Former Kennet pupil’s illustrations published in children’s books

A former Kennet School pupil has had her illustrations published in another book.

Naomi Bennet’s art has been featured in educational picture book The Fairy Who Lived in a Pop Can.

The book – written by Suzan Ruben-Alderton – tells the story of a quirky fairy who lives in a can and promotes making environmentally friendly choices.

The proceeds are going towards two charities: Young Lives vs Cancer and Batten Disease Family Association.

Naomi Bennet and her course-mate at the Cardiff Metropolitan University Polly Allburn showed their work to the author and were delighted when she agreed to talk to them about collaborating.

Miss Bennet said it was surreal to see the book on the shelf when it launched in May.

“It was just a surreal experience,” she said.

“All the people working in the book waived their fees

“It was a really sweet project.”

She added: “I went straight onto university from A-Levels and my favourite A-Level was art.

“At Kennet the art department was always amazing and I just knew that was what I wanted to spend all my time doing.

“It pushed me in this direction and I was like ok I really love doing this for hours and hours.

“But I never thought I would jump into the world of illustration.”

The first book Miss Bennet’s illustrations appeared in was Casia William’s children’s book Y Gragen (The Shell).

The poem book followed the story of a child in the city who revisits their memories of the seaside.

Miss Bennet said: “The book is all in Welsh but that was quite interesting because I had seen the Welsh language quite a lot while I was studying so I was quite interested in it.

“It is a poem so it is important to have that understanding of the language.

“It is a rhyme so it only really works well in the Welsh language.

“It is a beautiful language, there is so much texture in the language.

“I have always admired it.”

The opportunity came about thanks to a competition which sought to find new talent in the world of children’s book illustration.

The Books Council of Wales competition was organised with Urdd Gobaith Cymru and Y Gragen came out in June this year.

Miss Bennet said: “I think this has inspired me to be excited about anything I might get to do whether it is a book or other project.”