Meet the illustrator Christina Balit

In my box of Picture Books this week I received Escape from Pompeii which is a wonderful retelling of the events from AD79 when Mount Vesuvius erupted engulfing the city of Pompeii and surroundings. I already knew the work of Christina Balit because I had copies of several of her books in my previous school library  - Zoo in the Sky; The Twelve Labours of Hercules; and Ishtar and Tammuz. Reviewing her body of work it is great to see she has illustrated books by some famous names such as Donna Jo Napoli; Mary Hoffman; James Riordan and Michael Morpurgo. 

Christina Balit is a UK illustrator.  Here is her web site. She has been nominated twice for the Kate Greenaway Medal. 

I love this description from Kirkus: Balit creates kaleidoscopically patterned illustrations. Discussion another book (Tales from the Arabian nights) they say: Balit whirls bright patterns around stylised figures to add notes of grandeur to each tale.  

In an interview for an exhibition in London Christina said:

"On reflection, it seems inevitable to me that a childhood spent in so many different parts of the Middle East, Greece and the Mediterranean has profoundly affected the images I make. I spent years rambling through ‘ruins’ and extraordinary places of historical significance and whilst the ‘history’ was magnificent, it was always the visual impact of the remains - the carvings and the art - that affected me."  Christina Balit A Hundred Worlds exhibition

Take a look here to see some scrumptious illustrations from The Lion Illustrated Bible for Children. Here are 100 images collected on Pinterest. 

Here is a list of some books illustrated (and in some cases written too) by Christina Balit:

• Treasury of Greek Mythology
• Treasury of Egyptian Mythology
• Treasury of Norse Mythology
• The Adventures of Odysseus
• Zoo In The Sky: A Book of Animal Constellations
• Tales from the Arabian Nights
• Escape from Pompeii
• Once Upon a Starry Night: A Book of Constellations
• Atlantis: The Legend of the Lost City
• The Twelve Labours of Hercules
• The Scarab’s Secret
• Women of Camelot: Queens and Enchantresses at the Court of King Arthur
• The Planet Gods: Myths and Facts About the Solar System
• Ishtar and Tammuz: A Babylonian Myth of the Seasons
• Kingdom Of The Sun: A Book Of The Planets
• Zodiac: Celestial Circle of the Sun
• My Sister Shahrazad: Tales from the Arabian Nights
• Queen Guinevere: other stories from the court of King Arthur
• Everlasting Stories: A Family Bible Treasury
• Treasury of Bible Stories
• The Arabian Nights
• Kings and Queens of the Bible
• The Lion Classic Wisdom Stories
• The Lion Book of Tales and Legends
• The Lion Book of Wisdom Stories from Around the World
• An Arabian Home: Leila and Mustapha’s Story
• The Lion Illustrated Bible for Children

Her newest book  published this year is The Corinithian Girl: Champion Athlete of Ancient Olympia. In this video Christina talks about her book.