The Fox and the Star by Coralie Bickford-Smith

We haven’t released The Fox and the Star as an ebook because I don't think it would work – it's all about the paper. īickford-Smith has said, 'I'm all about the physical book. I lost my mum while I was at university, it resonated with that'.

Children seem to love the idea of the friends and the crazy illustrations, while adults like the concept of things being tough, but coming out the other side.' Reporting on the theme of loss, the BBC quoted her saying, 'It's about love, loss and learning to accept change. It relates to so many situations – everyone has suffered – and it came together for me with losing my mum at an early age. Where I felt it appropriate I playfully dispensed with the strict layout and allowed the elements to break out into the margins.' Bickford-Smith told The Guardian's Alison Flood that before writing the book, 'I was thinking about how in life, if you hold on to something too tightly, you lose it, so to love something you have to let it go, and I wrote the story around that. The page layout and design were heavily influenced by William Blake and William Morris, evoking a sense of illuminated manuscripts and traditional fairytales.

In December 2015, author Coralie Bickford-Smith wrote in UK newspaper The Guardian, 'Although The Fox and the Star looks like a children's book I wanted the story to be something that resonated with adults as well. Published in 2015, it was chosen as that year's Waterstones Book of the Year, beating highly acclaimed contenders including Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman, Elena Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend, Paula Hawkins’ The Girl on the Train, and A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. The Fox and the Star is an illustrated book by Coralie Bickford-Smith, a cover designer at Penguin Books.

The Fox and the Star by Coralie Bickford-Smith