Thimble and the Girl from Mars Blog Tour

It’s a totally bonkers feeling that we get to celebrate the publication day of Thimble and the Girl from Mars with you. An honour and a pleasure to be kicking off this blog tour.

We first met Thimble, the anarchic Monkey Superstar, around 4 years ago. The debut was a fresh and funny madcap adventure full of hilarious slapstick episodes. Plenty of toilet humour and unbelievable escapades, with the parents (particularly Douglas, the dad) ending up as the ‘butt’ of the joke. Our children have laughed out loud with Thimble and Jams and have grown up loving this favourite series.

That first book was rightly nominated for the Lollies Laugh Out Loud Award, at which point Jon Blake wrote us a rather wonderful blog introducing Thimble to the nation. Do check it out.

Subsequent books, Holiday Havoc and Wonga Bonkers, continued to thrill new generations of the Bookworms family and even inspired one to commit an outrageous act in a branch of IKEA.

All this brings us to Thimble and the Girl from Mars, the newly published installment featuring an extremely unlikeable girl who wants to claim Thimble as her own. This feisty and intelligent foster child, with fantastic football skills, is a mean match for Jams as she manipulates his family and charms his primate pal. Jams needs to use all his wits to keep Thimble on his side. Just like the rest of the series, this is great fun, fast-paced, light-hearted and ever so slightly unhinged!

Jon Blake has written over 60 books for children (and many more radio scripts and books for adults). He is well used to questions, having regularly carried out school visits. Indeed he answered our Q and A back in 2017. But “What are the best questions that children have asked Jon Blake?” we hear you call through the Internet. Here is some exclusive Blog Tour content:

We are very grateful to Jon for sharing this video with us and look forward to finishing Thimble and the Girl from Mars as our current bedtime read. The book is out now and you can buy signed copies from Jon here. Follow Jon and illustrator Martin on Twitter, and check out Jon’s website because there is plenty to explore!

The Queen on Our Corner Book Tour

The Queen on our Corner is a very special picture book written by Lucy Christopher and illustrated by Nia Tudor. Both Lucy and Nia were born in Wales so we are delighted to take part in this book tour (and even without the Welsh connection, we’d jump at the chance to celebrate such a lovely book!).

The Queen in question is a homeless lady who lives on the corner of the street with her pet dog. She is ignored by most, feared by some and often seen as a nuisance. But as Lucy Christopher writes, “She is just tired from all the battles she has fought and won, and the ones she has fought and lost too.” The adult reader may see real-world problems in this statement, but the child narrator imagines the fascinating adventures that the Queen may have had combatting dragons and journeying to the far reaches of the globe. It is clear that illustrator Nia Tudor enjoyed these flights of fancy too and these imaginings form the basis for the wonderful endpapers.

Later in the book, the Queen is responsible for an act of extreme braveness and kindness which averts a certain disaster in the street. Suddenly, attitudes change and the residents want to give their thanks and support to the lady who they now acknowledge. But what can they do to show their gratitude? The child narrator has a wonderfully generous and heart-warming thought, but you’ll need to read or listen to the book yourself to find out!

Lucy Christopher was inspired to write this story by the compassion and charity of her friends. She urges all readers to look for the queens in their lives and to reach out. Don’t you think we should treat everyone like a queen? You never know the adventures they have had in their lives.

We absolutely adore Nia’s illustrations in The Queen On Our Corner, her first published picture book. The autumnal palette is just gorgeous and we love the characterisation of the people in the street and have enjoyed spotting the nods to adventure through hidden items in the wonderful spreads. Nia was very kind and answered a few questions from bookworms Kit and Nina to mark the occasion.

What was your first reaction to Lucy Christopher’s words? I thought it was a beautiful story with an important message, and I instantly started imagining the possibilities for the illustrations.

What is your favourite illustration in the book? The picture that shows the whole street. I loved how much detail I was able to put into it.

How do you illustrate? I illustrate digitally using my iPad Pro and Apple Pencil in Procreate.

What is your reaction to seeing the book in the shops? It’s very surreal! I’m just really flattered that there are people out there who are enjoying the book.

We love the dragons and mountains that you included in the book. Are you inspired by Wales? Yes, it was great to include a little homage to my heritage through the dragon!

