the several thousand children's books published that year.

Renowned illustrator John Lawrence, from Anglia Ruskin University's Cambridge School of Art, who himself appeared in the New York Times 10 Best Illustrated Children's Books List in 2002 for his book 'This Little Chick' (Walker Books) said,

"I am thrilled for Kazuno.

"It took thirty years for one of my books to be chosen for such a distinction and she has done it with her first book. It will help sales enormously and Kazuno will get wider publicity and distribution as a consequence."

The book was described as 'sweet and beautiful' by New York Times Book Review Editor Gregory Cowles.
Cowles writes,

"("Ghosts in the House!") provides a welcome timeout: its simple linocut illustrations are limited to three candy-corn colours, orange and black and white, and it is so insistently un-ironic that it ends, sincerely, with the words "And they all lived happily ever after."...the story manages a gentle charm.

Kazuno's book, which she wrote and illustrated, describes a girl and her cat moving into an old house at the edge of town.

"It was a splendid place," she writes, "but there was one problem. The house was . . . haunted!"

The book is available in the UK from Macmillan Children's Books and is called 'The Haunted House' or in the US under the title 'Ghosts in the House!' from Roaring Brook Press.

Professor John Lawrence, who has illustrated books for the likes of Phillip Pullman, teaches on the MA in Children's Book Illustration at Anglia Ruskin University. Many of the course's graduates go on to sign publishing deals.

The Faculty of Arts, Law and Social Sciences is holding a Postgraduate Open Evening on 9 December 4-7pm.

For more information about studying for an MA in Children's Book Illustration or many more including MA in Publishing visit: www.anglia.ac.uk/alsspg or call Sarah on 0845 196 2981
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