The Adventure Club: Red Panda Rescue

Jess Butterworth (Author)

Jess spent her childhood between the UK and India, and grew up hearing stories about the Himalayas from her grandmother. She’s lived in India and even met with the Dalai Lama. She studied creative writing at Bath Spa and after a few years living in Louisiana, is now back in the UK, where she lives with her husband and daughter.

Kirsti Beautyman (Illustrator)

Kirsti Beautyman is an illustrator and children’s book author based in Newcastle Upon Tyne. You’ll often find her in her small cosy studio, with her feet on a portable radiator, clutching a mug of hot Ribena while she works on her latest projects. After graduating from Edinburgh college of Art in 2016 and moving to the North East, she began to work as a freelance Illustrator. Her life long love of reading and narrative imagery motivated her to apply to the Picture Hooks scheme in a hope to focus on writing and illustrating children’s books. She was awarded ‘Picture Hooks Illustrator of the Year’ in 2017 and has worked on multiple books since. In her most recent years Kirsti has turned to working digitally, however, her illustration still always begin as a loose pencil sketch in one of many battered sketchbooks. Her experience in print making at university continues to inform her choice of colour palette and use of layers which apply texture and create contrast in her work.