THE QUEEN ON OUR CORNER is now available in all good bookshops! OR, buy your copy from Lantana’s online shop and donate a book to children who need books the most with your purchase.

Thank you to Katrina and Lantana for inviting us to participate in the book tour. You can follow Lucy, Nia and Lantana on Twitter, and find out more about the author and illustrator at their websites.

Cardiff Kids Lit Fest

Mummy, Nina and Kit saw two events at the iconic Cardiff City Hall

Last weekend saw the start of this year’s Cardiff Children’s Literature Festival and we were delighted to make the journey south to see a few events. The programme for the book-fest is brilliant, with a mix of new and established authors and illustrators appealing to a range of ages. It’s fantastic that the festival, now in its seventh year, celebrates Welsh authors and illustrators so strongly – and yet it has nationwide appeal. Taking place in a number of the city’s iconic buildings, this young festival is well-supported and feels prestigious.

Over the course of the weekend we saw four of Wales’ finest – starting with the wonderful Catherine Fisher who spoke at length to a keen audience of avid readers. Her latest book, The Clockwork Crow (Firefly Press) was shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book Award and has recently been nominated for the Tir-na-nOg Award, for books with an authentic Welsh background. In the plush surroundings of Cardiff Central Library, Catherine spoke with passion about her love of fantasy; memories of her father reading Alice in Wonderland aloud; and her discovery of Tolkien.

She also told the enraptured gathering not to ask her about plotting or where she gets her ideas, or even why she writes for children! She writes what she writes, and what comes out are children’s books. Her ideas “just appear”, and she has “no idea” what is going to happen in the story when she sits down to write it. She doesn’t plan – but feels the thrill of the reader as the story forms on the page. Later, we asked Catherine if this meant that there was more focus on editing her books, and she told us that she does this as she writes. She tends to go through the book twice more, “fine-tuning the language” and making details crisp.

After reading from The Clockwork Crow, Catherine Fisher revealed that it would now be the start of a trilogy. The Velvet Fox is currently being written and will hopefully be published around October 2019. In that book, the crow will not be returned to his normal form and so a third book will be required to make that happen.

Noah met Catherine Fisher at the Cardiff Central Library

The Clockwork Crow has already been a big success and both author and publisher are hopeful that there is more to come. Thank you to Catherine for granting a private audience for a short time to ask a few questions, the final one of which was “If you could have any super-power, what would it be?” This led to much discussion and a book recommendation for Noah to read HG Wells’ ‘The Invisible Man’. In the end, Catherine decided that, provided she could avoid the difficulties that The Invisible Man had (not being able to hide his clothes, or disguise his drink from descending his food pipe) she would like to have that magical quality.

Next up was Gavin Puckett and his wonderful “Fables from the Stables” session at Cardiff City Hall. Gavin spoke about how having a child gave him the impetus to write. Several years ago, whilst driving, Gavin had heard a radio show posing the question, “Which sports are carried out backwards?” Puzzling this over, Gavin had driven past a lone horse in a field and thought to himself, “What could make a horse walk backwards?” Fables from the Stables was born!

Gavin’s session was fun and interactive, geared towards his 5-9 audience. The children and adults enjoyed the quizzes and were treated to a reading from Gavin’s latest book, Hayley, The Hairy Horse. Having been educated on the varied uses of horse hair, we were left on the proverbial cliff with the reading ending enigmatically: “Would the lovely, hairy Hayley lose her whole tail?!”

Mummy found herself volunteered (thanks to Nina and Kit) to represent a rock star in the Hendrix the Rocking Horse music round. Standing in front of a room full of children and adults, holding an inflatable guitar, with stripy socks on her wrists and red knickers on her head, was not how we had imagined our weekend to run. By the 5th tune Mummy became more accustomed to her role and rocked out with a reasonable amount of energy to “Peppa Pig” and “Old McDonald”. 

Kit and Nina with Gavin Puckett

Thanks to Gavin for a really fun and engaging session. The books have all been hits for the younger bookworms and the grown-ups found plenty to chortle at too!

Saturday afternoon was given over to The Girls by Lauren Ace and Jenny Løvlie. This session had a distinctively chilled out flavour with the audience encouraged to snuggle up with the fabulously enticing pile of cushions covering the front of the room. Girls made chairs, beds, cars and lounged comfortably whilst Lauren and Jenny spoke of their inspirations and ideas behind the illustrated story.

