Free Picture Book Downloads

My picture books are now available to download for free here: Joanna Troughton

Three of my picture books now available at the Kindle Book Store

Three of my picture books are now available to download at the Kindle bookstore: 

HOW THE BIRDS CHANGED THEIR FEATHERS, TORTOISE'S DREAM
and WHAT MADE TIDDALIK LAUGH

here
here
And
here

MOUSE-DEER'S MARKET

My picture book MOUSE-DEER'S MARKET is just published on Apple Books here
The folk tale comes from Borneo. Here are some of my illustrations.

HOW THE SEASONS CAME

My picture book HOW THE SEASONS CAME is just published on the Apple Bookstore here

This myth comes from the Algonquin people of the north east USA. It tells of how the wolf and the fisher freed the singing birds of spring, summer and autumn from the Land Above, and brought the seasons down to earth in order to save the wolf's son. Here are some of my illustrations.

HOW NIGHT CAME

I have just published my picture book HOW NIGHT CAME as an ebook available here

The myth of how night first fell comes from Brazil. It was told by the Tupi people of the Amazon. I retold the story for my picture book HOW NIGHT CAME. Here are a few of the illustrations:

WHO WILL BE THE SUN?

My picture book WHO WILL BE THE SUN? is a retelling of a Native American myth from Montana USA. Once it was always dark, so the birds and the animals have a competition to see who will be the best sun. Coyote thinks he will be the winner, but he is too hot and he talks too much. So who will be the sun? I have just published this book as an ebook on the Apple Bookstore. It is available to download here

MONKEY AND THE WATER DRAGON

This ancient Chinese folk tale comes from the collection MONKEY, which was written by Wu Ch'eng-en in the sixteenth century. The story I chose tells how Tripitaka, Monkey and Pigsy met a ferocious dragon on their journey to fetch the Buddhist scriptures from India, and return them to China. I have illustrated my picture book in water colour which was inspired by Chinese art and design. This book is now available on the iBooks Store. Monkey and the Water Dragon

WHALE'S CANOE

The folk tale of Whale's Canoe was told by the Aborigines of Australia. The story explains how the animals first came to Australia.This picture book was published by BLACKIE CHILDREN'S BOOKS in 1993I. I have just published my ebook version available on the iBook Store here

LITTLE MOUSE GIRL ebook

My new ebook picture book LITTLE MOUSE GIRL is now just published on the iBooks store: 
Little Mouse Girl

LITTLE MOUSE GIRL

Here are some spreads for my latest picture book which I am about to publish as an ebook on the iBook Store. The story of LITTLE MOUSE GIRL comes from India and is found in The Panchatantra collection of folk stories. It is a 'chain of husbands' story, and many different versions can be found throughout the world. 

What Made Tiddalik Laugh

WHAT MADE TIDDALIK LAUGH is one of my most popular picture books. The story of the  giant frog, Tiddalik, who is so thirsty that he drinks all the water in the world, is a big favourite with young children. They love all the comical attempts of the birds and animals to get Tiddalik to laugh, and so to spit out all the water he has drunk. This myth comes from Australia and was told by the indigenous people, the Aborigines.  I tried to illustrate the extremes of heat and drought of the Australian Outback in my water colour pictures. I have just published this book as an ebook available at the iBook Store here

Here is a short film of WHAT MADE TIDDALIK LAUGH available on YouTube.

How The Birds Changed Their Feathers

My picture book HOW THE BIRDS CHANGED THEIR FEATHERS was first published in 1976. It was commended for the CILIP Kate Greenaway medal that same year. This book has always been one of my favourites, so I was very upset to learn that the publisher had lost the artwork during an office move. I did however still have two spreads which I had borrowed for a talk I was giving in a Glasgow children's library. So using these and the printed book as reference, I decided last year to re-do the artwork in order to publish the book on the iBook store. I could have simply scanned the printed book, but the quality of the colour and the definition would not have been good enough, so I traced my designs onto tracing paper and then using a light box, transferred  them onto water colour paper.  The finished coloured illustrations took me longer than they did forty years ago, but I have finally published the book as an ebook on the iBooks Store. You can find it here:
 How The Birds Changed Their Feathers

Mill Hill Library and me

Mill Hill Library has been threatened with closure or cuts by Barnet Council, along with Burnt Oak, East Finchley, Childs Hill, Osidge and South Friern. On Wednesday evening I went to a packed and lively meeting to discuss this threat:  Save Mill Hill Library

The first books I can remember borrowing from Mill Hill Library were the coloured Fairy Tale books by Andrew Lang when I was about 8 or 9 years old. Then when I was at Hornsey College of Art, it was fine art books that I borrowed. After I graduated and became an author/illustrator I searched Mill Hill's shelves every week for folk tales, myths, legends and picture references. I also gave talks to the children in the Junior Library Club about my artwork and books.

THE LITTLE MOHEE was my first published picture book. In Mill Hill Library I researched American folk songs for the text. Then I needed pictorial reference for the illustrations:  Native Americans, 18th century costume, English wood cuts,  canoes and sailing ships.

Libraries are the centre of any community, open to young and old, rich and poor. I could not have become an author or illustrator without Mill Hill Library. What will become of Mill Hill without its library? Not a place I would want to live in. Libraries have proved a soft option for cuts. There is no government political will to save them, so councillors feel they can do as they please. Libraries should have an increase in their budget not a decrease. They are an important part of the education system in Britain, not a means for shaving a few pence off the council tax. Here is a link to a petition to save Barnet libraries: Save Barnet Libraries