Emma Lazell is a UK-based illustrator and author who is a rising star with a huge amount of talent. Her work is linear, expressive, and sprinkled with irony and playfulness. In 2018 she completed the hugely prestigious MA in Children’s Book Illustration at Cambridge School of Art, Anglia Ruskin University, graduating with a distinction.

Emma’s first book, published in 2019, Big Cat, is a brilliant and hilarious debut and gives a modern twist on Judith Kerr’s The Tiger Who Came to Tea. Isobel’s grandma has lost her glasses and she can’t see a thing without them. While Isobel and Gran are in the garden searching for the specs, they come across a cat. A very big cat. Packed with jokes and amusing details and with an underlying message of acceptance this book is great fun.

Earlier this year That Dog! was published. There is a team of dognappers on the loose. They have stolen lots of pooches, but this time they’re up against a very clever dog. The cunning Penelope Dognapper is keen to get her hands on the latest rare breed, the lesser spotted woofer. Her big mistake is sending Patrick, her accomplice, to do the job. Chaos ensues, has Penelope met her canine match?

Emma’s event will include an interactive presentation, followed by a Q&A session, and then a live draw-along.