Pathways Children's Illustration Exhibition 2025

Can you help us showcase the future stars of UK children’s books?

Pathways Into Children’s Publishing is a two-year programme supporting artists of colour, disabled and neurodivergent artists to develop their children’s illustration, storytelling and publishing skills. 

For their final project, the 35 Pathways mentees illustrated new stories exploring climate themes, by writers Smriti Halls, Nicola Davies, Viola Wang, Polly Ho-Yen and Alexis Deacon. They were mentored by dozens of publishing professionals from major UK publishers - Farshore, Floris, HarperCollins, Penguin Random House, Walker, Oxford University Press, Thames & Hudson, and Usborne - plus a host of amazing children’s author-illustrators. 

They’re now putting together an exhibition of that work organised around the five stories - and they need YOUR help to make the exhibition ready for London Book Fair 2025, the world’s biggest global trade fair for publishing.

What’s the exhibition about?

The Pathways exhibition revolves around the five illustrated stories, in five parts, each exploring different artists’ interpretation of the same story. The exhibition includes 100s of stunning, colourful illustrations exploring:

• How children across the world can make positive, eco-conscious lifestyle changes, through an exuberant rhyming tale by Smriti Halls (illustrations (c) Gunja Bhatt, Abinaya Kamalanathan, Menaga Ranish).

• The melting sea ice and its impact on Arctic communities, in a powerful picture book by Nicola Davies (illustrations (c) Takako Copeland, Seohwa Roh, Chris Reinhardt, Clare Storry)

• Transforming urban garden spaces into sustainable ecosystems, explained in a fact-filled non-fiction chapter book by Viola Wang (illustrations (c) Debora Adachi, Zenovia Grant, Ruth Mutch)

• Parallel dimensions showing how greener futures are possible, in a science-fiction chapter book by Polly Ho-Yen (illustrations (c) Lewis James Houghton, Billie Kaur Richardson, Cintia Nguyen)

• The terrifying impact of forest fires on animal species, in a gripping graphic novel by Alexis Deacon (illustrations (c) Regina Mayr, Claire Bellfield, Sarah Ling)

What do we need?

The exhibition venue is being provided through a generous sponsorship arrangement with London Book Fair. We now need your help to raise £6,850:

• £1500 to design the exhibition display panels, making them print-ready
• £3200 to print 30 x 1 metre by 1.5 metre, full colour display panels
• £1500 to install the exhibition in the space at London Book Fair
• £500 to produce a pack of 30 postcards, promoting the featured illustrators to exhibition visitors
• £150 to cover the campaign site fees

What's our stretch target?

And if we can raise an additional £4,000+ we can pay the illustrators for some of the donated rewards: £250 for artist-in-residencies, £150 for each original artwork, £50 for each print. This will also help them to cover postage/printing costs for artwork that they send to our generous supporters.

How can you help?

We need your donations - and we’ve got some fantastic rewards to offer you in return!

As headline sponsors, supporters and friends of the exhibition, you can access a range of incredible, illustration rewards for donors, including:

• Opportunities for headline and supporter branding on the exhibition and associated publicity - plus an opportunity to fund and co-host a special reception event at London Book Fair!
• A commissioned Pathways illustrator-in-residence, who’ll spend up to one day in your place of work or online, creating something special for and with you and your colleagues!
• Original, traditional artworks by Pathways illustrators
• Limited edition, high quality digital print artworks by Pathways illustrators 
• Packs of 35 postcards featuring exhibition artwork, one by each of the 35 Pathways illustrators
• A special digital colouring-in book of black-and-white wildlife illustrations by Pathways illustrators

Why are we fundraising so close to London Book Fair?

Pop Up Projects, the non-profit children’s literature agency that produced Pathways, was forced to close in January - just two months before this vital exhibition. After 14 years of producing pioneering children’s literature programmes and projects across the UK, Pop Up could no longer secure the funding it needed to continue operating. With the company no longer able to take the exhibition forward, Pathways mentees are collaborating to make their London Book Fair dream a reality.

Where will the money go?

Once the campaign ends, donations will be paid to one of the group's bank accounts. Payments will be made immediately to:

• graphic designer
• printer, for the exhibition displays and postcards
• exhibition installation furniture provider

If we hit our stretch target, the total £4,000+ will then be paid out to the mentees offering rewards for their work, plus any print and postage costs.

Once payments have been made, a record of all payments out against donations received will be shared with all the donors to this campaign.

Here's why it matters to us...

• “The Pathways programme was a transformative experience for me as a disabled artist. It allowed me to grow professionally through accessible, industry-led classes. The inclusive environment gave me a unique chance to explore and refine my visual language while supporting others with disabilities. Showcasing our work at the London Book Fair to industry professionals marks an exciting next step in our journey. Your support would help us share our lived experiences, amplifying diverse and under-represented voices in the publishing world,” Sarah Underwood, Pathways illustrator
• “Pathways gave me an opportunity to study illustration, which I wouldn't have been able to consider otherwise. Through Pathways I learnt a lot from other people's life experiences and illustration work. The London Book Fair Exhibition is so important to me as I would love for us, as a group, to be able to put our work in front of professionals in the world of publishing. As a group of under-represented illustrators, we have all faced many life challenges over the last two years - I would love nothing more than to see everyone's work appreciated for the gifts it can bring to children's publishing,” Abinaya Kamalanathan, Pathways illustrator
• "As someone with chronic illness with debilitating flare ups, being able to develop my childrens’ illustration practice online with Pathways was a unique and valuable experience. I’m so excited about the prospect of our London Book Fair exhibition with the opportunity for industry professionals and decision-makers to see our work. There’s such a wealth of skill within our cohort and I believe this showcase will benefit both us and the wider childrens’ book world!” Clare Storry, Pathways illustrator
• “Pathways has been an important step to understanding myself as a children's illustrator and the value of what we can do to help balance representation in  children’s literature. The past two years have allowed me to work together with and experience stories from a diverse group of fellow mentees who have the potential to enhance who, what and how we represent the world around us to young readers. I feel the London Book Fair exhibition will collate a range of the varied, compelling and insightful ways a story can be told through many different representations,” Chris Reinhardt, Pathways illustrator