Back to News

International Trends: The German Children’s Book Market

Published on 27/07/2023

Illustrations by Advocate Art illustrators Yulia Gorkina, Catalin Ardeleanu, Kaja Kaifež, Michelle Simpson, and Angie Alape Perez

International Trends: The German Children’s Book Market
Teacher: Marion von Elling, Illustration Agent at Advocate Art

Learn all about the German Children’s book market from Advocate Art’s German illustration agent Marion von Elling. 

In the German children’s book market, topics such as family, everyday experiences, understanding emotions/fears, and animals are popular with younger children. However, strong boys and girls, as well as fantasy stories with mythical creatures are also still in demand. For older children, friendship, social interaction, school, adventure, and detective stories play a major role in commissioned texts. For many, a good children’s book should offer things to discover. For this reason, hidden object books with full, detailed, colorful illustrations on a wide variety of topics also continue to be popular.

The illustrations should show that we live in a colorful, diverse world with different cultural backgrounds and different family situations. Physical handicaps are also an important part of current children’s book illustrations. So make sure to keep the representation of disabilities present in your portfolio.

Illustration by Advocate Art illustrator Esther Hernando

Internationally, children’s books are bought by adults for children, so it is important that they please both! When choosing books, adults like to be inspired by artistically designed titles that teach children early and playful knowledge. This is no different in the German market.

For example, nature and non-fiction books are in vogue. Children should be taught about flora and fauna and sensitivity for nature, as well as the beauty of nature from an early age. At the same time, children can even be confronted with controversial topics, such as environmental pollution, at an early age and in an age-appropriate way. I recommend adding some scenes of nature to your portfolio to prepare yourself for non-fiction oriented commissions.

Now that we have covered the subject matter, it is also important to consider the style of illustration. Illustrations in bright colors, predominantly in a hand-drawn aesthetic (think watercolor or crayon textures style). Even though the typical digital style is also represented in the booksellers’ assortments, the “softer” styles tend to dominate children’s books in Germany.

For more free tips for how to improve your illustration portfolio, subscribe to our ITSme Learning Newsletter!

Other News

ITSme Society and Our Environmental Impact

The ITSme Society was formed around our Positive E.F.E.C.T.S. charter – yes, we know we are missing an F! This charter was created to advance the environmental, financial, ethical, collaborative, training, and social standards of our agencies. Advancing the environmental standards of ITSme and our agencies means a lot to us. All of the ITSme…

Why Birthday Cards are Best for Greeting Card Portfolios

Greeting Card designs by Advocate Art illustrators Jenny Wren, Amy Hodkin, Kathryn Selbert, and Nichola Cowdery. Why Birthday Cards are Best in a GC Folio Teacher: Deborah Millinship, Illustration agent at Advocate Art Limited Creating a strong art licensing collection is essential for captivating clients and boosting sales. But, what are the key designs to…

Advocate Art Gets into Advertising

Everyone is seeing those flat, abstract, colorful characters with oversized, flowing limbs everywhere in advertising today. Two relatable styles are the basis: Corporate Memphis (a postmodern style popular throughout the 1980’s) was revived when Apple changed its visual interface in 2013 (remember when all the apps were super-polished?). And Alegria, (Spanish for ‘Joy’); first developed…

New Kirkus Review for Astound Illustrator Steph Lew!

We are absolutely delighted by the recently published Kirkus Review of Kailei Pew’s “The Monster Above The Bed”, illustrated by Astound US Inc. artist, Steph Lew! The review complimented Lew’s bright illustrations as joyous, creating a fantastical world that seems to defy our understanding of the world as a whole. Take a look at the…

Celebrations to Include in Your Portfolio Part 2

Illustrations by Illo Agency artist Laura Sayers, Advocate Art illustrator Alessandra Vitelli, and Astound US Inc. illustrator Khoa Le Celebrations to Include in Your Portfolio Part 2 Teacher: ITSme Society Who doesn’t love a celebration? As we talked about in part 1 of this series, books that celebrate a special occasion or seasonal event are…

Video: How and Why to Layer in Photoshop

Photoshop is an essential tool for illustrators and designers. Using layers in Photoshop makes editing your design much easier. They allow you to focus on certain parts of your illustration, and make changes without distributing your whole design. Here are the basics of using layers in Photoshop. Keep an eye out for more illustration software…

Menu