#Booky100Keepers Day 64: The work of Chris Riddell

Many of the folk fetching up in our #Booky100Keepers list are folk who can enviously wear both author and illustrator hats equally well, fantastically in fact.

Chris Riddell's books - whether he's illustrating his own writing, or helping otherwise godawful books lift themselves up a notch by providing illustrative genius - have been a mainstay of our "Book of the Week" slots since we started out back in 2010.

But it was the "Goth Girl" series that really caught C's eye - first read with me reading them aloud to her, then solo read on her own, the distinct cleverness of Riddell's drawing-in of pop culture figures fused with his glorious ink illustrations, coupled with the whole idea of producing gothic novels for middle grade, was just a huge huge lure.

Ada Goth lives with her eccentric father, Lord Goth in a rambling mansion with the most curious gardens. Riddell expertly draws us into the story of Ada and her ghostly companion, a tiny mouse named Ishmael, and the strange goings-on around Goth Manor. There's something deliciously dark about these books, drawing in influences as diverse as Frances Hodgson Burnett and Diana Wynne Jones, but underpinned beautifully by Chris's drawings (and of course his wonderful end-paper maps of Ada's amazing home).

The series goes from strength to strength, in fact they just get funnier as they go along - particularly for adults who will appreciate some of the humour that sails completely over their kids' heads.

Of course Chris is equally at home illustrating amazing books by other authors, including "The Sleeper and the Spindle" - a collaboration with Neil Gaiman, who needs no introduction at all - as one of the primary figures in fantasy fiction, and a god amongst men when it comes to spinning up amazing stories.

This one is more of a grown up fairy tale, a response to the rather antiquated views of the handsome prince rushing to save the sleeping princess from a thousand year snooze.

Woven with Chris's talent for drawing gorgeous fantasy bookscapes, but with a thoroughly modern and bang-up-to-the-minute exploration of what loves means, regardless of gender, this one is probably one to keep for when your kids are a bit older.

It's mesmerisingly good stuff though.



Chris has even managed to salvage an utter wreck of a celebrity book from being completely disastrous. Russell Brand's Trickster Tales was obviously meant to spin out into a story series, but the first book arrived to a deafeningly ambivalent reaction from the book-buying public.

That said, the best thing about "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" is the inventive way Chris draws up the characters from this rather self indulgent version of the classic fairy tale, proof positive that he can turn even a dog's breakfast into a book of the week.

Following Chris on Twitter is a joy - when he's tweeting about various book-type things or having a go at our dreadful government, his enviable talent shines through.

God I'd love to be able to draw like him.


Original Review Links: 

The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell (Bloomsbury)

Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse by Chris Riddell (Macmillan Children's Books)

ReadItDaddy's Book of the Week - Week Ending 7th November 2014 - "Russell Brand's Trickster Tales - The Pied Piper of Hamelin" by Russell Brand and Chris Riddell (Canongate Books)

ReadItDaddy's Book of the Week - Week Ending 23rd January 2015 - "Goth Girl - A Fete Worse than Death" by Chris Riddell (HarperCollins Children's Books)

Something Else by Kathryn Cave and Chris Riddell (Picture Puffin)

ReadItDaddy's Chapter Book of the Week - Week Ending 11th October 2019: "Guardians of Magic (The Cloud Horse Chronicles Book1)" by Chris Riddell (Macmillan Children's Books)

"A Kid in my Class" by Rachel Rooney and Chris Riddell (Otter-Barry Books)

A Great Big Cuddle - Poems for the Very Young by Michael Rosen, Illustrated by Chris Riddell (Walker Books)

"Fortunately the Milk" by Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell / Skottie Young (Bloomsbury Publishing)

ReadItDaddy's Chapter Book of the Week - Week Ending 3rd August 2018: "Coraline" by Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell (Bloomsbury Children's Books)