In our last bog post of the year we are delighted to welcome author and illustrator Phoebe Swan to the blog.  Phoebe has a BA in Illustration from Camberwell College of Art and an MA in Children’s Book Illustration from Cambridge School of Art.  Phoebe’s first book, King Leonard’s Teddy was published by Child’s Play and has been shortlisted for the Little Rebel Awards, the Cogan Biodiversity Award and the Teach Early Years Award.  To find out more about Phoebe, visit her website here.

King Leonard's Teddy was shortlisted for the Little Rebels Award. Can you tell us what is rebellious about the book and what being shortlisted meant for you?

I was so honoured to be recognised by Little Rebels Award because it celebrates books that handle big ideas. As a previous winner of the award Viviane Schwarz said; “Picture books are not just for putting tiny children to sleep, they are also for waking them up!” This is not always an easy thing to do within a limited number of words and pages, whilst also holding the attention and engagement of young kid. The big ideas explored King Leonard’s Teddy are about repairing and reusing, and valuing what we have instead of continuing the cycle of mass consumerism. Being shortlisted was a recognition that I had succeeded in making a story that could not only entertain young children, but also introduce them to these concepts

Can you tell us about how you wrote the story and made the pictures?

I first wrote the story after coming across a ‘Toy Hospital’ while on holiday in Lisbon. I wanted to make a book that tackled the issue of how humans overuse the planet’s finite resources. The attachment and care with which children look after a beloved toy seemed a good way in to talking about how perhaps we should be applying that care to more of the things that we discard so easily. I did a lot of drawing on that trip and I based Leonard’s castle on a drawing of one of the castles of Sintra, a town in the hills just outside Lisbon. In the book, I replaced the hill with the pile of rubbish. As Annie Leonard in The Story of Stuff says; “There is no such thing as ‘away’. When we throw anything away, it must go somewhere.” The pile of trash surrounding Leonard’s castle helps us to visualise what the accumulation of all that stuff would look like. Small actions such as repairing an object instead of buying a new one might not seem like they will make much difference to the environmental crisis the world is facing, but the small actions of a lot of people do add up to a big impact, so ultimately the message of the book is a hopeful one.

The pictures were made with a mixture of lino print and digital editing in photoshop. Lino printing involves carving out an image from a soft plastic and printing the block, to achieve multiple colours you need to layer up the prints with each colour. Because there was more detail and colour in this book than I could print by hand, I scanned in lino-print texture and then ‘carved’ out the images in different layers of colour on photoshop.

Who will enjoy reading this book?

It is a picture book that works on different levels. Children from around 18 months and their parents can relate to the universal story of an irreplaceable favourite toy. The main character being a king makes his over-the-top behaviour, like throwing things out the window funnier than if it was a child character, but his despair when his teddy breaks makes him endearing to children who will instinctively understand the significance of the event. Children from around age 3-7 will begin to grasp the environmental message and early years and key stage one teachers will be able to use the story, and the page of ideas and activities at the back, as a starting point for topics on recycling, reusing and repairing. There are also more activities and resources on Child’s Play’s website, http://www.childs-play.com/parent-zone/king_leonard_activities.html and I’m always happy for teachers or librarians to get in touch, I’ve worked as an early years/primary teacher in the past so I have plenty of activities up my sleeve!

What can we expect next from you?

I’m working on a second book with Child’s Play called The Welcome Blanket. Unlike King Leonard which was set in a fantasy world, it is very much inspired by my everyday surroundings and much of it has been drawn from observation in culturally diverse area of London in which I grew up and still live in. It celebrates themes of friendship, cooperation and diversity. You can follow me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/phoebe.swan/ to look out for updates about that coming soon!

Big thanks to Phoebe Swan for the interview and for so generously sharing her gallery of images, showcasing her work, illustration techniques and books.  We look forward to the publication of The Welcome Blanket.