There are many things I wish I could do and being able to draw is one of them. I am rather envious of people that can. But I also admire them. It’s a brave thing to do; put yourself – your work – out there for all to judge, isn’t it? It must be thrilling and petrifying all at once.

Madi is one such illustrator. She penned (pencilled? photoshopped?) our lovely Green Door Bookshop logo up there *points up*. See? I love it.

But her talents don’t stop there and she has a whole range of products available to buy on her Etsy shop and has self published her first children’s book, ‘I’m a little bit scared of…’.

I love Madi’s stuff, love her style and wanted to find out more.

How did you end up doing what you do, becoming an illustrator?

Art was always my favourite subject at school – I studied Fine Art to A Level, and spent my time producing incredibly detailed gouache paintings. My art foundation course pushed me to experiment more and break out of my comfort zone – it was during this year that I started incorporating different materials and textures into my work for the first time.

I realised that I especially enjoyed creating work that was aimed at children. It was then that I decided I wanted to study illustration more than anything in the world!

Had you always wanted to write a children’s book? 

When I was aged seven-and-three-quarters (I know this because I’ve written it proudly on the ‘About the author’ page inside the front cover!), I wrote and illustrated my first children’s book – totally handmade, all written and drawn on pages of yellow card, and sewn together with wool. I continued to create books throughout my childhood, and wrote stories well into my early teens.

Is Jake – the character in ‘A little bit scared of …’ – based on someone you know?

In my family, although I was the eldest, my little brother was the more confident, cheeky kid. I was always a very shy, nervous child. Consciously, Jake wasn’t based on anyone specifically, but I can definitely see characteristics from my younger self reflected in him.

I know from experience that children can be horrible to each other at school, so I wanted the story to show little ones that – although there may be things about them that they feel alone with, or that other people pick on them for – these people also have fears, worries or anxieties. It’s just that you might not know about them.

What have you learnt from the experience of self-publishing a book?

Self-publishing was a last resort as I really wanted to make my book available to the children I’d created it for! In that respect, I am grateful that self-publishing is an option. But in terms of cost, it’s awful. It’s so expensive to have each copy of my book printed and delivered, which means I have to price it much higher than I would like to.

It makes me sad as I’d hate to think that potential customers are put off, assuming I’m trying to make a massive profit. In reality, the total opposite is true, and I wish more than anything it was possible to price the book more reasonably.

What are your all-time favourite children’s books?

As a child, I loved Shirley Hughes’s books – all the Alfie stories – and Jill Murphy’s books including Whatever Next and Peace At Last. I also still have battered, well-loved, copies of Peepo and Each Peach Pear Plum saved from my childhood – two classic Ahlberg picture books, which I hope to share with my own children one day.

What are your dreams for Madi Illustration?

In the short term, I think adding to the range of cards, prints and illustrated goodies available in my shop is my main goal. It’s my dream to design a card which ends up being sold in Paperchase!

In terms of the future though, I think I’d like to focus more on projects which mean my illustrations will be interacted with by children. From the very start of my aspirations to become an illustrator, it was always children I wanted to illustrate for and, despite creating illustrations for a whole range of different audiences over the past few years, it’s still the work I create for children which makes me happiest. Children’s books and colouring pages and projects which encourage children to be creative are definitely the direction I’d like to go.

You can buy ‘A little bit scared of …’ for the special price of £5.75 for a limited period only.

Keep up to date with Madi’s plans on Facebook, Twitter, her blog and website.

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I used to blog quite a bit. Some may say I was a ‘mummy blogger’ and being part of that online community was pretty cool. I can remember when I first started out (waaaaay back in 2009) I was thrilled to be tagged in my first ever ‘meme’.

I’m still not 100% sure whether that’s meme as in ‘me-me’ or meme as in ‘mé-mé’. But, heah ho, I’m pretty sure no one cares but me.

However it’s pronounced, a meme is where you choose a theme, write about it and then tag other bloggers to write about it too. A bit like a chain letter. Without the curses or sending of underwear/wiring cash. It’s a nice way to get to know other people and share your contacts.

Seeing as it looks like Spring has sprung lets go for Shiny Happy Things – Things that make you smile.

I’ll start.

1. My youngest daughter – aged four – getting into bed at night. She literally wriggles with glee. She’s her mother’s daughter.

2. Friday night kitchen discos. They start with the whole family bouncing/flinging/jumping about to pop music. They end with my husband on his own listening to Ibiza classics – full blast – whilst we get our pyjamas on.

