Scribble is delighted to announce that it has acquired world rights in Grandma Z by internationally renowned illustrator Daniel Gray. Grandma Z is Scribble's first acquisition for 2017.
Sydney-based Gray will be working with Scribe’s children’s imprint to develop his personal project Grandma Z — a tale of a boy’s adventure with his eccentric, motor-bike-riding-fur-coat-wearing grandma — into a 32pp picture book.
Gray took inspiration from his own grandmothers to develop the central character. ‘Grandma Z is inspired a little bit from each of my grandmothers — though none of them rode a motorbike that I know of!’ he said.
The stunning and sophisticated illustrations are achieved by layering screen-printed images with graphite, pastel, and ink. Scribble will work with Gray to recreate this vibrancy in the printed book form.
Scribble’s commissioning editor, Miriam Rosenbloom, said she was thrilled to have acquired this exciting debut.
‘I stumbled across Daniel’s work through a typical internet tic-tac-toe worm hole and was immediately smitten. His work is life-filled, funny, and warm in a way that I don’t often come across. I’m not quite sure where the story will end, but all I know is I need to find out more about Grandma Z and I am sure others will feel the same way! We’re passionate about supporting Australian illustration and this is the perfect start to our 2017 list.’
Daniel Gray is a Sydney-based illustrator. Self-taught, he studied Medical Science at the University of Sydney before swapping his microscope for pencils when he realised illustration had a much lower patient-mortality rate. His illustrations have been commissioned by clients such as The New York Times, Sydney Opera House, The Boston Globe, Warner Music, and Graniph. His work has been shown internationally and has been awarded by the Society of Illustrators NY, Communication Arts, and 3x3 magazine. He has three grandmothers, and Grandma Z is his first book.