Author Focus: Chris Haughton
As a family we adore Chris Haughton. I do believe that Sshh we have a plan was my little one’s first favorite book which he requested over and over and then read himself. Shh is an example of how the images can tell a story and at times very few words (in this case only 103) are required to gather the full comprehension of the text. Chris plays magically with this relationship between text and image, and his work is a wonderful starting point when looking at multi-modal texts.
Delightful tales full of adventure are told through the clever link between text and the visual image. Chris is able to create a scene through the build up of images, from pulled back to close up, as does a magazine spread. The color palette in each book is unique and allows for his books to be identified as the Chris Haughton aesthetic and yet each very different to the next. Although his work appears to be a paper cut it is actually all created with pencil and digitally. Shh however was crated with paper and the collage creation in order to develop the final layout.
With each of his picture books Chris has documented behind the sciences on his blog, allowing the reader to get an idea of what takes place during the creation of modern day picture books. This is well worth a visit, as Chris shares his work without holding back and it is a perfect insight into the life of an author illustrator working to deadlines.
Chris has also created an application aimed at the preschool years called Hat Monkey.
