See the pictures behind a fairy tale set in 13th-century Venice

Published on: 01 December 2017 Author: Sophie Offord

Illustrator Jane Ray is up for the Hans Christian Andersen Award 2018, and it's easy to see why when you linger on her lush, lavish images for The Glassmaker's Daughter.

The Glassmaker's Daughter (Frances Lincoln Children’s Books) is a beautiful picture book, written by Diane Hofmeyr and illustrated by Jane Ray. 

It's a sumptuous fairy tale that also sheds historical light on life inside 13th-century Venice. In amid all the hustle and bustle and glimmering and shimmering of water is the daughter of a city glassmaker. She is full of melancholy and gentle gloom. Her father is at his wit's end.

That's when he promises a beautiful glass palace to anyone who can make his daughter, Daniela, laugh. 

The very talented Jane Ray has drawn this enchanting story like a painting: artwork that's crammed full of detail and dabbed in dreamy watercolor, gouache and ink.

Take a look below at some of the illustrations from the book. They are all VERY good reasons for Jane Ray's recent nomination for a Hans Christian Andersen Award.