Today is World Book Day! In my house it’s an annual exercise in trying to figure out how to wear a costume without actually wearing a costume, since my son is allergic to dressing up. Past ‘costumes’ have included George from ‘George’s Marvellous Medicine’ (normal clothes with wooden spoon); Harry Potter Before Hogwarts (normal clothes, plastic glasses); Charlie Bucket (normal clothes, golden ticket) and Ash Ketchum from Pokemon (normal clothes, baseball cap).

But this World Book Day is special, because I’m able to announce the publication of my first little picture book!

For #ClassicsTober (a drawing-every-day challenge) on Twitter last October I made a series of illustrations, accompanying passages from Latin literature beautifully translated by my friend Dr Rob Cromarty. Afterwards a number of people contacted me about turning the series into a book – so I started looking into it… and here it is in the real world!

If you’d like to get hold of your very own copy, this World Book Day, you can buy it from Amazon: https://amzn.eu/d/0qwI2gb

…or if you’d prefer to avoid Amazon, it’s also available through Lulu.com.

It’s currently sitting at Number 1 in the Most Wished For books chart for Latin, which is very exciting! Granted, the ‘Latin’ category isn’t exactly packed with bestsellers, but still, it’s the first time I’ve ever topped a chart!

I’ve always wanted to make illustrated books, so this is a dream come true for me – whether people buy it or not! So on this World Book Day I’d like to send a big thank-you to all the people who’ve encouraged me to keep drawing over the last couple of years. I wouldn’t have had the confidence to do this without your support!

Cora Beth.

The chaos of #ClassicsTober, which somehow became a tidy little book!