3. Seeing my kids play with my best friend’s kids. On a beach.

4. Sunshine. Warm sunshine.

5. A clean bed with crispy cotton bedsheets.

See, I’m a simple, easily pleased soul really.

I now tag the following 5 independent retailers whose challenge – should they choose to accept it – is to share some of their Shiny Happy Things and tag at least another 3.

Hayley & Lucas from Alphabet Bags My failsafe gift shop, you can always get something here.

Kate from Burp Boutique I wish my children were younger so I could make them wear cool bibs and babygrows.

Kati from Boys & Girls The only company I’ve ever approached to do a sponsored post for during my blogging days, such was my love of their iconic ‘Out To Play’ T-shirts.

Nicola from Red Door Gallery Edinburgh shop with online shop. I buy my cool 17 year old niece presents in here so I remain her favourite aunty.

James & Emma from nineteenseventythree The best cards and wrapping paper shop. Ever.

Clare from Belle and Boo You all know I can’t get enough of B&B. Now they do clothes too! *swoon*

Good luck my friends!

Caroline

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Then along came the children. Sometimes libraries were free places to take shelter from the rain. Maybe have a wee on a clean loo. But mostly a safe place where they could touch books, pick them up and turn the pages. Bookshops – much as I love them – can be terribly stressful places with small sticky children.

I have fond memories of my childhood library. There were small plastic round stools that used to fit on top of each other. The books were in trough like boxes, just my height. We had orange cardboard tickets that would get stamped when we borrowed a book. They had our names hand written in biro on them. The librarian behind the counter never changed. He was a giant.* With beige clothes, glasses on a chain and a beard. He reminded me of the BFG. Our books would be stamped with a silver ink stamp. I always loved the noise it made.

Now, my own local library is a place I love. Our librarian knows most of our town’s children by name. She remembers what types of books my daughter likes to read and will order books for her without me asking. On a Friday morning she runs a free singing session for the babies and toddlers. A few weeks ago there were 23 children there. 23!

I am sitting in a library as I type. With two hours to kill – as my daughter is taught how to do cartwheels and swing on the bars – I find myself in a library I have never been to. It’s 7pm on a week night. And this place? It’s busy. People are reading in quiet corners. Other are on the web, free of charge. Children look through books, being sushed by their parents. The phone rings lots.

Children, elderly, middle aged folk (that’s me) and even some yoof wearing hoodies asking politely about how much it is to get something photocopied – this library has us all.

We’re really very lucky aren’t we? Libraries are an incredibly important service for so many people. Free books. No pressure. A non-judgemental welcome. Warm and friendly. Access to the internet. Expert guidance and knowledge for everyone.

We need to fight for our libraries. Newcastle’s city council is considering closing 10 of its 18 libraries. More than 2,000 library staff lost their jobs in the last year. Cuts are happening everywhere and it seems that libraries are high up on the list.

I want my children to know what a library is. To have the same fond memories that I have.

Why not take a look at what’s happening in your local area, see if they’re campaigning to save your library and would appreciate your help. Spread the library love!

*Looking back I suspect he was just a bit tall.

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One of the things that I love about parenthood is having an excuse to read stories out loud. It’s easy to forget how reading words aloud is really rather fun.

I’ll admit I like to go for it. I do accents. Make exaggerated sounds. Experiment with silly facial expressions.

Without them, a book is just words. With them, the story comes to life.

My cat in Red Ted and the Lost Things has a Russian accent.

My Little Red Hood is French with a deep voice.

My Mr Fox in On the Seesaw Bridge has a lisp.

So since I saw this competition being run by the lovely people at World Book Day, I’ve been thinking about entering. What about you? Do you go nuts for storytelling? If so then check it out, there’s £250 in book tokens to be won for person who makes reading aloud thrilling and fun for a young audience.

Plus, it sort of reminded me of the old Saturday Superstore Search for a Superstore Superstar. Or is that just me?…. Anyone?

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Sometimes it feels like there is a celebratory ‘Day’ for everything nowadays.*

We’re not big on Hallmark holidays in our house. We don’t celebrate Valentines Day. Even when it comes to our wedding anniversary we’re a bit reluctant. We take it year about to buy a card, no presents. Whoever buys the card writes in it first then gives it to the other person to write on the other side. Then we open and read it together. I kinda like that.

But when I read about International Book Giving Day it sounded rather lovely. Not least because it falls on Valentines Day but – for me – it’s the perfect mix of children, love and books.

The idea? A day dedicated to getting new, used and borrowed books in the hands of as many children as possible. I was genuinely shocked to read that one third of children in the UK do not own books. Shocked, and sad too.

