Anders Frang

Anders Frang is a Danish-born illustrator with an MA in Game Design from the Royal Academy of Design in Copenhagen. An Erasmus exchange to Edinburgh College of Art led to him spending several years living and working in Scotland. He is currently based back in Denmark, in Copenhagen.

“As long as I can remember I have been drawing and doodling characters, and as a child I spent a lot of time exploring fictional universes, whether through books, comics or computer games. Eventually my love of drawing led me to study at the Academy of Design in Copenhagen. An Erasmus exchange to the Edinburgh College of Art in 2014 really opened my eyes to the world of illustration, and illustrating a version of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Nightingale” sparked my passion for children’s book illustration.

I was thrilled to be accepted onto the Picture Hooks illustrator mentoring scheme in 2017 where I was mentored by children’s writer and illustrator Steve Antony, so I relocated to Edinburgh with the goal of eventually becoming a children’s book illustrator.

Since then I have illustrated picture book stories, non-fiction texts, book jackets, reading promo posters, BBC Radio Scotland’s ‘Time for a Story’ and more including  ‘An Amazing Animal Atlas of Scotland’ and ‘An Amazing Illustrated Atlas of Scotland’ (written by David Macphail) both published by Floris Books. I’ve recently illustrated a picture book with the brilliant title ‘Holey Moley’, written by Bethan Clarke and published by Little Tiger. It’s the second picture book I’ve illustrated. My first was about another furry little creature – a bat! – and there’s more about both titles below.  I’m also currently working on another David MacPhail authored ‘Amazing Atlas’ title with Floris. It’s all about Scotland’s history and is due out in September 2023.

It’s a real privilege to work in children’s illustration – it’s so imaginative and playful, and it’s a medium in which you have a lot of responsibility; good children’s books stay in the minds of readers for years. Some of my favourite picture books from my childhood are by Swedish illustrator Jan Lööf (particularly “My Grandad is a Pirate, “The Story About the Red Apple” and “The Birthday Present”), and a Danish translation of “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle. Today I really admire illustrators like Benji Davies, Jon Klassen and Julia Sarda for their incredible craftsmanship and the humour in their stories.”

Anders’ first picture book and his first title with Little Door Books is ‘Scaredy Bat’ written by Jonathan Meres. ‘Scaredy Bat’ is a funny, engaging story about letting go and conquering your fears and Anders’ dynamic, characterful illustrations perfectly capture Little Bat’s growing confidence as he turns the tables on his older siblings and proves to them that he is not a scaredy bat after all. His second picture book has just been published (May 2023) with Little Tiger. ‘Holey Moley’ written by debut writer Bethan Clarke, is an hilarious rhyming read-aloud all about Gus the Goat and Mavis Mole which Anders has illustrated with delightfully deadpan humour.