We talk to the chair of judges and the 2025 winner of The Klaus Flugge Prize for Illustration, Emma Farrarons. Emma won the prize in 2025 which is for the year’s most exciting newcomers to children’s picture book illustration. This year she is back as the chair of judges alongside illustrator Rob Biddulph, illustrator and course director for the MA in Children’s Book Illustration at Cambridge School of Art, Anglia Ruskin University, Shelley Jackson and co-owner of the The Book Nook in Hove, Vanessa Lewis. Emma won the prize in 2025 with her illustration of My Hair is as Long as a River by Charlie Castle. This year's shortlisted illustrators are: Becky Colvin who studied illustration at The University of West England in Bristol and went on to win the prestigious Macmillan Prize for illustration in 2023. Becky loves telling stories, capturing both the quiet and the exceptional moments in life. The Great Green Island her debut picture book was shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Books Prize. Her next book, Princes Don't Practise, written by Kathryn Simmonds, is out in August 2026. Becky lives in Bristol. London-based author-illustrator Laila Ekboir who worked as a freelance illustrator for many years in Buenos Aires, Argentina, before completing an MA in children's book illustration at the Cambridge School of Art. Drawing inspiration from everyday moments and childhood memories of living in California, Mexico City, and Buenos Aires, Laila’s art is colourful, warm and rich in texture. She works by hand, exploring a variety of materials and using digital tools to make her work pop, but her favourite medium is printmaking. Laila enjoys telling whimsical stories with quirky characters, as well as exploring the themes of home, memory, identity and belonging delicately and thoughtfully. Her debut picture book, We Are Like Birds, is published by Kumusha Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Children’s Books. Born in Weimar in 1990, Thekla Priebst studied visual communication at Bauhaus University Weimar and Berlin Weissensee School of Art. Since 2017, she has been living with her small family on the west coast of Portugal, where she works as a freelance art director and illustrator. With her flair for composition and colour, as well as a typographic sensibility, Thekla designs books from the first to the last page. The glorious The Voyage That Changed the World is her debut as author-illustrator. She has the ability to hold her breath for a long time because she likes to surf big waves. Thekla is currently based in Portugal. Justin Worsley who has been a toy designer for over 25 years, and has now turned his hand to picture book making. He has a BA Hons in Industrial Design at Northumbria University, and in 2022 he graduated with a distinction from the Cambridge School of Art with an MA in Children's Book Illustration. He has since won the Batsford Prize, the CA award of excellence and the Sebastian Walker Prize. Henry: the Artistic Dog is Justin's first picture book. Justin is originally from Windermere, now living in Lewes. Forest Xiao who is an image maker, storyteller, treasure finder and mother to two girls. She has lived in China, Germany, USA, the UK and Malaysia. Forest obtained a BA in Graphic Design from Camberwell College of Art which led her to the MA in Children’s Book Illustration at Cambridge School of Art. Forest was a runner-up for the Sebastian Walker Prize 2023, highly commended by the 2022 Macmillan Prize for Children’s Picture Book Illustration, and winner of the Batsford Prize 2023. Forest was also one of the 2023 Bologna Illustrators Exhibition Winners. Forest loves connecting with people and hearing stories. She is shortlisted for her book Seven Babies. Circle Yuen who is an award-winning author and illustrator born in Hong Kong and now based in the UK. Her work transforms personal experiences of family restructuring and co-parenting into emotionally rich, healing narratives for children. A graduate of the MA in Children’s Book Illustration at Cambridge School of Art, she champions social justice and empathy through art. Her debut picture book Our Dance: Living Apart, Time Together is the first UK picture book to address child contact centres, created with the National Association of Child Contact Centres. Her work has previously been chosen for the dPictus Unpublished Picturebooks Showcase and was longlisted for the Illustrators Exhibition at Bologna Children’s Book Fair in 2024. Send us a message
