Emma Chinnery author page

Emma Chinnery biography

Emma Chinnery is a British children’s author and illustrator. She worked for several years as a graphic artist before focusing on children’s books and completing the MA Children’s Book Illustration at Cambridge School of Art, where she graduated with Distinction in 2021.

Chinnery’s debut as an author-illustrator is the picture book My Friend Andy (Little Tiger, 9 January 2025), a 32-page paperback that invites young readers to think about friendship and how we perceive people in difficult circumstances. She previously illustrated Lari Don’s middle-grade novella Drawing a Veil (Bloomsbury, 2012).

As an illustrator, her recent work includes Enchanted Beach by Esther Freud (Candlewick, 3 June 2025), a seasonal family story with an environmental thread. She is also the author of We Grew a Dragon (Bloomsbury Children’s Books), listed for publication in January 2026.

Alongside book work, Chinnery runs workshops and live drawing sessions for children in schools and libraries. Her practice combines observational drawing with mixed-media textures, aiming for clear visual storytelling suitable for emergent and early independent readers.

Selected titles: Drawing a Veil (illustrator, 2012); My Friend Andy (author-illustrator, 2025); Enchanted Beach (illustrator, 2025); We Grew a Dragon (author, 2026).