Dapo Adeola is a British-Nigerian illustrator. He co-created and illustrated the

Waterstones Waterstones, formerly Waterstone's, is a British book retailer that operates 311 shops, mainly in the United Kingdom and also other nearby countries. As of February 2014, it employs around 3,500 staff in the UK and Europe. An average-sized Wa ...

children's book of 2020 ''Look'' ''Up!'', which explored space science. Adeola is best known for creating graphics that challenge race and gender stereotypes.

Early life and early career

Adeola was born in

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to parents of Nigerian origin. Toward the end of his time at high school, Adeola decided to pursue a career in graphic design. He studied art for

General Certificate of Secondary Education The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

(GCSE) and

GCE Advanced Level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

. He started a foundation course in art, where he was trained in fine art, graphic design and photography. As illustration was not offered, Adeola taught himself through online courses. To support himself financially while studying, Adeola worked part time as a gym receptionist. Adeola's style and confidence grew, he started to share his artwork on

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. While in university, as part of his final year dissertation, Adeola wrote about how it was possible to teach children to spell and count through picture books. One of his lecturers said ‘whatever you do, do not stop drawing,’, and Adeola took their advice.

Career

Through

, Adeola met actor Nathan Bryon. Together, they started to write children's books. In 2019 Adeola and Bryon were signed by

Puffin Books Puffin Books is a longstanding children's imprint of the British publishers Penguin Books. Since the 1960s, it has been among the largest publishers of children's books in the UK and much of the English-speaking world. The imprint now belongs t ...

to write three part book series that explores the life of a young astronaut known as Rocket. The main character, Rocket, is based on one of Adeola's nieces. When asked why it is important for young children to have access to books, Adeola remarked: "if you're not exposed to certain kinds of books it is difficult to envision yourself being in certain places, or to see positive and accurate reflections of yourself in the world." Alongside his own writing, Adeola looks to support Black illustrators and creatives. In 2019 he created the

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hashtag #BlackBritishIllustrators, where Black British creatives share their artwork and stories. Following the publication of ''Look Up!'', Adeola complained that, even though it won both the overall award and the illustrated book award at the 2020

Waterstones Children's Book Prize The Waterstones Children's Book Prize is an annual award given to a work of children's literature published during the previous year. First awarded in 2005, the purpose of the prize is "to uncover hidden talent in children's writing" and is there ...

and Bryon gave him full credit as an equal partner in the book's creation, both the book trade and the media minimized the significance of the illustrator's role. His open letter on the subject was endorsed by 800 writers.

Illustration and books

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References

{{Authority control Black British artists British children's book illustrators British illustrators British people of Nigerian descent People from London