Meet the Judges 2023: Dapo Adeola

Our treat for you this Monday morning is an introduction to our third 2023 judge: the incredible Dapo Adeola. Character designer, illustrator and author, Dapo’s work has been dazzling children and parents alike over the past few years, delighting us with characters from space detectives to lioness mums (and of course, a very special Rocket).

To find out (or should that be ‘look up’ - SORRY - ) more about Dapo, please read on below…

Dapo - thank you so much for taking the time to answer our questions!

What is your earliest reading memory?

It’s a bit of a sad one. I was raised in a household of non readers who only saw being able to read as a way of avoiding the embarrassment they felt around illiteracy. So I was forced to learn to read books that I had no interest in at all. I could read, but I kept that a secret and instead got really good at hiding the books they forced on me around the house. It wasn’t until I was 7 that reading for pleasure became a thing for me. I’d just started a new school year and my teacher at the time sat me in front of the bookshelf and gave me the opportunity to choose which book I wanted to read. It was the first time I’d been given a choice and I jumped to it, and so began my love of reading. 

Who is (or was) your all-time favourite person to read picture books with?

I haven’t actually read picture books regularly with anyone outside of work events. 

I guess my faves would be the children in classes across the country that we’ve done events with. The energy exchange is absolute magic. The looks on faces and the love for our characters and stories never fails to get me emotional.

 

Who or what do you consider to be the best picture book character ever, and why?

There are many classic and amazing. picture book characters, but it’s absolutely impossible for me to choose one as the best of all time. Each time I think I’ve found one, someone releases a character that I wish I’d drawn or come up with. I love how Illustrators keep pushing the craft forward.  

 

Oscar's Book Prize celebrates the very best picture books. What sort of stories are you hoping to discover while judging this year's shortlist?

I’m holding back any expectations when it comes to submissions, I want to be pleasantly surprised. The most I’m hoping for is to find stories that dare to be brave enough to step off the well-trodden path of past books.

 

 About Dapo:

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 Lionesswritten 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.