Award-winning illustrator Sarah McIntyre to become Patron of South West Bookshop of the Year The Bookery in Crediton.

Award-winning illustrator Sarah McIntyre has been announced as Patron of community-owned bookshop The Bookery, in Crediton – The British Book Awards South West Bookshop of the Year. Sarah has recently re-located to Devon following a decade of visiting her writing partner and local author Philip Reeve on Dartmoor – which has provided the inspiration for the ‘Outermost West’ location in their Roly-Poly Flying Pony series of books for children.

Sarah is delighted at becoming a part of the community she has been inspired by for so long: ‘Moving to Devon is like stepping into one of our stories, into the magical worlds Philip and I have created: moving mists, sudden shafts of sunlight, mossy stone walls and knobbly trees arching over the road… they look like places where our mythical creatures would live. And everyone has been so welcoming, it’s been exciting to visit local schools with The Bookery team and see children get excited about reading, drawing and world-building. I’m also looking forward to connecting as Patron of Reading with the children of Chagford Primary and exploring their ideas for amazing stories inspired by their surroundings.’

One of Sarah’s first initiatives as Patron of The Bookery, will be to host a ‘One-on-One Illustration Clinic’ for a budding illustrator at the bookshop during Independent Bookshop Week in June. The competition will run via The Bookery website for one lucky winner to join Sarah at the bookshop for tea & cake and to discuss and get feedback on their picture book idea, illustration portfolio or short book they’ve made.

Sarah and her co-author, Philip Reeve, will also be guest booksellers at The Bookery on Saturday 18^th June for Independent Bookshop week which celebrates independent bookshops in the UK and the vital role they play in their communities.

Dee Lalljee from The Bookery says ‘We are absolutely delighted that Sarah McIntyre will be joining The Bookery as a patron. We were thrilled that she agreed to support us with our rebrand last year and now she has relocated to Devon we’re really looking forward to working with her more closely. Sarah’s passion for championing the value of writing and illustration has inspired hundreds of Devon children and we’re very excited to be making plans with her and her co-author Philip Reeve for Independent Bookshop Week this year!’ 

The Bookery bookshop in Crediton has been proudly community-owned since 2013 and is co-owned by some 300 shareholders in the local community. The bookshop, powered by a team of volunteers, works across the area on a diverse programme of events and activities including working with local care homes and food banks. In 2021 Sarah worked with the bookshop on their new shop lettering and rebranding.

Instantly recognisable in her pointy specs and hat, British-American writer-illustrator Sarah McIntyre has created picture books such as the Grumpycorn books, The New Neighbours and Dinosaur Firefighters, and longer highly illustrated chapter books with co-author Philip Reeve. Their work takes inspiration from Dartmoor – Kevin the Roly-Poly Flying Pony started life as The Dartmoor Pegasus, an illustrated story in The Daily Telegraph inspired by the well-known ponies. Kevin has gone on to star in four illustrated chapter books by Reeve & McIntyre published by Oxford University Press.