The importance of friendship was at the core of the session. The illustrations are beautiful, complimenting and enhancing the impact of the deceptively simple text. One of the great joys of The Girls is its ability to engage readers, regardless of age. Certainly the Mums in our session had as much to talk about as their daughters. Both Lauren and Jenny spoke of their own friendships and how growing up – either in a busy world of family and friends, or in a remote Nordic village (being the first child born in 12 years, amongst a population of 30!) – is shaped by the people we surround ourselves with. We were all delighted with the prospect of a follow-up, The Boys.

Nina and I enjoyed drawing our own best friends and the whole group were delighted to share names and descriptions of friends, who were then turned into perfect little drawings before our eyes. Løvlie’s talent is in her ability to translate human spirit into art and her humble “I’m an illustrator, it’s what I do,” understates her great talent. Løvlie delights in her work, describing how her soul lifts as she enters her workplace, where she is surrounded by what sounds like a remarkable hub of creatives. Lauren has started writing more recently and finds the outdoors to be the best location for harvesting her ideas.

Nina with Jenny and Lauren (in fabulous The Girls T-Shirt!)

The two women have an obvious bond, derived from this first collaboration. We were lucky enough to have a chance to speak with them both after the session and their warmth and enthusiasm for life in general was pretty intoxicating.

Following a well deserved rest (and a visit to a few Cardiff cafes, bookstores and record shops), and a good sleep, we returned the next day to meet Karin Celestine and her tribe of felted creatures. It was a real pleasure to meet Karin and spend some time with her afterwards, but none of us (Daddy worm especially) could contain our joy at meeting Bert, Bertram, Granny Dandelion, Grandpa Burdock and the gang. There was so much adoration in the room for these creatures, who under Karin’s leadership bring kindness, compassion, love and understanding in a world often blighted by worry, intolerance and cruelty.

Nina and Kit with Karin, Bert, Bertram, Granny Dandelion, Grandpa Burdock, Hedgehog…

Karin read from Bert’s Garden (Graffeg), a simply wonderful tale about the über-kind Bert who loves having a sit in the garden, with tea and biscuits, and welcoming visitors with beautiful produce. He is caring towards all creatures in his garden, including the slugs and snails and the bugs that wake him in the night. In the story, he provides a new home for some beetles who are enormously grateful for somewhere cosy and dry to live. The assembled group of 4-7 year olds were then encouraged to get stuck in to making bug houses, and were all delighted to take them home with a sticker and a packet of seeds.

The ninth book from Celestine and the Hare, Helping Hedgehog Home, is due for publication later this month and completes the Tribe ennealogy (yes, we looked that up – it’s an art work in nine parts). We had a wonderful chat with Karin* after the event and asked her a bit more about Hedgehog. She told us, “There is more humour in this one, but still with an ecological message.”

“A lot of the environmental issues can be too big and too frightening for young children – as a child you can feel completely helpless to do anything about it. I remember the ‘Save the Tiger’ campaign from when I was younger, and short of buying a membership to the WWF there was nothing I could do – and for me, that’s not very positive. I want anybody to be able to do something to help. Similar to today’s event – anyone can make a bug house and make a difference and that’s what we did.”

*We’ll publish a full interview with Karin later this month to coincide with Helping Hedgehog Home.

In the back of each of Karin’s books there are some suggested craft activities that readers can engage with – such as making a bug house. In the new book, as the Hedgehog tries to find her way home by making a hot air balloon, readers can try their hand at making one from papier mâché. Do not worry too much about Hedgehog’s escapades, because as Karin revealed to us, “Granny saves the day in a very simple and sensible way.”

It’s fair to say that we had a brilliant weekend in Cardiff thanks to the Cardiff Children’s Literature Festival. A truly fabulous festival with a wide variety of events for all ages. The second weekend continues to feature amazing authors and we’re sad that we can’t get there ourselves. If you get the opportunity, do take a look at their website, even just to keep yourself in the loop for next year.

We received complimentary tickets to the above events thanks to Cardiff Children’s Literature Festival. They also helped us to arrange conversations with the authors.

