illustrator
KateSheppard
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About Me

When I'm asked by small children 'How old were you when you were a child?' 
I usually have a good think, scratch my head, and say, 'Ooh, probably about your age, I guess,'  Which is quite true. 
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​Another truism is that I come from quite an extra-ordinary family. 


   1. For his National Service my Dad was trained to write and speak Russian fluently. He was a spy, (a sheppards' spy!)
​He spied on the Russians. Every now and then Dad would disappear for a week at a time, apparently on secret spy missions.
  

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2. When he was just 18 my Grandad, Cyril, liberated the town Haspres in northern France,
        in the first world war, singlehanded, (that might be a slight exaggeration, 
      he probably had quite a lot of help.)  


 3. Grandad had a glass eye, (he lost an eye in the war,) He kept several spare eyes in a black velvet box. 
     Sometimes I'd find the odd eye rolling around under the sideboard.  And I'd have to say to him, 'Grandad, you forgot to put your eye in,'
 
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      4.
Grandad's wife, Teresa, was German, her family made cuckoo clocks.
             Grandma's German surname sounded like Bee-Ha. 
           Apparently Bee-Ha is German slang for bra. 
         So her Mum and Dad were Mr and Mrs Bra. 
Which I find highly amusing.

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   5. My Aunt, meanwhile, sees ghosts.
       Quite often she'll see the ghost of my Grandma                                    
      sitting in an armchair in her front room.
                                          

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And me?  I once worked on an organic farm, where I regularly spent hours chasing escapee piglets. And as if that

wasn't enough, one day, when I 
was planting a very long hedge in the driving rain, was the day I decided to become an

illustrator.
Since planting that Beech hedge, I have illustrated lots and lots of books (Inc., two ​Horrible Histories, 

both of which are ​best sellers, apparently,) for loads of publishers, worldwide, from here to Timbuktu, (well, almost. Actually my

brother rode across Africa on a motorbike to Timbuktu - and that is the honest truth.)
  

I am also an award-winning and shortlisted illustrator...Ta-Daaa!

Clients include:

York Minster Cathedral
DreamWorks
Walker Books 
Macmillan Children's Books
Kingfisher Books 
Orchard Books 
Scholastic
OUP 
Random House 
Egmont 
Hachette Children's Books
​Transworld 
Nelson Thornes
Usbourne, Hodder
The Radio Times 
A&C Black 
Hawthorn Press 
Franklin Watts
Pearson
City of London Corporation
Gloucestershire County Council
Fylde Council
 

Awards

2009
The English Association. 
Winner of the best children's illustrated book
'Ask Dr K Fisher About Minibeasts.' Macmillan.

2008
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Short-listed for the Royal Society Young People's Book Prize. 
'Ask Dr K Fisher About Animals.' Kingfisher.

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Events

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Illustration Workshops:
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The Ledbury Poetry Festival 
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​The Bath Children's Literature Festival 

​The Wye Valley River Festival 

The Art of Libraries
​


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'Kate Sheppard's colourful and quirky illustrations are a sheer delight.' Damian Kelleher, Child Education Plus. 

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  Sketch book - age 9'ish
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