So, what could you do on 14th February? Their site is full of lots of ideas and suggestions about how to take part. It could be leaving a book in a doctor’s waiting room or donating to a local children’s hospital. I know that my kids have books they don’t read anymore and that they could pass them on. What about yours?

Go, pop it on the kitchen family calendar/pencil in your diary/set a reminder on your phone.

*She said, trying not to sound like an old fart.

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Christmas means many things to us. New pyjamas. Satsumas. Family films. Chocolate before breakfast.

It also means discovering a new book.

This year we’ve done the hard work for you; trawl no more. And we’ve picked our favourite ones and knocked 20% off them.

From quirky colouring-in to books with magical effects, from Christmas tales to year-round stories – there is something for every small person in your life.

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Created by: Lapland Holidays specialist SantasLapland.com

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PatrickGeorge create very cool children’s books; fact. But behind the magical acetate and irresistible collective nouns are Peter and Ann Scott – a husband-and-wife team with three children – who saw an opportunity, went for it and sometimes learnt the hard way about the world of publishing books. 

“It was reading to the kids at bedtime that Peter realised he wasn’t too impressed with many of the books out there for children. They weren’t very exciting. At the time he had a three hour commute on the slow train from Ramsgate to London and started using the time to just doodle his ideas.”

And doodle he did. Fortunately for Patrick, Laura and George, their Dad Peter was a trained illustrator and Creative Director of a design firm. “Peter has his own unique style of illustration. He started playing around with the kind of ideas that he liked and although we thought they could make a really great book, we didn’t do anything with it.”

Then something happened; the Scott family took a trip to an animal sanctuary where – chalked up on a black board – were some animal collective nouns. “We just thought; ‘Wow, these could make some great illustrations.’”

“Peter came up with some images and I wrote some blocks of text to go with each. We had a printer friend run off a few copies and sent them to some publishers who – although they loved them – said it just seemed too risky. But I was ready for a challenge at that point and didn’t want to give up. I just thought; we’ve worked in print, in book publications, we have contacts, we know how to brand things – it was all there – why not go for it?! So we did.”

Ann drew on her skills as a professional project manager and rolled up her sleeves. “It was a bit like ignorance is bliss. I did some quick research on the internet, got our printer friend to run off a few copies of the Collective Nouns, put them in a big rucksack and went to London to knock on bookshop doors and see if there was any interest. I learnt by my third visit not to say they were self-published as people just wouldn’t talk to me. I realised that if I just opened the book on the counter and asked what they thought, people would order a few copies. I think the products spoke for themselves.”

In the three months that followed PatrickGeorge was nominated for a Kate Greenway award – awarded annually for an outstanding book in terms of illustration for children and young people – and London’s Victoria & Albert museum gave PatrickGeorge their first major order. Ann is honest that “it was all very much a baptism of fire and a very steep learning curve. But we’d sold over 3,000 copies of the books without any real marketing – just me pounding the streets.”

“Once we’d exhausted London we decided to hit more of the country so we jumped in our mobile home with the kids and did our very own UK tour. We got a map and plotted the top independent bookshops – we started in Ramsgate and visited Cambridge, York, Huddersfield, Manchester, Liverpool and Oxford – it was great fun. Although when we holidayed in Scotland last year Peter secretly packed a bag of books and whenever we saw a bookshop he’d slam on the brakes and say, ‘Right, out you get. Go sell some books!’”

Ann has very obviously thrown herself into the business side of PatrickGeorge, learning about the publishing industry as she goes. “I attend many of the conferences, we’re members of The Independent Publishers Guild and we have a small group of foreign publishers who’re always waiting to see what our next thing is. The Shapes, Opposites and Colours acetate range are now available in seven languages; everything from Korean to Catalan. The down side is that we still make mistakes and sometimes learn from our mistakes and hindsight, which isn’t always the most cost effective way of doing things. But – boy – do you learn.”

I wonder about the name – PatrickGeorge – and ask whether Laura’s nose is out of joint that it’s her brothers’ names on the back of the books? “Luckily, partly because Laura is Laura, we knew she wouldn’t be bothered and it certainly wasn’t intentional. The names just look good together and we liked the play of the Parental Guidance logo. These are books which you should really look at with an adult, everything we do is designed to make the child think that little bit further.”

“Our whole raison d’être was to produce illustrations and design that made you think a little bit outside the box. It’s not always easy. We’re not hugely mainstream and some people don’t get us, but we will keep doing what we’re doing and hopefully just grow a following of people who do get it.”

You can check out Colours, Shapes, Opposites, Shiver of Sharks, Crackle of Crickets, Drove of Bullocks and Filth of Starlings here.

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