I joined David Higham in 2025 after more than nine years in illustrated children’s publishing. I began my career at Templar Publishing and Big Picture Press, where I worked across their boutique list of illustrated books – commissioning everything from non-fiction and high-end activity to comics, gift and picture books. As Commissioning Editor at Walker Books, I worked across a trusted and much-loved list, building on its heritage while also helping to shape its future publishing programme.

I love seeking out talent in unexpected places – I’ve scouted illustrators on Instagram, commissioned picture-book creators from graduate shows, trawled through Kickstarter campaigns and found inspiration from podcasts and TED talks. For me, the most exciting moment is when an original voice or a single image captures your imagination – and then comes the delicate craft of shaping that idea into a book and positioning it perfectly in the market.

At David Higham I am building a list of exceptional children’s book creators. I am on the lookout for exciting new talent and market-leading concepts that reflect the qualities I value most: innovation, longevity and – above all else – truly original publishing. My taste is eclectic – I am just as excited by a perfectly pitched picture book as I am by visually extraordinary non-fiction – and I enjoy working across all formats.

Children’s books are a kind of magic. I’m sure many of us remember the first book that sparked our imagination – for me, it was the mischief of Max and his monsters in Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. I believe every child deserves that moment, and those of us who work in children’s publishing have a responsibility to help tackle the reading crisis – and to share the joy and transformative power of books.

Submissions
If you’d like to submit your work to me, please first review our submission guidelines, then email me at isobelsubmissions@davidhigham.co.uk. I’m grateful to every writer who shares their work with me, but the volume of submissions I receive makes it impossible for me to respond to all of them. If you don’t receive a response from me within twelve weeks, then I won’t be pursuing your work.