Award-winning creator and cute thing maker ELLEN STUBBINGS has illustrated more than forty books for children. Often fueled by cake and iced tea, Ellen creates her charming art under the art direction of her tuxedo cat named Fig. She works both digitally in Photoshop and traditionally with watercolor paints, ink, and colored pencils. She also creates linocut prints, ceramics, pins, stickers, comics and more. Ellen studied illustration at the University of Lincoln in England and lives in York with her husband and son.
“Stubbings’s animals, which march with verve, should delight the intended audience.”—Publisher’s Weekly
“Supercute creatures on nearly every page. Young readers facing changes will identify with Itty’s emotions . . . , this earns a glitter-spewing shooting star”—Kirkus Reviews
“Stubbings’s illustrations create an adorably rounded, comically cute cartoon quality that differentiates this title from other sugary-sweet early chapter books. . . .VERDICT A fine purchase for medium-sized early chapter book collections, notable for its spirited illustrations.”—School Library Journal
Visit Ellen at:
- INSTAGRAM | www.instagram.com/ellen_stubbings
- ETSY | www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SoCuteCompany
- WEBSITE | www.ellenstubbingsillustration.co.uk
For more information, please contact Teresa Kietlinski at teresa(a)bookmarkliterary.com.
Ellen’s booklist includes:
Frida and Claude books 1 & 2
by Ellen Stubbings
Penguin Workshop | 2027 –
Cuties: Boba and Bun Bun and the Bees
Cuties: Boba and Cappy Go Swimming
Cuties: Boba and Coco
Cuties: Boba and Noodles
by Meika Hashimoto | RH Step Into Reading | 2027-
illus. by Ellen Stubbings
KITTEN NINJA
KITTEN NINJA: Braver Than Ever
by Colleen AF Venable and Marcie Colleen | Andrews McMeel | 2024-2025
illus. by Ellen Stubbings
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• a Children’s Book Council (CBC) Teacher’s Favorite selection, 2025
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“Before he was the protector of Metro City…he was…absolutely adorable!” Stubbings employs thick black outlines with rounded forms; Kitten Ninja is a rotund loaf with soft edges. His opponents include a beam of light, a ball of yarn, and inclement weather. There are two to four panels per page, and they are used effectively. Some panels show the passage of time, as when a beam of light moves across the floor while a clock’s moving hands indicate the passage of time. The narrator directly addresses Kitten Ninja, making this story a great option for read-alouds. Each chapter ends with an observation that an obstacle “never stood a chance” against Kitten Ninja; neither will anyone with a soft spot for cats. Ninja has a beige-skinned owner who cuddles with him while reading and knitting. As comforting as a lazy afternoon making biscuits.“—Kirkus Reviews (Kitten Ninja book #1)
KITTEN NINJA series
1 Kitten Ninja
2 Kitten Ninja Versus The Ball of Yarn
3 Kitten Ninja Versus The Snow
4 Kitten Ninja Versus The Box
5 Kitten Ninja Versus The Leaf
6 Kitten Ninja Versus The Tower
7 Kitten Ninja Versus The Puppy
9 Kitten Ninja Versus Kitten Ninja
11 Kitten Ninja Versus The Suitcase
by Colleen AF Venable and Marcie Colleen | Epic | 2021-
illus. by Ellen Stubbings
Itty Bitty Princess Kitty series
1 The Newest Princess
2 The Royal Ball
3 The Puppy Prince
4 Star Showers
4 The Cloud Race
6 The Un-Fairy
7 Welcome to Wagmire
8 The Copycat
9 Tea for Two
10 Flower Power
11 The Frost Festival
12 Mystery at Mermaid Cove
13 The Sweet Shop
14 The Kitty-Catwalk
15 Make Way for Ballet
16 Sleepover Surprise (2026)
17 Forget-Me-Not Friends (2026)
by Melody Mews | Little Simon | 2020-
illus. by Ellen Stubbings
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• Kansas NEA Reading Circle List Intermediate Title (The Newest Princess)
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“Change can be very scary even for a princess kitty. . . This series starter features large, inviting type, short chapters, and black-and-white cartoon illustrations of large-headed,
supercute creatures on nearly every page. Young readers facing changes will identify with Itty’s emotions, though most won’t be given the option to refuse it, as she is. For those new to chapter books who are obsessed with kitties, princesses, and fairies, this earns a glitter-spewing shooting star . . . “—Kirkus Reviews (The Newest Princess)
