Award-winning illustrator Dapo Adeola has been revealed today as the creator of this year’s Books Are My Bag Limited-Edition Bag, which will be available exclusively in bookshops across the UK and Ireland from Bookshop Day (Saturday 9^th October 2021).
 
London born and bred but of Nigerian heritage, Adeola is well-known for creating characters that challenge expectations around race and gender in a fun, upbeat way. He is the co-creator and illustrator of bestselling picture book Look Up! (published by Puffin) — which won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and was the number 1 debut picture book of 2019.  
Passionate about supporting Black illustrators and creatives, in 2019 Adeola created the Twitter hashtag #BlackBritishIllustrators, where Black British creatives share their artwork and stories. In November 2020, Adeola wrote an open letter asking the media to credit illustrators, which was signed by Malorie Blackman, Patrice Lawrence, Chris Mould, Rob Biddulph, Sarah McIntyre and more.
 
Dapo Adeola said: “I was super stoked to be asked to illustrate this years “Books Are My Bag” tote. Supporting bookshops is and has always been a huge part of my journey in this industry, so saying yes to this opportunity was a no brainer. Now more than ever bookshops need our help to stay afloat. We’re gonna need the type of magic only they can provide when things go back to normal, so anything we can do to help them in the meantime should be done. Let’s keep these wonderful hubs for magic and community alive.”
 
Emma Bradshaw, Head of Campaigns at the BA, commented: “We are so excited to have teamed up with Depo Adeola for this year’s Limited-Edition Bag. We are huge fans of his work, and the bag’s vibrant, fresh design is absolutely stunning – I can already picture those bright colours bringing some good cheer to all book-lovers on Bookshop Day!”