Who are the illustrators for the 500 Words 2024/25 prizes?

There are lots of prizes to be won for this year's competition, one of which is an original piece of artwork created by a top children's illustrator.

This year, children will take home a framed illustrated cover of their story from Dapo Adeola, Nigel Parkinson, Lydia Monks, Momoko Abe, Rob Biddulph or Yasmeen Ismail.

The illustrations will also be included in a special 500 Words winner's book, which will go home with each bronze, silver and gold winner, in both categories.

You can read more about the illustrators in the slideshow below, to find out what makes them the perfect pick. You can also browse the illustrations from last year's competition here.

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Dapo Adeola
Dapo Adeola is an illustrator, author and character designer who was awarded Illustrator of the Year at The British Book Awards in 2022. Dapo rocketed into the picture book world with his greatly acclaimed illustrator debut, Look Up!, written by Nathan Bryon and published by Puffin in 2019, which won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize in 2020. Dapo illustrated My Dad is a Grizzly Bear and My Mum Is a Lioness written by award-winning author Swapna Haddow (both published by Macmillan Children’s Books) and collaborated with Malorie Blackman on their picture book We’re Going to Find the Monster. Dapo made his author debut in 2021 with the Puffin published picture book Hey You!: An Empowering Celebration of Growing Up Black, featuring 18 talented Black British illustrators, which also went on to win Illustrated book of the year at The British Book Awards in 2022.
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Nigel Parkinson
Nigel Parkinson is one of the UK’s most celebrated comic artists, best known as the official artist for Dennis and Gnasher in the iconic Beano comic. With a career spanning over four decades, Nigel has worked on numerous beloved characters, establishing his legacy in British comic history. Since 2012, he has been the lead artist for Dennis and Gnasher, bringing the adventures of the mischievous schoolboy and his loyal dog to life for a new generation of readers. Known for his dynamic and energetic illustration style, Nigel’s work captures the humour and spirit of Beano’s timeless characters, showcasing his versatility and passion for storytelling.
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Lydia Monks
Lydia Monks is a bestselling illustrator and author of children’s books, publishing her picture book Aaaarrggh, Spider! In 2013. She is also known for her illustrations of Julia Donaldson's books, which have sold over 4 million copies and been translated into 25 languages worldwide. Lydia’s long list of awards includes the Smarties Award, the Royal Mail Scottish Children’s Book Award, the Stockport Children’s Book Award, the Specsaver, Nielsen Gold Bestseller Award, the Red Big Book Award and the Pan Mac Award.
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Momoko Abe
Momoko Abe is a self-taught illustrator based in London. She grew up in Japan and moved to the UK to study filmmaking. She still works in the TV and film industry, whilst pursuing her passion for children’s books. Momoko was shortlisted for the World Illustration Award in 2019. In 2020, Momoko published her first picture book, Avocado Asks.
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Rob Biddulph
Rob Biddulph is a bestselling and multi award-winning children’s author/illustrator whose books include I Follow the Fox, the Peanut Jones series, Blown Away, Show and Tell and Odd Dog Out. In March 2020 he started #DrawWithRob, a series of draw-along videos designed to help parents whose children were forced to stay home from school due to the coronavirus pandemic. The initiative garnered widespread international media coverage, millions of views across the globe and spawned a series of bestselling activity books. On 21 May 2020 he broke the Guinness World Record for the largest online art class when 45,611 households tuned in to his live #DrawWithRob YouTube class, and in July 2020 he was named as a Point of Light by the British Prime Minister.
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Yasmeen Ismail
Irish-born, Bristol-based Yasmeen Ismail is an award-winning author, illustrator and animator. Yasmeen studied at art school in her hometown, Dublin. After graduating, Yasmeen moved to the UK where she worked on many different projects ranging from advertising and short films to children's publishing. Yasmeen’s illustrations are bright, fluid and full of energy and movement. She loves to work with anything that will give her bright colours and good marks and texture on the page. She loves to experiment and expand in all areas of her work and is constantly trying new ways to improve her writing and drawing. Yasmeen has now illustrated over 15 books and has written 12 of them, such as Would You Like a Banana, published in 2020.

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