The Clockwork Crow by Catherine Fisher is published by Firefly and is out now.
Hayley The Hairy Horse by Gavin Puckett will be published by Faber and Faber in June 2019. Other Fables in the Stables books are available now.
The Girls by Lauren Ace and Jenny Løvlie is published by Caterpillar, part of the Little Tiger group and is out now.
Helping Hedgehog Home by Celestine and the Hare will be published by Graffeg in late April 2019. The 8 other books, including Bert’s Garden are available now.

The Blue Balloon:30 Years Blog Tour

30 Years after it was first published, The Blue Balloon is reissued in a special anniversary edition with bonus material. The book marked the first of many appearances by Kipper, the loveable, friendly puppy.

The Blue Balloon is a celebration of imagination, creativity and playfulness and for this blog tour, we were challenged to come up with something different to mark the occasion. The worms got to work and the result is this video on our new YouTube Channel. Please enjoy, like and subscribe. Thank you.

The Blue Balloon Blog Tour on the Family Bookworms YouTube Channel

Thanks to Hodder and Hachette for the invite to take part in the Blog Tour – we had great fun!

For more information on The Blue Balloon: 30 Years Anniversary Edition, click here.

Meet The… (Pirates and Ancient Greeks)

James Davies

Big Picture Press
Review written by Daddy Worm

These two hardback non-fiction releases follow in the footsteps of Meet The Ancient Romans and Meet The Ancient Egyptians. In our house these books are beloved by 6 year old Kit and Mum and Dad too. The same should be true in the rest of the world as they have wide appeal.

Contents of Ancient Greeks

Funny, engaging and stylish, their primary aim is surely to entertain and inform. But this is no fuddy-duddy school textbook – James Davies brings new life to well-worn topics, and finds quirky extras to amuse, shock and surprise (Kit’s favourite part of Ancient Egyptians is the mummification of pets!) The factual information is delivered concisely and backed up with the most amazing illustrations. So in Meet The Pirates, we learn who they were, where they came from, parts of the ship, how they navigated and so on. In Ancient Greeks, we are taken through the buildings, the myths, education, art, games and more – both volumes stretch to around 64 pages.

The illustrations (I said they were amazing), add humour and humanity to each page – so we get Homer writing an epic blog; pirates claiming “This looks nothing like the brochure”; Athens’ Got Talent; parrots squawking “Who’s a pretty boy then?” to pirates on a catwalk; Alexander the Great sticking Post-It notes all over the countries of a map claiming ‘Mine’; oh, and some cat references (follow James on Twitter for updates on his own cat, Audrey). Sometimes the humour is hysterically childish, sometimes it makes you laugh out loud, but it will always bring a smile to your face, no matter how old you are.

Within the books we particularly enjoyed the cartoon retellings of historical sagas. Here James really excels with a traditional-looking cartoon format for Pandora’s Box (Ancient Greeks) or The Strange Case of Alexander Selkirk (Pirates). We’d love to see James get the opportunity to work on a comic or graphic novel.

Endpapers of Meet The… Ancient Greeks

We should also mention the design of this series which has been very well-considered. Olivia Cook and Marty Cleary get the credit at the front of the books – James has designed his own font, and it’s clear that the whole book, from endpapers to maps, timelines, subheadings and page edges, have been thought about in great detail.

Page edges with design showing subtitles

Perfect for all ages; from inquisitive 5 year olds, fact-seeking 8 year olds, eager 12 year olds, unashamed 43 year olds and older – we can’t live without these books at the moment, and don’t think you should have to either.

James Davies is from Wales, now living in Bristol. You can see more of his bold, graphic style at his website. You can also follow him on Twitter.

The Meet The… series is published by Big Picture Press and can be bought from your local independent bookshop or direct from the publisher.

Football School Blog Tour

Football School Season 3

Alex Bellos and Ben Lyttleton

Walker Books

The Football School series has a new edition! This critically-acclaimed set (Book 1 shortlisted for Blue Peter Book Awards, Book 2 shortlisted for #Lollies2018), brings football facts, figures and bizarre insights to the fore. Noah (aged 11) has been able to enjoy the books at his own leisure, devouring the mysteries over the Jules Rimet Trophies, and the mathematical facts about tallest players, goal averages and circadian rhythms (yes, we have discussed this at the breakfast table!). Meanwhile Kit (aged 6) has enjoyed dipping into the book to pull out nuggets of information. With the help of Mum and Dad, he has been fascinated by the stories, science and trivia bursting from the pages. This really is a highly entertaining read; fast-paced, interesting and educational.