“Itty Bitty Kitty lives in Lollyland, a magical kingdom where candy and sweet treat landscapes feature prominently (though fruits and vegetables also grow in Goodie Grove). Inhabitants include other friendly animals, small fairies, talking flowers, and singing mermaids. As the daughter of King and Queen Kitty, Itty Bitty is excited when a messenger fairy announces her eighth shooting star is approaching, signaling the start of Itty Bitty’s role as a princess. Upon learning all of the duties of a traditional princess, Itty Bitty grows increasingly reluctant and fears she is not princess material after all. She enjoys choosing a tiara and considering new wardrobe options, but is dissatisfied with the prospects of a new hairstyle, a new bedroom, and private tutoring. Itty Bitty Kitty’s world will find an audience with fans of Daisy Meadows’s “Rainbow Magic,” though Stubbings’s illustrations create an adorably rounded, comically cute cartoon quality that differentiates this title from other sugary-sweet early chapter books. The story is simple and innocuous, but children will relate to Itty Bitty’s trepidation about unanticipated developments, paired with her delight in more palatable adjustments like new clothes. All is resolved quite easily when Itty Bitty’s parents explain that she doesn’t have to make any changes she doesn’t want to make. Readers’ experiences with change won’t always work out this way, but the positive underlying message is about being true to oneself. VERDICT A fine purchase for medium-sized early chapter book collections, notable for its spirited illustrations.”—School LibraryJournal (The Newest Princess)
One Hot Chick A Lift-the-Flap Story
by Hannah Elliot | Little Simon | 2024
illus. by Ellen Stubbings
BABY BEATS Let’s Learn 4/4 Time!
BABY BEATS Let’s Learn 2/4 Time!
BABY BEATS Let’s Learn 3/4 Time!
by Odd Dot | 2020
illus. by Ellen Stubbings
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“Ingenious. The Baby Beats book advertise themselves as providing, “a child’s first music lesson, enhancing his or her ability to recognize notes, beats, measures, and songs.” To do this, the book equates counting with beats with the syllables of animals, and finally pairs everything together into a familiar song. For example, at the end of “4/4 Time”, a band performs Mary Had a Little Lamb, making it very clear how some notes are longer because they take up more syllables. It’s rather clever and darned if there isn’t math at work in here in the counting as well. A book that equates counting and music in a practical way that young learners can actually understand. Not easy to do, I don’t need to tell you.’— SLJ Fuse, School Library Journal (series review)
“Animalian marching band members move from practice to performance in this board book introduction to musical notes and meter. As an array of creatures sporting red jackets and neat black boots gather on a daisy-sprigged lawn, musical bars form in the sky above. Text establishes quarter notes as the baseline of 4/4 time. (“Count out loud,” the text urges, as “One! Two! Three! Four!” appears in four-count bars.) Subsequent spreads key four-syllable words to whole notes (“Alligator!”), two-syllable words to half notes (“Lion! Tiger!”), and monosyllabic words to quarter notes (“Fox! Cat! Rat! Bat!”). The unconventional treatment may prove confusing (Mary is transcribed as a half note instead of the traditional two quarter notes), and the final spread uses symbols and lyrics not previously introduced, but Stubbings’s animals, which march with verve, should delight the intended audience. Simultaneously available: Let’s Learn 2/4 Time! and Let’s Learn 3/4 Time!”—Publisher’s Weekly
TinkerActive Workbooks: Kindergarten Math
by
Little Cow, Little Cow, Noisy As Can Be!
Little Lion, Little Lion, Noisy As Can Be!
Little Puppy, Little Puppy, Noisy As Can Be!
Little Seal, Little Seal, Noisy As Can Be!
Little Bee, Little Bee, Noisy As Can Be!
Little Squirrel, Little Squirrel, Noisy As Can Be!
by Charles Ghigna | Cantata Learning | 2017
illus. by Ellen Stubbings
Three Blind Mice
She’ll Be Coming Down the Mountain
by Blake Hoena | Cantata Learning | 2016
illus. by Ellen Stubbings
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