A little brother and his big sister try their best to settle in a new home, where they have nothing left from before except each other. The little one makes new friends and quickly learns to laugh again but his sister remains haunted by the shadows of their past and hides away in their broken house. Trying to help his sister, the little one catches a butterfly for her and brings it inside the house. His sister knows that she needs to set the butterfly free ... but that would mean going outside. In taking the first steps to face her fears and save the butterfly, she also begins the process of saving herself.
Can you tell
us more about your journey into children’s books?
As a child, I
was in my element drawing and that never left me. However, I didn’t summon the
courage to go to art school until my thirties after an English Literature
degree, primary teaching and working within community arts.
When I graduated
in 2008 with a Graphic Arts degree from Liverpool School of Art, I wasn’t sure
how to find work as an illustrator. Liverpool had become the European Capital
of Culture and exciting arts events were happening all over the city. By
chance, I came across an amazing show in the park. An acrobatic fairy was
twirling from a huge paper moon, high above the trees! There was fire, music,
puppetry and I was completely enchanted. It was the creation of The Lantern
Company, a community arts organisation. That night I wrote to them asking if I
could work with them.
Consequently, I
found myself in their old warehouse surrounded by a menagerie of giant
creatures. I had run away and joined the circus at last! The next ten or so
years were my artist apprenticeship, painting and making outdoor spectacles
with a network of performers, designers, pyrotechnicians, musicians and
community groups.
The Lantern Company 2008
I was forever
obsessing over children’s book illustration and I noticed in Martin Salisbury’s
Children’s Picturebooks (2012) that the illustrators I so admired had
studied with him at Cambridge School of Art. This discovery led to a leap of faith,
a move to Cambridge to gain an MA in Childen’s Book Illustration where I was
inspired by Martin, Pam Smy and many great illustrators and fellow students.
During the MA, I
won an illustration competition I met one of the judges, Louise Jackson. I signed
with an agent Claire Cartey and I was then approached by Louise shortly
afterwards with the manuscript for Saving The Butterfly by Helen Cooper.
I was elated that I was going to work with Walker Books, the publisher of all
the beloved books I had grown up with.
I’m aware I make
this journey to illustrating books sound quite smooth but the reality was a
couple of decades of part time jobs to keep afloat whilst freelancing,
financial insecurity, and a growing feeling of failure! Sometimes I worried
that I was foolish for not getting a ‘proper job’ and making life easier. I’m
really glad I didn’t as I am in my element once again, illustrating children’s
books.
How did you
begin illustrating Saving the Butterfly?
The poetic
nature of Helen’s writing sparked my imagination straight away. It conveys big
emotions with few words, inviting the reader to ask questions. Who are the
little one and the bigger one, where have they come from and why are they all
alone? It is an intimate story about two children but it speaks gently of the
trauma experienced by unaccompanied child refugees in many parts of the world.
Helen wanted the story to represent all children who have escaped from danger,
not just now but in the past and sadly, those who may experience it in the future.
Helen was
exceptionally generous throughout the process. She allowed me to find my own
interpretation but was encouraging and offered insight and suggestions. I felt
reassured that I could draw on both her and the Walker team to help to tell
this story sensitively. I started by drawing my way into the themes of home and
safety in my sketchbook. There were many versions of the ‘broken house’ with elements from refugee camps, informal
tent settlements, favelas and slums. I find the fragility of such adhoc
dwellings very emotive. I pieced them together, building a patchwork of
temporary looking buildings that could exist anywhere in the world.
I also focused
on the sibling relationship of the story and found myself drawing on childhood
memories. My younger sister, Jen and I were close, always dressed the same and
sharing a bunkbed. I remembered how protective I felt on our first day in a
scary new school. She was much more adventurous than me though and could run up
steep hills and climb trees where I could be quite timid. I couldn’t sleep without the security of my
scruffy toy rabbit, Bobo who features in the book. I also remembered the
reassurance of heavy woollen blankets and eiderdowns when we stayed overnight
in my Aunty Jean’s big house and this informed the patchwork comfort blanket
wrapped around the little girl. I could remember the wonder of looking closely
at a worm in the mud or a ladybird on your hand and I recalled the dramatic day
that my sister and I attempted to rescue a fallen baby bird. This kind of
childhood stuff drifts through your mind when you are drawing for hours each
day and I think some of the feelings and sensations found a way into this book.
I realise what a
priviledged childhood I had. As I write this I am hearing on the radio of
orphans from Ukraine being supported by a charity to come to the UK. More
little ones and bigger ones in
trauma. And in
Yemen, children are dying of malnutrition and bombs are being dropped on them,
bombs made in the UK. I have been volunteering with a solidarity group of of
local women called Habibti Liverpool who fundraise for the only free children’s
hospital in Yemen. The hospital is run by Paediatrician Dr. Najla Al-Sonboli
who lived in Liverpool while completing her training. Although offered the
chance to return to safety in the UK, the medics decided they had a duty to
remain and help treat the sick in a country suffering from a dire humanitarian
crisis brought on by the war. I feel compelled to try and raise awareness if
I can.
See
facebook@HabibtiLiverpool for more information about their work.
What was your
favourite spread to illustrate in Saving the Butterfly?
The last spread
was my favourite. I had become so protective of the little brother and sister
having spent a lot of time with them. It was a relief to give them a more
hopeful scene to play in. We didn’t want to sugar coat the reality with a neat
and tidy ending but rather acknowledge the little girl’s tentative step towards
her recovery. I looked at newspaper photographs of Syrian children who had
found safety in a childrens centre in Lebanon. Miraculously they are smiling
for the camera, singing and playing with their friends. Whilst the struggle to
survive makes them older than their years there are moments where they perhaps
feel safe enough to play like any child in a playground would.
In this spread,
I imagined the potential new friendships between the children. It felt very
emotional to draw the characters who, ‘on that day’, could retain their right
to play.
What are your
favourite picturebooks, both older and more recent?
I really enjoy
the warmth of Helen Oxenbury’s characters. The family members in So Much (
Walker 1994) are just fantastic. I find Laura Carlin’s illustration in Nicola
Davies The Promise very beautiful. I love her mark making and naive
urban landscapes. Paula White’s, A Baker by The Sea is a book I’m very
excited about. I witnessed Paula develop this during our time on the MA. It is
exceptional.
As a child, I
adored Mrs Wobble the Waitress by the Ahlbergs and read it over and over
again. She wobbles uncontrollably and spills roast chicken and jelly over the
bewildered guests. I’ll stop here as I could go on and on about children’s
books forever.
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Saving the Butterfly is now available from all good booksellers.