For many, football is a way to inspire children to read, and if you’ve seen any of the other blog posts, you will know that Alex Bellos and Ben Lyttleton are keen to emphasise the importance of reading for pleasure. On the Books for Topics blog, they say “What’s most important is that kids read the book – since reading anything brings benefits. But we also hope that the books make children curious about the world.” And on Booklover Jo’s blog, they say “We believed that one way to get kids reading was to provide them with a book on a subject they felt passionate about. Football School explains the world through the prism of football.”

Kit was delighted to put his questions to Alex and Ben (but disappointed that neither of them played Fifa 19).

 

Alex Bellos (on the left) and Ben Lyttleton

What are you reading at the moment?

Ben: I am reading a book about family and friendship called the Baltimore Boys but you’re probably more interested in what my children are reading. My eldest daughter is 9 and she is reading Death in the Spotlight by Robin Stevens. She loves these murder mysteries even if they are a bit gory! My youngest daughter is 7 and she is reading Daisy and the Trouble with Life. She also loves the Claude series by Alex T Smith. They have both read the Football School books and told me they liked them – I hope they weren’t just being polite! 

Could you tell us how you got into writing the Football School books?

Alex: Ben and I have been mates for ages and always wanted to work on a project together. We have both written football books for grown-ups, and thought that it would be really fun and worthwhile to write for younger readers. We were avid readers when we were kids, and we both know the advantages that reading brings.

Ben: We are passionate about getting children to enjoy reading – we know you already love it! – and we thought that writing books about football would help reluctant readers tap into their love of football and encourage them to develop a love of reading and a curiosity about the world. We have since been told by teachers and parents that the book has helped their children get into reading, which inspires us to work even harder!

Which football team/s do you support?

Alex: I grew up in Scotland and support Hearts (the Jam Tarts).

Ben: I support Spurs, because they were my local team when I grew up and my whole family supported them. I believe we should never boo any other teams, because supporting a team is often about family, community and being connected to a bigger group. I am proud of my team but also respect and appreciate other teams – especially if their nickname is a yummy food, like the Jam Tarts! 

Who’s the best footballer in the world right now? (Kit thinks it’s either Ronaldo or Rodriguez)

Ben: Good question. I watched Lionel Messi play for Barcelona against Spurs the other day and I haven’t seen many players play better than that and I’ve been going to matches for over 30 years.  I also really like Kylian Mbappe and think Raheem Sterling doesn’t get the credit he deserves. They are all great players.

Who are the best TV commentators?

Ben: There are lots of good ones but my favourite is Dave Farrar, because he is a friend of mine! His voice is wonderful, and he comes up with brilliant one-liners. I always remember when Greece beat France in Euro 2004, he said “And France lose! That’s Napoleon Blown-Apart!” It was a clever pun on Napoleon Bonaparte and he claims he thought of it on the spot! It still makes me chuckle…

What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learned when researching your books?

Alex: So many things! I love the fact that stadiums have vomitories, that eagles are the most popular mascot for football teams and that the coelacanth is a fish has limbs instead of fins! 

Ben: As a younger sibling, I liked learning that younger siblings are more likely to become professional footballers. That’s good news for Kit! Also that female players are less likely to be left-footed, that Iceland has 130 volcanoes, that paint is like a cake and that the Prime Minister of India once drank his own wee! 

Who is the best Welsh footballer?

Ben: Right now, or of all time? In both cases I would say Gareth Bale! An incredible player who has always shown how much Wales means to him. There is an exciting new generation of players coming through as well, so keep an eye on Harry Wilson and Ethan Ampadu – it’s a really exciting time for Welsh football.  

How many keepy-ups can you do?

Ben: I have got up to 96, but always lose my concentration as I get close to 100. Annoying! 

Alex: Not as many as Ben!

Apart from your books, what other books about football would you recommend?

Alex: My favourite football books are anything by Simon Kuper, Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby and Twelve Yards by Ben Lyttleton!

