Author/Illustrator Posts

Pebble and Po celebrates friendship and kindness, and explores the importance of asking for help when you need it.

Asking for help can sometimes feel difficult, even for grown-ups, because of the worry that it might be seen as a sign of weakness. I wanted to make a book that highlights how asking for help when you need it is actually a sign of strength, and an important part of becoming a resilient and independent person.

There have been times where I wish I had asked for help earlier. It would have saved sleepless nights and hours of worry. Working in schools, I have been lucky enough to be a listening ear for children who have found the courage to ask for help. Whether it’s a matter of not understanding what happened in class, or worries about how to handle difficult friendships, no matter the scenario, the relief that comes from asking for help is always evident. I think it is something many adults still try to juggle, but it’s never too early to begin the conversation.

The animal characters in the book are still learning how to ask for, and accept, help. Pebble is a very kind rabbit who loves to offer a helping hand, but she is not so good at asking for help herself. She worries about letting everyone else down. Bird is too proud to ask, and Fox is too embarrassed. All these feelings are normal, but they soon discover how much better things can be when they reach out and work together.

Writing the text involved lots of talking and editing with the wonderful Stephanie Stansbie. Boiling the story down to its essence, removing unnecessary text and shaping the flow. Developing the characters was such a fun part, making them as distinct as possible. Pebble is full of energy, chatty and a bit scatty. Po is a calm presence. He doesn’t utter a word throughout the book but expresses himself nonverbally using his body language and actions. Bird is very proud and a little bossy, and Fox is sweet and innocent.

Illustrating animals was a first for me, so I made plenty of sketches to develop the characters and find my feet. I worked with Rebecca Essilife, the amazing Art Director, to give the animals personality and to let each character shine. Po started out blue! Whilst we loved the colour, he blended in with the background a bit too much so we chose a brown that worked better. There was lots of storyboarding and revisions along the way.

I hope readers will take away something positive from the story, whether it’s enjoying an adventurous walk with friends, celebrating kindness and friendship, or recognising the strength it takes to ask for help. It’s been a joy to make and I hope this comes across on the pages.

Emma xx

Glam and Beardy: Volume I is the first book in an exciting new adventure series, could you tell us a little bit about it?

Ru: Volume I is about Glam finally meeting her Familiar, who should have a mark that tells her what Kindom she belongs to.

Ra: But her familiar is Beardy, a lizard who doesn’t have a mark and basically turns Glam’s whole life upside down.

Ru: The first book really focuses on their friendship, and them going from wanting to split up to being the best adventuring team.

 

What makes the story so special is the friendship between Glam and Beardy. Did you draw on your own friendship as inspiration and if so, who would you say is more like Glam and who is more like Beardy?

Ra: Their friendship and dynamic is almost exactly us.

Ru: It’s incredibly obvious who is who when you meet us.

Ra: Come see us live in one of our kids’ comedy shows to see what we mean.

 

What was it like to write a book as a pair? Did you divide up the work, or did you write each section together?

Ru: We write one word each and just keep swapping.

Ra: It’s very time-consuming.

 

If you belonged to one of the five Kindoms, which one do you think you would belong to? Or what would your Kindom be, if not one of the five in the book?

Ra: I’m absolutely a Sparkle.

Ru: Would love to be a Glamour. Am a Wisdom.

 

Have you thought about what your familiar would be if you had one?

Ru: I think mine would be a sort of anxious hummingbird. Very fast, very scared, resting heartrate of 280.

Ra: A rhino. A physical manifestation of my big personality. Cumbersome. Difficult to bring indoors.

 

What do you hope readers will take away from reading Glam and Beardy?

Ru: The urge to question the restrictive rules and biased history of modern society.

Ra: And some laughs.

Ru: Yeah. Some laughs too.

 

And finally, without giving any spoilers to Volume I, can you give us a sneak peek into what readers can expect in Volume II? 

Ra: VIOLENCE!!

Ru: No, no, there’s no violence.

Ra: What about on page 222?

Ru: Ok, there’s some violence. And mystery, intrigue, adventures to a forgotten Kindom, and a lot of fire.

 

Glam and Beardy: Volume I by Ruby Clyde & Rachel WD and illustrated by Vincent Batignole is out now!

Ruby Clyde and Rachel WD are also known as Shelf – a comedy double act that write and perform for adults and children. They are regular writers on series 7 of The Amazing World of Gumball (Cartoon Network) and currently have children’s fiction and television projects in development.

Shelf blends standup with elements of musical comedy and sketch. Their live shows have been cult hits at the Edinburgh Fringe, transferred to Soho Theatre, and toured internationally. As award winning children’s performers, Shelf have been resident artists at Great Ormond Street Hospital and created bespoke content for GirlGuides UK. They are founders of queer comedy collective The LOL Word.

