Middle Grade

Our leading middle grade illustrators help take children from picture books into chapter narratives with imagery they can latch onto.

Middle Grade

Illustration for "Investing For Teens" book

Drew Bardana

Jane Goodall and Chimpanzees

People harvesting cacao pods

Vera Rubin and Dark Matter

Emilie du Chatelet

"Drawing is my shelter" Digital painting Personal Work

Weston Wei

Book Cover Commissioned by Penguin Random House, Berkeley Romance Imprint.

Rain: A self-exploration Comics about the Covid Pandemic.

"Wednesday" advertising poster illustration"

Wednesday Poster

NYC, The Zoo. Personal Work, Digital Painting

Malory towers book cover illustration by ruth palmer

Ruth Palmer

Adventures of the Sizzling Six

Monarch Mysteries

rikki tikki

Book cover illustration of five go feasting

Manu Cunhas

Children's book, elderly, help, child, fallen, night

Teresa Alberini

children's book, murals, children, rainbow, creativity

Colors of my City

"Malkin Moonlight" Book

Rohan Eason

Children in the jungle

From the childrens book "We Lost a Sock"

A Pirate Tale for Kids

The Crocodile'

Zendaya Little Golden Book biography cover, children's book illustration

Alyah Holmes

Zendaya Little Golden Book biography, children's book illustration

Kids' Christmas Kwanzaa coloring book cover art

Cover Illustration for a children's Christmas Kwanzaa coloring book, following twins as they celebrate their family's traditions. Collage of children and holiday related items.

Zendaya Little Golden Book biography, children's book illustration

Steamboat

Olga Popova

Cars Book Cover

Cover illustration for Children's Books Ireland reading guide 2024.

Donough O'Malley

How families are made, children's non-fiction book by Dr. Amir Khan and published by Harper Collins.

How Families are made by Dr. Amir Khan. Farshore/Harper Collins.

The Great Irish Book of Gaelic Games. Children's book.

Bowling Alley science book, Design Eye, Quarto Books.

Alyssa De Asis

Clothing of skating girls

Charlie & The Chocolate Factory

Helen Brady

The Curs'ed Man on Curs'ed Seas

Wolf

From Coughin' to Coffin'

An awful crime befell the greatest painter of all time!

"Oh horror! PAIN!

Creative art of crazy cat lady

Jui Talukder

Crime podcast poster of "Rotten Mango"

Ambrose Bierce done for Anthony Christov's production design mentorship

A lonely girl riding the late-night Q train

Night Train Solitude

November for "The Birthday Almanac" for Wide Eyed Editions

Alison Kerry

February for "The Birthday Almanac" for Wide Eyed Editions

Promotional postcard for "Uh-Huh", a handmade jewelry business based in Philadelphia.

Uh-Huh "Rally Coffee Workshop" Promotional Postcard

"A Man Called Ove" Novel

Cara Wang

Captivating family lifestyle art for children's books

Cherished Family Moments

Grandpa's Tales

Storybook cover of 'What, Of This Goldfish, Would You Wish?'

What, Of This Goldfish, Would You Wish?' Storybook

Animal character design for By the Light of the moon

Fernando Juarez

"the little tramp" children's book illustration

magical workshop

"How to Succeed in Witchcraft" Book

Alex Cabal

Food preparation artwork by a middle-grade book illustrator

Preparing Food

"This is not a Personal Statement" young adult novel design

Tracy Badua's Book

Editorial illustration of people in bus

Youngsters book cover of "Home Field Advantage"

Home Field Advantage Book

Turine Tran

Children girl playing with toys

Les terrifiantes aventures d'Horrific Jolie, written by Gary Ghislain, published by Le Seuil Jeunesse, 2024.

Agnès Ernoult

Album cover design of Merdocu

Book cover for cat lovers.

Iratxe López de Munáin

People man playing guitar

Hair-Drying Artistry

People running at various events

Jamie Coe

Doom Patrol

Riot Girl Poster

Chris King

Record Collection Chris,King,illustration,illustrator,

Flash Fire cover artwork

Mystery Comics Cover

Interior Illustration for How to Survive a Horror Movie

Client: Vivo (Brazil) 2020 Illustration for the Pride Month campaign on the telecommunication company Vivo's official Instagram.

Ing Lee

Client: Bioré 2023 Series of illustrations for the cover and inside of the seeding box of the Facial Wash product for Bioré Brazil, retracing the brand's history throughout the country.

2021 Personal project

Client: Seguinte (Companhia das Letras) 2023 Cover illustration of the Brazilian edition of "Throwback" (Maurene Goo).

Grace Lanksbury

Eggshell

Illustration highlighting the emotions of recent graduates.

Post Grad Blues

"Isabel and The Rogue" novel cover page

The Book, The Ultimate Guide To Rebuild Civilisation

Lev Kaplan

Eisbjoern

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

watercolor of People on boat by Lev Kaplan

Around the World in Eighty Days

Bremen Town Musicians

Luiza Laffitte

Book cover for a historic novel for children.

Marieke Nelissen

de tovenaar van oz book cover

The adventures of Tom Sawyer

They had counted their sheep

"Milo and Marcos at the end of the world"

Carolina Rodriguez Fuenmayor

For the Clarion West project.

Bubble. Personal Portfolio.

Shounen. Personal Portfolio.

Illustration for Art poster for the band "Armnhmr"

Shine On, Luz Velez Book

Caribay M. Benavides

The Fights that make us, book cover. Client: Usborne Publishing Ltd

Character design of people enjoying at countryside

Editorial illustration made for BRIO magazine

Romina Calatayud

Kate Birch Kids

More about middle grade illustration

In middle grade children’s illustration, as with young adult and adult book illustration, the cover artwork is critical. The jacket must stand out on bookshelf and Amazon screen alike, appealing to young readers aged eight to 12 along with their parent or guardian. Inside, chapter openers and spot illustrations will form a gateway – taking children from picture books and introducing them to extended reading. Skilled middle grade book illustrators use imagery to bring kids and tweens into the adventure and the world it’s set in, giving them confidence, capturing the emotion and author’s intentions through visual reference points. Most middle grade kids illustration is created for fiction, but it can also be powerful, inspiring and fun used in educational textbooks.

Middle Grade

How do I find the right middle grade artist for my project?

We represent a wide selection of experienced illustrators of middle grade books, and you can browse their portfolios in the style gallery above.

How much does middle grade illustration cost?

Several factors will influence the fee starting with the style and complexity of each image. The territorial rights, print run, licensing and deadline will also affect the cost.

Why use IllustrationX?

IllustrationX is the world’s longest running illustration agency, with a wide range of children’s illustrators to choose from and expert agents to help your project to completion.

How do I commission a middle grade illustrator?

Our agents can help you find the right talent and write a brief outlining the imagery needed for your project, how it will be used, where it will appear, and the project timeline.

What makes a good middle grade illustrator?

A good middle grade illustrator is able to pinpoint the key scenes in the story and render them in an interesting way, adding to rather than simply outlining the words on the page.

Do you commission animation as well?

If so, we represent many outstandingly talented animators, creating gifs, explainers, characters, stop motion and motion graphics for TV, film, games and digital streaming in 2d and 3d.

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