Alexis Deacon graduated from the University of Brighton, where he studied Illustration, gaining a first class honours degree. Alexis Deacon is one of Booktrust's ten Best New Illustrators, and Beegu was a New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Book of the Year and shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal. Alexis lives in London.
The softly coloured pictures convey all the emotion and complement the feel of the book excellently. A wonderful heart-warming story * Parents in Touch * This stunning book follows the story of these two characters and how they teach each other their individual skills. A touching tale of how family ties aren't always so obvious to everyone but can be found right under your nose! * The Golden Treasury * This deeply emotional and moving story about love and closeness despite difference is perhaps Deacon’s best book yet.Quite superb * Books for Keeps * a charming, beautifully illustrated parable about sibling love -- Amanda Craig * The Times * This unusual, unsentimental story begins with two white eggs that look companionable and interchangeable. But out of one, a fledgling emerges and, from the other, a baby crocodile. Croc and Bird cannot hope to be brothers but, in Deacon's custody, are soul-mates who forage and huddle together, wings against scales, to keep out the cold. The bird calls its nest 'our home' – impractical for Croc but he does not grumble. A delicate, poignant, exquisitely drawn exploration of affinity with no need for a clumping moral. (2+) -- Kate Kellaway * Guardian website *