On the publication of Seeing Sense, a book which explores the role visual literacy and illustration are able to play as a tool for children's reading and learning.  The book features a foreword by Sir Philip Pullman, an afterword by Nick Sharratt and a cover created by Olivia Lomenech Gill.  We are pleased to interview its author, Jake Hope.

Can you tell us a little about yourself

Throughout my childhood, I was an avid user of the library.  I remember going to storytimes with my mum and being swept along by the different picturebooks, riffling through kinderboxes to choose books to take home and share.  Later I’d visit the library on a Saturday with my dad and sister while our older brother and sister were at band, we’d love selecting the books that we’d then take home with us to read that week.

I never really lost my interest in reading or in books and went on to study English Literature at the University of York.  At the time, the course was a very traditional one and felt quite staid.  I felt increasingly frustrated both by the narrowness of what we were encouraged to read through the course and by the fact there seemed a willful acceptance that this wasn’t to be questioned.

In the year I started at University, Melvin Burgess had just won the Carnegie Medal for Junk, I was incredibly excited by how experimental it felt with its multiple narration and the ways it pushed at what books for children and teenagers could be.  The university library housed the collection of critic Margery Fisher which I read through avidly.

After leaving university, I knew I wanted to work in children’s books and ideally wanted to be in libraries so as to be able to give something back to the service I’d gained so much from.  At the time a lot of libraries were slightly suspicious of the fact that I didn’t have a specific library qualification at that point and I applied for posts the length and breadth of the country.  Eventually I was offered a post in Lancashire Libraries, the authority that I’d used so frequently as a child.  It was a fantastic role and I was able to work on the Lancashire Book of the Year award and worked with Jean Wolstenholme, who was incredibly forward-thinking and open to trying different ideas which made it really rewarding!

You’ve written a book about visual literacy Seeing Sense.  What is visual literacy and why is it important?

Sometimes people are a little put-off by the term visual literacy.  There are lots of different definitions, to me it’s about ‘reading’ but using pictures, images, signs and symbols rather than words!  To my mind it is a massively important discipline and one whose role and significance is growing in modern society.  Unlike written language, visual literacy crosses cultural and language barriers – think about diagrammatic furniture instructions, or the plans for Lego building sets, complex ideas and instructions all told through visuals without relying upon words.  The digital world is incredibly reliant upon visuals and icons forms the base for almost every device.  There is an immediacy with visuals and with illustrations that the written word does not have.  It means it has a great capacity to engage.

How did you first become interested in visual literacy?

This is a good question!  Many authors and keen readers comment on how they cannot remember a time when they couldn’t read.  It was very different for me, I was the youngest of four children and well remember the sense of frustration seeing my brothers and sisters immersed in books and not being able to access these.  Illustration was a fantastic way of being able to pore over books and enter the imaginative worlds within!  We had books by Raymond Briggs, Ron Brooks, Quentin Blake, and many, many books.  I loved the strange, otherworldly nature of Barbapapa, the busy, detailed illustrations of Richard Scarry.  Making reading available and accessible to all is something I feel incredibly passionate about, perhaps that seeds back to this stage!

What did you enjoy most about working on the book?

Illustrations and visuals offer the opportunity for such a creative and immersive experience.  I loved researching some of the different ways libraries – and indeed Seven Stories: The National Centre for Children’s Books in Newcastle – have used illustrations to create environments and spaces that children can explore and become excited to be within!  I was lucky enough to be invited to judge the Little Hakka Prize in 2019 in Gangkeng Hakka town in China.  The newer parts of the town were set up as a picturebook town.  There were enormous statues of characters from the Little Hakka franchise around the town, a picturebook gallery and a picturebook library.  I love the idea of people dreaming big in this way! 

You feature a lot of different people in the book, were there any you were particularly excited by?

People were incredibly generous with their time, support and in sharing their expertise.  Early on in the planning stages of the book I knew I wanted to approach creators.  There were a couple of reasons for this, partly to provide insight and to root the book in people’s practical experiences and practices.  Another reason was with the hope that by involving creators in this way it would provide a bedrock of people to recommend.  It’s really difficult to pick people out because I’m genuinely hugely appreciative of everyone who took the time and trouble to contribute.  Having Frank Cottrell-Boyce talk about the 2012 Olympic Games opening and the incredible celebration of children’s literature which was placed firmly on the global stage was amazing!  Exploring the creation and production of Jackie Morris and Robert MacFarlane’s incredible The Lost Words was tremendously inspiring.  Bryan Talbot talking about graphic novels was superb – he has contributed so much to raising the profile of the form.  Lawrence Anholt talking about the bookshop they ran in Lyme Regis, Chimp and Zee’s Bookshop by the Sea…  We are so lucky to work in a field where there are many, many innovative, imaginative creators and where there is such passion and also goodwill to share experiences and expertise.  It’s genuinely very humbling.

Have you used visual literacy in your career?

A large amount!  I loved creating thematic displays for the Lancashire Book of the Year, one of my favourites was with Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell’s  Far Flung Adventures.  We were lucky enough to have the pair visit as part of the promotional tour for Corby Flood.  The book featured so many rich visual elements – custard pies, marshmallows, tins of food…  I created a backdrop of real tins of food (labels peeled off and replaced with blown up images of the ones in the book created by Chris), a large crate with an eye behind it – you’ll have to read the book to find out why! – fake custard made from pva glue and yellow food-colouring (making this in the office kitchen raised some eyebrows!) and scanned custard pies and marshmallows which I then used as the background for quotes from the book.  We held one of the events in the education room of Lancaster Maritime Museum, the room is set up as the hold of a ship and with the display installed it really did feel like you were entering the world of the book!  It caused real excitement!

Working jointly in my role as a trustee of Lancaster Litfest and in my job as the Reading and Learning Development Manager, I suggested Cumbrian based author Gareth Thompson for a picturebook commission.  We held a National competition to find an illustrator, Hannah Megee, and a number of the illustrations were turned into large-scale art installations along the Wyre Coastline forming the base for being able to walk through the story!  It was a lot of fun liaising with LitFest and having discussions with them about production values, different types of binding, paperstock, colour reproduction and showing how these had been used to great effect by a number of different publications for children and young people!

Last year I did some work with Rochdale Literature and Ideas Festival and we commissioned Helen Bate to produce a two-side comic-strip retelling of the story of the origins of the festival.  The funding for the festival came from a bequest from a Rochdale couple, Annie and Frank Maskew who had met in the library and bonded over a shared love of philosophy and literature.  The visual retelling was a way to help keep that remarkable story alive and, appropriately, make it a part of the library collection!

What is next for you?

At the moment I’m Chair of the Working Party for the Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals and we are just about to begin the next annual cycle for these!

Thanks to Jake Hope