"It was a lot of fun seeing what kind of mischief emerged": How Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston made their new picture book

The Dictionary Story picture book spread
(Image credit: Walker Books)

Author-artists Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston's new picture book, The Dictionary Story, is no ordinary picture book. It's a glorious homage to the written word, with typography that comes alive on the page accompanied by beautiful illustrations depicting characters found in the dictionary, such as Ghost, Donut and Alligator.

“What a delight it has been working together again on a new book, exploring our shared love of words and the joy to be found in literature," says Oliver. "We’ve spent the last five years creating a new tale we are really happy with, a tale that playfully brings to life a dictionary in unexpected and magical ways. Many hours have been spent persuading our letters to dance alongside our pictures, and we are very excited that we will finally get to introduce some wonderful new characters to the world,” adds Sam.

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Rosie Hilder

Rosie Hilder is Creative Bloq's Deputy Editor. After beginning her career in journalism in Argentina – where she worked as Deputy Editor of Time Out Buenos Aires – she moved back to the UK and joined Future Plc in 2016. Since then, she's worked as Operations Editor on magazines including Computer Arts, 3D World and Paint & Draw and Mac|Life. In 2018, she joined Creative Bloq, where she now assists with the daily management of the site, including growing the site's reach, getting involved in events, such as judging the Brand Impact Awards, and helping make sure our content serves the reader as best it can. 

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