Draw Characters 2023

Children’s book artists have contributed fun lessons on how to draw some of their favorite characters. Each individual drawing instruction is available to follow by viewing online (or to print) for children, teens, and book lovers everywhere. 

These year’s illustrators are Xindi Yan (Little Bee Books), Mike Curato (Macmillan), Ann Kim Ha (Red Comet Press), Delzin Choksey (Yali Books), Paddy Donnelly (Yeehoo Press), Jack Wong (Scholastic), Clotilde Perrin (Gecko Press), Polina Doroshenko (Brown Books Kids), Andy McGuire (Zonderkidz), and Benjamin Phillips (Cicada Books).

Click on each image to view or download.

If you love them all, download the full Drawing Characters Book.

Share it with others! —

Check out the #ReadBooksSparkChange drawing along characters featuring art by the talented [insert relevant @handle here. See below]! Get it here https://bit.ly/3ccvH5C #everychildareader

Want to learn how to draw your favorite characters? Check out these #ReadBooksSparkChange step-by-step pages from beloved, talented illustrators! https://bit.ly/3ccvH5C #everychildareader

About the Draw Along Character Creators

Xindi Yan (Little Bee Books)
Xindi Yan left behind a small city in China, traveling thousands of miles to New York to realize her dream of being a published artist. She received a BFA in illustration from Pratt Institute and has worked as an illustrator for the gaming industry and for children’s books, some of which include Grandpa Grumps, Sylvia Rose and the Cherry Tree, The Itty-Bitty Witch, and the Craftily Ever After series. She currently lives in Brooklyn with her husband, and dreams about having a puppy in the near future. See more of Xindi’s work at xindiyanart.com. | Visit the website.

Mike Curato (Macmillan)
Mike Curato is the award-winning author and illustrator of the Little Elliot series, Where is Bina Bear?, and the graphic novel Flamer, and has illustrated a number of other books for children, including What Are You?, What If…, Worm Loves Worm, and All the Way to Havana. | Visit the website. 

Ann Kim Ha (Red Comet Press)
Ann Kim Ha is a graphic artist and designer with a masters in architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design. She employs techniques of watercolor and digital collage to illustrate her stories. Walter Finds His Voice is her debut children’s book. Ann lives with her family in New Jersey. | Visit the website.

Delzin Choksey (Yali Books)
Delzin is a children’s book illustrator and runs an illustration studio Crispy Doodles in California. She enjoys illustrating for young children, and you can see more of her work at www.crispydoodles.com. When she is not illustrating, you can find her in the park with her kids, baking till she drops or cuddled up and reading (not necessarily in that order). | Visit the website.

Paddy Donnelly (Yeehoo Press)
Paddy Donnelly is an Irish picture book author & illustrator living in Belgium. Nominated for the Kate Greenaway Medal and The World Illustration Awards in 2022, Paddy’s work has achieved international acclaim as his debut author illustrated picture book The Vanishing Lake won the gold medal in the Independent Publisher Book Awards 2021. His most recent author illustrated picture book Fox & Son Tailers was shortlisted for the An Post Irish Book Awards in 2022. Paddy grew up on the beautiful north coast of Ireland, surrounded by mythical stories of giants, magical creatures, and shape-shifting animals. All of this prompted his love for nature, animals, the sea, and storytelling. He wishes Pluto was still a planet. | Visit the website.

Jack Wong (Scholastic)
Jack Wong has created a masterpiece drawn from his lived experience of growing up with a grandmother who spent her childhood in the rivers of Borneo and a mother — growing up in late 1950s China — who was forbidden to learn to swim. Born in Hong Kong and raised in Vancouver, Jack holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax, Canada, where he now lives with his wife and two cats. | Visit the website.  

Clotilde Perrin (Gecko Press)
Clotilde Perrin is an illustrator and author living in Strasbourg. She has published over 30 books, including the international lift-the-flap bestseller Inside the Villains. | Visit the website.

Polina Doroshenko (Brown Books Kids)
Polina Doroshenko is a Ukrainian artist and illustrator living and working in Kyiv. She graduated from the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture in Kyiv, and currently teaches at the Department of Graphic Arts of NAOMA. Polina’s illustrations were awarded the White Ravens Award, and were among the finalists of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair (2022). Polina has a four-year-old daughter who is an inspiration in her art. | Behance.

Andy McGuire (Zonderkidz)
Andy McGuire is the author and/or illustrator of twelve books ranging from picture books to middle-grade fiction. He is the illustrator of the bestselling The Ology, and his nature illustrations have been included in The World Book Student Encyclopedia. Andy is known for his realistic, but often humorous, depictions of wildlife, people, and other amazing things God made.  Andy and his wife Becky have three children and an escape-artist beagle who all live in Burnsville, MN. | Visit the website.

Benjamin Phillips (Cicada Books)
Benjamin Phillips is a British illustrator and artist born in 1986, Guildford, Surrey. In 2009 Benjamin graduated from the Illustration degree course at Brighton University with first class honors. For the past 14 years he has worked as a freelance artist, illustrator and educator living in London and South Korea. In 2014 he moved to Hastings, UK where he lives and works today. A multidisciplinary creator, making art across the mediums of drawing, painting, printmaking and ceramics. A selection of collaborative works by Benjamin and Amy Fenton were included in this year’s Brewers Towner International Prize 2022/23. His most recent publication is the graphic novel Alte Zachen written by Ziggy Hanaor and published by Cicada Books and they are currently working on their second graphic novel. Alte Zachen was included in this year’s Illustrators Exhibition at The Bologna Children’s Book Fair and is shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Illustration 2023. | Visit the website.  

More Resources and FAQs

• Find Children’s Book Week Highlights and Resources from previous years here.
• Find Frequently Asked Questions here.