Sven Völker – illustratör

A great journey teaches Bear that there are more important things than destinations. Bear wakes up after his long winter's sleep and joins his friend, Butterfly, on a journey. 'Where are we going?' asks Bear. 'All journeys have secret destinations', says Butterfly. As they travel through forest, over hill and across a great river, Butterfly offers her wisdom about hardships, facing one's fears and living in the moment. Bear's natural impatience gradually softens into acceptance of the world around him. As the seasons change, the friends find themselves once more in front of Bear's cave. Landscapes look different with different eyes and the end of one journey is the beginning of another. This is a heartwarming book about the circles and cycles of life and being. A gentle and inspiring way to introduce Buddhist philosophies and values to young readers.

Alma is curating an exhibition at the Museum of Shapes. Learn all about the shapes that make up our world and help her put the exhibition together! Welcome to the Museum of Shapes. Alma is the curator of the museum. She decides which shapes should go where. Triangles have three sides and three angles. Can you help Alma find all the triangles on the shelf? Alma’s favourite shape is a circle. All the points on the edge of a circle are the same distance from its centre. Not all shapes are geometric; some are wiggly and messy. Can you make a wiggly line with your body? This is an engaging and informative book about the shapes that make up our world. The narrative framework is complemented by interactive texts and gorgeous, minimalist illustration by New York Times Best Illustrated award winner, Sven Volker. Geometry has never been this mesmerising!

A visual guide to unsticking yourself…. Without becoming unstuck.When creativity stalls, pushing harder rarely helps. Looking at things differently does. This is a small, charming book of visual punchlines to break the creative inertia. Created by award-winning graphic designer Sven Völker, whose work spans global brand identities for Suzuki and the New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book, A Million Dots, this book is a collection of stripped back, sideways provocations designed to loosen up ideas and reconnect with play. It emerged from his work as a professor of design at Potsdam University as way in which to get students thinking laterally. Illustrated in Volker’s distinctive, minimalist approach, each page offers a small shift in perspective, inviting you to pause, reframe and see what’s been there all along. There are no answers here. Just better ways of asking.

Winner of the New York Times Top 10 Best Illustrated Children’s Books of 2019.A book to promote interest in numbers and wonder at the scale they can represent, with lots to interrogate and talk about. -- School Library AssociationPotential goldmine of teaching ideas. -- School Reading ListDouble the numbers to go from 1 to 1,000,000 in 40 pages. A stunning visualization of numbers big and small.We start with a single tree; 1. As we turn the page, we are presented with a sum doubling the number on the page before it: 1+1 = 2; 2+2 = 4; 4+4 = 8. In this way, we reach a million (actually 1,048,576) within 44 pages.Each sum is brought to life with a simple graphic illustration in the distinctive style of Sven Völker. The dots form the back of a ladybird, the bubbles in a cup of soda and the water in a swimming pool. On each page, a single neon dot illustrates what one means in the context of the sum.Gloriously simple in its concept and execution, this is a book that will bring mathematics alive to parents as well as children and will also make a stunning gift book.