The Boy

This collection gathers four picture books by Oliver Jeffers, the Belfast-born illustrator and author, and pairs them with four sketchbook sections that show how each one came together. Readers can follow the boy and his companions as they take shape on the pages of the sketchbooks, from first pencil marks to finished scenes.

The volume also includes a letter from Jeffers and more than 100 sketches, notes and early ideas drawn from his archive, many of them published for the first time. Among them are the real starfish that inspired How to Catch a Star, the true story behind the boy and the penguin in Lost and Found, and a look at what the Martian's father looks like.

Taken together, the material traces the creative process behind these widely read books and offers a close look at the work of a picture book creator who is admired around the world.