Ben: Alex is so nice! I would say Futebol by this guy called Alex Bellos, it’s all about Brazilian football and it’s Brazilliant!  

What’s next for Alex Bellos and Ben Lyttleton?

Alex: We have two new Football School books out next year: Football School Star Players out in the Spring, which has the stories of 50 inspirational players, and Football School Season 4 out in the Autumn, and there will be two more in the year following that too.

Ben: It’s really exciting! We also have our youtube channel which is youtube.com/FootballSchoolFacts and we upload new videos all the time so please check it out and subscribe!

 

Thank you to Alex and Ben for answering the questions and to Walker for sending us a review copy of the book. You can follow Alex and Ben on Twitter or visit the Football School website.

#Lollies2018 Blog Tour: Joe Berger

Lollies 2018 Blog Tour: Joe Berger

The Pudding Problem by Joe Berger is nominated for the #Lollies2018 in the age 6-8 category. Kit (6), Nina (9) and Noah (11) have all read this hilarious graphic novel and enjoyed it very very much! They got caught up in the misadventures of Sam Lyttle, a boy who keeps getting into trouble though it has nothing to do with lying (honest)! The eponymous ‘Pudding’ is Sam’s cat – and the ingenious story of how Pudding came to be the family pet and get her name is worth the entry fee alone. Noah picked up on the subtle humour in the illustrations – sometimes it’s unmitigated ‘out there’ humour, which had Kit and Nina in fits of giggles and outbursts of belly-laughs, and sometimes it’s just in a ‘look’ or more understated reference in the brilliant drawings. There’s something in this book for everyone, adults included, so the age 6-8 tag is a bit misleading. Either way, all five worms loved The Pudding Problem and its follow-up The Stinky Truth. Here’s the book trailer from Joe’s website:

Joe Berger lives in Bristol with his wife, three daughters, cat and dog. He regularly collaborates with Pascal Wyse, as Berger & Wyse on a weekly cartoon published in the Guardian’s Weekend magazine. He says “telling jokes in cartoon form remains one of my favourite things ever”. He has written two Lyttle Lies books and illustrated many more. We were delighted that he agreed to answer the Worms’ questions, so here are his answers…

What are you reading at the moment?

At the moment I’m reading Karl Ove Knausgaard, My Struggle vol 1 – it’s a grown-up book but I’d recommend it once you’re older. Also reading some comics, including Greatest Ever Marlys by Lynda Barry, which is brilliant.

Could you tell us how you got into writing and drawing?

When I was little my mum used to read fashion magazines like Vogue, and she would sometimes show me an illustration she liked and ask me to make her a version of it. So I learned a huge amount from copying other people’s drawings and techniques – it’s a brilliant way to learn, to unpick how drawings and paintings are made. From a young age I was also obsessed with comics, and always wanted to do my own comic strip. In 2002 my friend and I landed a job of doing a 4 panel comic in the Guardian newspaper – and co-writing that each week gave me the confidence to write children’s books, which was a long-held ambition. Although the 4 panel strip stopped in 2009, we continue to do a single panel cartoon in the Guardian every week – so far that’s nearly 900 cartoons!

Where and when do you work?

I work in my studio, which is a 20 minute walk from home, in the centre of Bristol. It’s a lovely room with lots of natural light, and room to play the VERY OCCASIONAL board game, which is my big hobby when I’m not making books and cartoons. I usually work 9-5 Monday to Friday, as I find keeping regular hours helps me organise my time. Many mornings I’ll spend an hour or so dreaming up cartoon ideas, and then switch to writing or book illustration later in the day.

Can you tell us about your methods?

All my work starts with drawing on paper. I usually do rough drawings in pencil, and then final drawing in brush pen and ink on a clean sheet of paper  which is just thin enough to see a bit of the rough drawing underneath. But for cartoons I like to draw straight in ink, and see where the drawing goes. It’s harder to be that spontaneous with drawing for children’s books because there are often a lot of changes to make.

What advice would you give to budding young illustrators?

Copy the stuff you love! I don’t mean trace it, that wouldn’t teach you much – but copying really makes you focus on how the artist/illustrator was able to achieve what they did. It’s an invaluable way to learn – and of course, your own style will start to seep in to those drawings, and you’ll naturally start to create your own work.

