Annie

Wilkinson

The Night
the Forest
Came to
Town
About the Illustrator

I was born in Saskatchewan, and am

the youngest of 8, with 5 older brothers
and two sisters. I originally moved to
Vancouver in my early twenties because
the band I was in couldn’t find a
Email the permanent drummer. I have been
Illustrator: drawing my whole life, but never
anniecaruso@gmail.com thought it could be a career until I was
given a job illustrating for Robeez baby
shoes, who saw my work after I applied
Illustrator’s
to be their web designer. I have ever
Website: been to art school, am self-taught and I
www.anniewilkinson.com do all my work digitally, using an iPad.
Along with drawing and raising my two
children, I still play in bands and play
coed softball in the summer.

Illustrator’s Tip:
It took me a long time to let
myself get really loose with
sketching - I would always
start
wanting it to look like a
finished piece right of the bat.
I finally realized it’s best to
let your very
first sketches be ugly.
2019-2020
www.chocolatelilyawards.com
About the Book
The Night the Forest Came to Town takes place in a
somewhat cold and concrete town, where
one night seeds blow in and take root. By morning the town
has been transformed by flowers,
trees and animals. This book was particularly meaningful for
me as I’m concerned about the
impact humans have had on the planet, and there is
something hopeful in the idea that nature
can still flourish around us. It was also particularly a
challenge because so much of the story
happens at night, and generally my illustrations tend
towards the bright colour palettes! I had
to coerce a few friends to go out with me to do some
nighttime urban sketching in preparation.
What’s Next?
An atlas of Canada for French publisher Anjou - I’m
learning some things about my own
country! Just for fun, I am working on a graphic novel about
motherhood, but this will take a
long time to finish!
Other Books by the Author
The Secret Garden (Ladybird books)
Peter Pan (Ladybird books)
The Art Lesson (Kar-Ben Publishing) - winner of a 2018
Bank Street Best books for children
award