We live in our bodies all day, every day. But do we often stop to appreciate what they can do?

When Little Tiger said they were looking for a text that encouraged children to get up off their bums and move their bodies, I jumped (pardon the pun!) at the chance to give it a go. They wanted a high-energy text with a bouncy, catchy, stick-in-your-head rhythm. The first verse popped into my head immediately:

Jump up off your bottom,

and get in the groove.

Wiggle your body, let’s…

see how you MOVE!

And the rest just followed! I had so much fun coming up with actions and building to a little dance – we stomp, clap, jump, reach, hop, stretch and of course freestyle too. Because this book isn’t about prescribing movement – it’s about finding the joy in it and celebrating your own moves, no matter your style or body type.

The NHS recommends that preschoolers spend at least three hours a day doing some sort of physical activity, and that it should be varied. This could be anything from sports to riding a bike, scooting to the park, dancing or messy play. The important thing is that children are moving, and not stuck on a screen or sitting inactive for too long. As children grow, maintaining an active lifestyle provides all sorts of benefits, such as strengthening muscles and bones, increasing heart health and improving mental health too.

To get into a good habit of daily physical activity, we should make it fun, so children will want to move and groove. This book aims to do just that. We hope to see children and adults doing the actions together at home, or groups of children dancing the dance together at school!

When I first wrote the text, I heard that the editor presented it to the sales team by performing all the moves himself. Then, when my youngest son saw an advance copy, he read it aloud and did all the actions without prompting too. This is exactly what we want – and it means we’ve done something right!

Of course a huge part of this is down to the incredible illustrations by Sandra de la Prada. Sandra and I were first paired on All the Wonderful Ways to Read, which celebrates all types of books and reading. I was so excited when this new book joined that series and Sandra brought back some of our favourite characters from the first book. She also introduced some new animals, and each one has its own special style. It is so easy for children to follow along, and in fact Sandra makes it hard to resist joining in with this enthusiastic cast!

We hope that you find joy in the book and get up and move your body too. We can’t wait to see your ‘you’ dance!

All the Wonderful Ways to Move is out now!

Watch below to see  Sandra De La Prada illustrating a spread from All the Wonderful Ways to Move.

Praise for All the Wonderful Ways to Move:

“The perfect book for getting up, getting moving and getting those wiggles out with your little ones!” – Lucy Rowland, author of Witch Cat and This Letter Says I Love You

“A delightful, lovely, bouncy, joy-filled fun and funny book that’s sure to get your little ones dancing, jumping and tapping their toes!” – Ian Eagleton, author of ‘Glitter Boy’

“Carefully and imaginatively written by Laura Baker and illustrated with warmth and wit by Sandra de la Prada, this playful book will inspire your children to find their own wonderful way of moving” – Lancashire Post

Trees are amazing. I loved climbing them as a child and, every now and then, I still do. My own two daughters would have climbed every tree they walked past if they could! Trees are nature’s climbing frame – full of majesty and hidden nooks. As sunlight travels through the layers of leaves, it makes sitting amongst the branches just magical. Trees have given me so much joy over the course of my life that I wanted to write a book that was a thank you to them.

So that was the starting point. I wanted Little Red to capture a child’s joy climbing a tree. Next, I thought about what other animals might thank Tree and so the swifts, insects, elephant and leopard then came into the story. Tree offers them food, a resting place, a back scratch and shade. Of course Little Red isn’t interested in any of these things! Little Red has to learn to value of Tree for himself and he discovers the power and support of a community coming together. I think this is a lesson we all have to learn and continue to practise many, many times. I know I can get caught up in my own life and what I’m doing and feel very possessive of my time and not want to offer it to someone else! Then I realise I get so much more back in terms of happiness, love and accomplishment if I do give some of my time to the people around me.

I love hiding details in my illustrations that I hope children will keep finding even after they have read the book many times. For example, throughout the illustrations, the caterpillars transform into butterflies, but if you look closely you can see them first munching the leaves, then building their chrysalises, then emerging and finally, in the last spread, flying away. Also, make sure you look out for the little grey squirrel, this character is hiding in every illustration. These extra hidden details are important to me because they allow a child who’s not yet able to read themselves, to participate in the story by ‘reading’ the pictures. They might see things that the adults don’t even notice.

I work in watercolour, crayon, pencil and ink and then bring my illustrations together digitally. I always start with real materials because it is so fun. Also, sometimes different paints and inks do unpredictable things. For example, I love the way water from a brush can swirl through paint or ink and make beautiful swirling shapes that are impossible to control. I use this a lot when I’m painting skies.

I hope you like Our Tree. I had a lot of fun making it. What would you thank a tree for?