Welcome to my Book Nook!
I have been illustrating picture books since my first publication, Little Platypus by Nette Hilton, which won the CBCA (Childrenā€™s Book Council of Australia) Notable Book award in 2000. Since then, Iā€™ve had the pleasure of illustrating books for renowned authors such as Margaret Wild and Jackie French. With over a dozen picture books published worldwide, I invite you to explore my work.
Please take a look around!
Celebrating the launch of my latest picture book
This Is The Dog
Maura Finn & Nina Rycroft
First published Scholastic NZ, Feb 2021.
This is the dog with the snuffly snout,
the half-crumpled ear,
the fur that sticks out.
With one ear up and one ear down,
a lonely little dog waits...
and hopes, that he will have a home and a forever friend.
Available to purchase from Booktopia and Wheelers
Once a Creepy Crocodile
By Peter Taylor & Nina Rycroft
First published by Five Mile Press, 2015
Kerry White. Children's Magazine
“Rycroft’s watercolour illustrations, the best she has published to date, walk a fine line between nursery-land beauty and fun park hilarity. Great value in every way for preschools and homes with toddlers.”
Showcase Exhibition
The Second Annual Festival of Australian Childrens Literature. 1 Oct – 15 Nov 2013. Jackie French and Nina Rycroft celebrate the opening of the Showcase Exhibition curated by Sara Rapp, featuring original drafts and in-process drawings, as well as final illustrations from their picture book 'Dinosaurs Love Cheese'. Dr Belle Alderman from the National Centre for Australian Children's Literature talking about the work.
Dr Belle Alderman on Dinosaurs Love Cheese
Ballroom Bonanza
By Nina Rycroft
First published by Working Title Press, 2009
Abrams Books, New York, 2010
Listed in the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge
A Ballroom Bonanza artwork was purchased by Dromkeen VIC, to be a part of the Dromkeen Children’s Literature Collection
Boom Bah!
By Phil Cummings &Nina Rycroft
Working Title Press, Kane Miller, 2009
‘Boom Bah!’ was presented to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to commemorate their visit to Australia, May 2014.
2007, Windmill Performing Arts toured Australia performing 'Boom Bah!' in SA, NSW, Victoria, and Queensland as a literacy initiative between Windmill and the advertiser Little Big Book Club.
Little Platypus
By Nette Hilton & Nina Rycroft, Koala Books, 2000
CBCA (Children’s Book Council of Australia) Notable Book, 2001
Listed in the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge
Ballroom Bonanza
"In this exuberant rhyming book, animals visit a famous ballroom at Blackpool to dance in an alphabetically arranged contest. So camels conga, donkeys disco and lions line dance (very badly, but no-one dares to mention this!) Mischievous monkeys hide the band's instruments part of the way through the programme and readers must backtrack to find them hidden in the previous pages, before the contest can resume. Altogether, it’s an enjoyable and entertaining romp through the alphabet. For school, public library and family collections, for use by two to eight."
– Jenny Gorman Megalong Books, Leura
