Video: Top children's illustrator Nick Sharratt gives Wakefield pupils a lockdown art lesson

They are among the hundreds of children across the UK who have been sketching what they have been doing at home with the help of award-winning illustrator Nick Sharratt.

In an online video, Mr Sharratt, who has provided the illustrations for almost 250 books, including titles by Julia Donaldson and Jacqueline Wilson, draws a self-portrait, the town where he lives and what he has been learning during lockdown.

He then invites schoolchildren to draw their own version of the poster for their parents or carers to share on social media using the #stilllearning.

The video is part of a campaign launched by Theirworld, a global children’s charity chaired by Sarah Brown, the wife of Gordon Brown, the former Prime Minister, and now the United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education.

The charity wanted to shine a spotlight on the 1.5 billion children around the world who have been forced out of school by the coronavirus pandemic.

School children around the world have taken part in the campaign, including pupils from Kenya, Australia, Lebanon, the UK and Pakistan.

Mr Sharratt, who is a Theirworld Ambassador, said he was delighted with the response to the campaign.

He said: “It’s fantastic to see so many children from across the UK and around the world, including girls and boys from Wakefield, take part in this fantastic initiative.

“The main reason I fell in love with drawing as a youngster was that it stimulated my imagination like nothing else.

"Drawing took me to a safe place where anything was possible - where I could live out dreams, have adventures, meet anyone I wanted, be anyone I wanted, all via my mark-making.

“In these current times, drawing can provide a simple, effective form of escape from the real world for a while."