We are delighted to welcome Emily Jacques, secretary for YLG Eastern region who provides us with a special update on a Scallywag Press event.  Grateful thanks to Scallywag Press for their support with this.

We were thrilled to host an event with Scallywag Press. It was a very chilly and frosty morning when we hosted our author/illustrator event. So, it was rather nice to be able to snuggle up with a cup of tea in front of Zoom rather than leaving the house.  As we were waiting for attendees to arrive the authors chatted amongst themselves about backlogged post and how they were still receiving Christmas cards, an ongoing reminder of the unusual times we still find ourselves in.

YLG Eastern Chair, Ellen, welcome everyone to the session before handing over to Sarah Pakenham to introduce Scallywag and the individual authors present. Sarah explained that Scallywag was just three years old but, in that time, had published 30 books. She gave thanks to libraries and Librarians for their support and commented how useful events like this have been for them.

Scallywag is all about books that entertain and bring joy but are also useful tools for life lessons.

Our first speaker was author/illustrator Rose Robbins.

A Graduate of Cambridge University, alongside being an author and illustrator, she works with young people with autism. Writing predominantly about neurodivergence and disability her book “Me and My Sister” was shortlisted for the Waterstones award.
She draws a lot of inspiration from both her experiences of having a sibling with autism and from her own more recent diagnosis.
“Me and my sister” is the book she felt she needed growing up. One that validates the experience of siblings and celebrates the important role they play in the lives of their siblings with autism.
“Talking is not my thing” is written from the perspective of someone with autism, Rose drew on her own experiences but also received a lot of input to make sure her work was as authentic as possible. IBBY selected this book as outstanding for young people with disabilities, a high accolade which is testament to the care Rose took in presenting the autistic experience.
“Loud” explores the idea of “disruptive/difficult” children and highlights how, if we find the right way, we can create positive learning environments for all.

Rose also shared an exclusive of a brand-new character she is working on!

Our next speaker was Guatemalan author/illustrator Elena Arevalo Melville.
Winner of the coveted “Queens Knickers” award, her work continuously receives rave reviews and she’s been published in 6 languages.
Elena shared some of her original concepts for her book, delved into to her relationship with colour and gave us a sneak peak of early concepts and sketches.

“Umbrella” a story about reconciling bad choices, what it means to be a flawed human and how community is key.  She creates stories and illustrations for children with the belief that they are capable of decoding images and she provides space for their own Interpretations. Within the everyday mundane she sees scope to imagine, and her work feels like a beautiful and timely reminder of our capacity to make the ordinary extraordinary.
She too generously shared a preview of her next book!

Jeff Norton was up next and set a different pace to the talk, a “reluctant/struggling reader” himself as a child, he now creates worlds in his stories in a very fast paced and visual way. Working with illustrator Jeff Cosby they create stories that are as compelling and addictive as any other visual media. It was incredibly interesting to be brought in to the very detailed world of Dino Knights and Panttera. We were fortunate to hear a reading of Dino Knights 2 which has only just gone to print and he shared what we can expect from Dino Knights 3.

Derek Kielty was our final speaker of the day and he tackled some tech gremlins with style and grace, I could tell he would be a great visitor who I hear delivers interactive events which see children creating their own characters.
The technological gremlins didn’t allow us enough time with Derek but we did get a reading from his book, and I can tell you that he does a great reading and does a fantastic “Librarian Voice”

All of our speakers were incredibly generous in sharing future works, answering questions and reading for us. All are available for events, virtual or in person, and each had a great deal to offer and I could see would have a unique session for anyone working with them. I hope many more librarians will be able to watch the event on the replay and that many are able to work with these dynamic creators in the future.

Grateful thanks to Emily Jacques, YLG Eastern region and Scallywag Press.