Suzanne's illustrations formed the basis of a spectacular window at Mostly Books where children decorated birds to produce a whole flock to join the Dawn Chorus. The result was stunning - Thank you Suzanne! And also thank you to Bloomsbury who set the whole thing up.
Suzanne worked on the book when she studied for an MA in Children’s Book Illustration at the Cambridge School of Art.
What was your favourite
children’s book as a child?
Can I pick more than one?
Carbonel by Barbara Sleigh and anything by Noel Streatfeild. But when I was
very young Richard Scarry’s Best Word Book Ever.
What is your favourite
children’s book as an adult?
A Hole is to Dig by Ruth Krauss
illustrated by Maurice Sendak. It captures what it is to be a child.
What do you think makes children’s
books so inspirational?
Anything is possible in a story,
you can identify with the characters and go anywhere, do anything.
Do you see yourself as an
illustrator that writes or a writer that illustrates?
An illustrator that writes.
How did you become a writer /
illustrator?
I always wanted to make
pictures, but when I was young I thought I wasn’t good enough because there
were so many things that I couldn’t draw straight out of my head like motor
bikes and horses. But then I gradually realised that you could look at things
and practise and get better. So I studied, eventually ending up on a fantastic
MA in Children’s Book Illustration in Cambridge, where I started working on my
first story, The Dawn Chorus.
What comes first, the ideas for
pictures or the text?
For The Dawn Chorus the story
idea came first together with some clear pictures in my head that I wanted to
make. I think they evolve together which is the great thing about having the
opportunity to both write and illustrate.
Which do you like most, the
writing or the illustrating?
I love illustrating. Writing is
a more recent activity for me, but I am fascinated by what makes a really good
story. I have a lot to learn and studying storytelling is a great excuse to
collect even more books.
Suzanne finished a hectic day at Mostly Books with a book signing - something she will have to get used to!
And was kind enough to draw us a picture to offer as a prize.
The next part of our 3D Review will be an interview with Suzanne's editor at Bloomsbury who we asked what makes Suzanne's work so special.
Suzanne finished a hectic day at Mostly Books with a book signing - something she will have to get used to!
And was kind enough to draw us a picture to offer as a prize.
The next part of our 3D Review will be an interview with Suzanne's editor at Bloomsbury who we asked what makes Suzanne's work so special.
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