Author guide
Coralie Bickford-Smith is a London-based designer, illustrator, and author who studied Typography and Graphic Communication at the University of Reading. She is renowned for designing Penguin's Clothbound Classics and has also created four author-illustrated picture-book fables: The Fox and the Star, The Worm and the Bird, The Song of the Tree, and The Squirrel and the Lost Treasure. The Fox and the Star won Waterstones Book of the Year in 2015.
Catalog record updated .
picture_book · First published 2023
One autumn evening, a young squirrel spots an acorn glinting on the forest floor. Eager to protect her treasure from watchful eyes and hungry mouths, she buries it deep in the heart of the forest. But when she returns after the icy winter, her acorn is nowhere to be found. Where could it be? An enchanting fable about growth, new life and finding hope in unexpected places.
Not sure where to begin?
Author-illustrator debut and earliest published work.
Outside the series
picture_book · 2015
From the award-winning designer of the iconic Penguin Hardcover Classics comes a beautifully illustrated fable about loss, friendship, and courage The Fox and the Star is the story of a friendship between a lonely Fox and the Star who…
picture_book · 2017
picture_book · 2020
picture_book · 2023
One autumn evening, a young squirrel spots an acorn glinting on the forest floor. Eager to protect her treasure from watchful eyes and hungry mouths, she buries it deep in the heart of the forest. But when she returns after the icy…
Coralie Bickford-Smith is a London-based designer, illustrator, and author, best known for her work on Penguin's Clothbound Classics and her illustrated picture-book fables.
Sources: cb-smith.com (opens in a new tab)penguinrandomhouse.com (opens in a new tab)
She is best known for designing Penguin's Clothbound Classics, whose tactile cloth, foil, and patterned covers became a distinctive modern style for classic books. She has designed covers for Penguin since 2002.
Sources: penguin.co.uk (opens in a new tab)penguin.co.uk (opens in a new tab)
She studied Typography and Graphic Communication at the University of Reading.
Sources: cb-smith.com (opens in a new tab)penguinrandomhouse.com (opens in a new tab)
Her work draws on Victorian bookbinding and William Morris's Kelmscott Press, while William Blake has also strongly influenced her approach to combining writing, illustration, and book design.
Sources: penguin.co.uk (opens in a new tab)theguardian.com (opens in a new tab)
The Fox and the Star won the 2015 Waterstones Book of the Year. It was also described by Bickford-Smith's official biography as the first picture book to win the prize.
Sources: penguin.co.uk (opens in a new tab)cb-smith.com (opens in a new tab)