Is it difficult to do funny some days?

Yes it is! It can be very frustrating if you don’t feel like you’re in the right mood. See next answer . . .

Is being funny a serious business?

It is serious and silly in equal amounts. It’s serious in that you have to be able to be funny on demand, even if you don’t feel like it. For this reason, I carry a small notebook wherever I go, to note down any funny ideas. So then when I need to be funny but don’t feel like it, can look in my notebooks for inspiration. These are not really sketchbooks, though I have those too. I have a collection of about 40 old notebooks which I am always looking in for thoughts and ideas I might not have used yet. But I have to keep writing in new ones too!

How do you choose names for your characters?

Hmmm, that’s a good question – names for characters are so important. Sam in the Lyttle Lies books was originally called Joe, because the stories are loosely based on my misadventures as a boy. But I wanted to distance the character from me because other bits are totally made up. I have a friend called Sam, and Sam seems like a similar name to Joe – one syllable, 3 letters etc. So that’s how Sam was named. Pudding is called Pudding because of what happens in the story – I wish I could remember how or when I came up with that idea. But I can’t.

Which books, authors and illustrators inspire you?

I love Just William stories, and Petit Nicolas stories too, which are kind of a French version of Just William, with drawings by one of my favourite artists, Sempé. I find other cartoonists very inspiring too – Charles Shultz who made Peanuts (Snoopy and Charlie Brown) every day for 50 years – as well as other single panel cartoonists like Charles Addams and Edward Steed.

Ever been to Wales?

Yes, I love WALES! I live in Bristol, so not far from South Wales, and we go at least once a year. We often stay in a place called Capel y Fin in the black mountains, which is an area I love, near Abergavenny. There’s a hill there called The Tumper which we love to climb.

You’ve illustrated work for others – what’s been your favourite of these projects to work on?

Hmmm, it’s hard to pick favourites. One that stands out is the recent Chitty Chitty Bang Bang series I worked on with Frank Cottrell Boyce – I grew up watching the film in the 1970s, so it was a real thrill to get to work on the three new books. I was worried about it because I’m not good at drawing cars, but it helped me get better I think.

Are you an animal person?

Yes I am. We have a cat called Spooky (she’s white like a ghost) and a dog called Sybil. Sybil is a Cairn terrier, and she’s quite naughty – she loves to race out into the garden and bark at birds (and hot air balloons), which gets us in trouble with the neighbours.

What’s the weirdest doodle in your doodle book?

There are so many to choose from. I’m going to open a notebook at random and see what I find, ready? Here goes . . .

Hmmm,  a roll-mop herring driving a car? That’s pretty weird.

Let me try again . . . ok, a robot punching a sandwich, saying “I love you, sandwich”. There’s two weird ones right there.

What’s the biggest lie you’ve ever told?

The worst lie is too long to put here, but it might end up in a book one day :-/ But I stopped lying when I was about 12, so nothing too bad since. It’s a habit I learned to break, because it takes a lot of energy to stick to your story in the face of mounting evidence to the contrary, and anyway you always end up getting in trouble twice – once for the thing you covered up by lying, and once for lying about it. It takes less energy, but more bravery, to tell the truth. In my case it also took a large box of Smarties, offered to me as an incentive to own up.

What’s next for Joe Berger?

I don’t know If I’ll get to write more Lyttle Lies books, but I want to tell more stories with cartoons, so I’m working on a couple of ideas. At the same time I’m still drawing my cartoons, and hope to find more places that are willing to publish them.

 

 

Thank you to Joe for answering the worms’ questions. We’re really grateful for the time he gave us and are thrilled with his answers. You can vote for the Pudding Problem in the #Lollies2018 here. You can follow Joe on Twitter or visit his website. Thanks to the #Lollies2018 team for inviting us to be part of the Blog Tour again. Check out the other posts:

Mirror Magic Blog Tour

We were delighted to be given the opportunity to travel to Cardiff to meet with Claire Fayers and talk with her about her enchanting new novel, Mirror Magic. Noah takes the lead in this video, with the rest of the worms joining in with a ‘Would You Rather?’ section near the end. Thank you very very much to Claire for being such a great sport and taking the time to film with us.

Why not check out Noah’s written review of Mirror Magic here.