I’m Emmi Smid, a Dutch artist who loves to write, illustrate and translate children’s books. I live in Arnhem, the Netherlands, and spend my days in my cosy little studio doing all the children’s book related things.
What do I find important to pay attention to when creating children’s books?
This would be matters of diversity, inclusivity and mental/emotional well-being. We're all unique, and we're not that different. How many of us recognise being told explicitly or implicitly that we are too small, too much, too weak, too fat, too skinny, too dumb, too nerdy, too X/Y/Z? How many of us have been bullied about our sexuality, gender, skin tone, or any other quality that is viewed as ‘different’? Children have to cope with the hand they are dealt until other options arise, or until they are able to change their situation. Books can be a safe vehicle for introducing children to different worlds and alternative views. I love using humour in both text and illustration, as well as metaphors to depict real and raw emotions, to show children that they are not alone in their personal situation - and that they are not weird. I'd love it if my words and illustrations could give children the feeling that they are allowed to feel PROUD of who they are.
Education: BA Fine Art at ArtEZ (Arnhem, NL); BA Fine Art at Falmouth University (UK); MA Sequential Design/Illustration at the University of Brighton (UK); Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (CELTA) at the University of Cambridge (UK).
Publishers I’ve worked with: Jessica Kingsley Publishers (UK), Hoogland & van Klaveren (NL), Moon Uitgevers (NL), KokBoekencentrum (NL), Clavis (BE).
Visit my Instagram if you’re curious about more work behind the scenes.
Send me a message here if you have a question or would like to work together. Dutchies: hier een bericht sturen mag natuurlijk ook gewoon in het Nederlands!
© Studio Emmi Smid
KvK: 63937174
Arnhem, the Netherlands