We are delighted to welcome George Kirk to the blog to discuss her exciting debut picture book Bessie’s Bees.  George is a teacher, librarian and author living in East Lancashire with a passion for creating normative representation of neurodiverse characters in books for young readers. Her first picture book Bessie’s Bees published by Templar, is a neurodiverse picture book with an ADHD girl at its centre.

You know the saying …

“We lose ourselves in books. We find ourselves there too.”

I bet you do. I bet you love it.

But I don’t agree with it!

Now don’t get in a fluster and certainly don’t flap. Let me explain, and to do that let’s start at the beginning…

‘George’s head was full of bees, absolutely buzzing with them …”

I didn’t know when I wrote my first draft of Bessie’s Bees that it was a neurodiverse picture book- I suspected, but I wasn’t sure.

Having a head full of bees was something I just used to say. One of those things I thought that everyone felt sometimes like ‘having your head in the clouds’. Only for me it wasn’t just some of the time, it was all the time.

I was that girl who grew up covered in bruises and scabs, whose laces were always undone and whose hair was always in knots.  The girl who could never sit still, ever be quiet and certainly didn’t fit in, apart from one place… the library.

I grew up so close to my local library I wasn’t very old before I was allowed to start taking myself.  It was my first taste of freedom, walking in by myself, choosing whichever books I wanted and escaping into them. I could write you a long list of which books I chose right here, right now, but there just isn’t time, so let’s skip ahead to…

My secondary school, an old-fashioned pile something like Hogwarts that sadly didn’t have the library to match. Just a little room of books that had been long forgotten about so long you needed Indiana Jones to find it, or my friend Oggy. Oggy offered to revamp and run it for the lower years and quickly roped me and a few others in. Before long we transformed it into a vibrant hub of activity and creativity. We raised funds to buy fresh stock so now I wasn’t just choosing books for myself, I was doing it for others too.

It was the first time I felt really connected to a group of like-minded people and it inspired my first attempt at a serious novel. ‘Og the Librarian’ followed the misadventures of Og, pupil librarian driven to madness by overdue books who took on a life of human cannibalism… I never did find a publisher for it.

Aren’t words brilliant? In just a few I can transport you 15 years into my future, through university, quite frankly dodgy early lessons of a career in primary teaching and propel you to my days as a parent of babies and toddlers. It was isolating, I was trying and failing to connect again so where did I go?

The library!  But now I wasn’t satisfied with just reading stories, I wanted to tell my own too. And the library let me, encouraged me, they even let me be… GASP… LOUD!

Now, if you have been keeping count you’ll know there’s one more to go. I left teaching, I loved it, but it didn’t love me. My mental health was suffering, and I was struggling to do the one thing I felt driven to do, write. So, when 8 years ago the job of Library Manager came up at my local Grammar School I jumped at it, and thankfully they seemed pretty happy to catch.

Yet again I found myself building up a lively community of young people, creating a space where anyone and everyone who wanted could fit. Many of them had neurodiversions, and I was recognising my younger self in them more and more. I was beginning to suspect that maybe not everybody did have bees in their head after all. So, as I poured this idea into a story, I put myself forward for assessment and discovered I didn’t just have bees, I had ADHBEES! Or coexisting Autism and ADHD to be precise.

I was now sure beyond a doubt that Bessie’s Bees was a neurodiverse story. In fact it was the one that I had needed to read when I first stepped into the local library by myself all those years ago.

So, remember that saying? The one you love?

This is how I think it really should go…

‘We lose ourselves in books and we find ourselves in the library.’

A big thank you to George for a fascinating guest blog!  You can follow George on Instagram @GeorgeKirkTales.

We took time out to meet with Jenny Hawke, new Chair of the Youth Libraries Group and to ask her some questions about her career in libraries and involvement with the group.  Find out more below and do consider getting involved with the group if you aren't already!

Please can you give us an overview of your career in libraries (what did they mean to you as a child, how did you come to work in them, what's your current role)?

I have spent over 30 years working in academic, special, school and public libraries. I left school at 17 in 1983 and made the decision to work in a public library which seemed natural to me as I enjoyed reading books as a child. I have fond memories of my parents taking the whole family to the local library on a Saturday afternoon. We would look for our favourite authors and get excited about new books. Armed with a large pile of books we would come home and all settle down with a cup of tea and get lost in one of our new books. Often my dad would read to me, favourites were Watership Down and The Borrowers.

At my first library job, favourite activities would be working alongside the children’s librarian, telling stories to visiting school classes and helping to run under-fives sessions. Five years later I wanted to gain experience in an academic setting so I began working as a library assistant in South Bank Polytechnic which later became South Bank University. Whilst working at South Bank I undertook an access course which enabled me to go back into full time education and study for a degree and it was at this point I decided I wanted to qualify as a librarian, so undertook a Masters at UCL.

After graduating I was appointed as a librarian in a special library/information centre at the International Transport Workers’ Federation ITF (an umbrella organisation for national transport unions). I decided to charter in 2008 and needed to focus on a different sector, so I chose school libraries and, rather conveniently, my daughter’s school invited me to overhaul and expand and organise their modest library. This benefited the children with a fully stocked and fully functioning library and I gained valuable knowledge and experience of working with children’s resources.

I started working for Bromley Libraries in 2008 as a manager of a medium sized library. By now children’s activities and children’s literature was at the heart of my professional career.  Later, when GLL (the charitable social enterprise) who were now running Bromley Libraries asked me if I would like to move to one of their larger libraries and become the children’s librarian I was thrilled.

This was a great move for me involving a variety of interesting projects. I currently wear three hats. One is to plan, prepare and run children’s activities at Orpington Library from Baby Bounce and Rhyme right up to our Older Teen Reading Group.  Another is to work with the children’s team to plan borough-wide activities. Finally, my other hat is the set-up and managing of the GLL Literary Foundation which was launched in November 2024.  This aims to support authors, inspire young readers and champion public libraries.  We are offering bursaries, training, networking and mentoring opportunities for authors through the new foundation. This is an incredibly exciting part of my role and I’m hugely grateful to GLL, the YLG and other organisations who have helped to make this project a reality.

How and when did you first become involved with YLG?

During Chartership, I decided it would be important to sign up to the YLG as one of my Special Interest Groups as I knew children’s libraries and their activities and services was an area I wanted to move into. In 2011 I applied for the YLG SE bursary to attend the YLG National Conference at Goldsmith’s College. This was an incredibly inspiring experience: listening to a mix of authors, academics and librarians talk about children’s literature and library services.

It was also a wonderful opportunity to network and share good practice with other librarians. After the Conference I asked the Chair if I could join the Committee and have been there ever since. I have really enjoyed being an active member of the YLG SE which has involved our annual training day and annual Carnegie Discussion Day and also a monthly Picture Book Chat focusing on either the BookTrust Storytime Prize and the Carnegie Medal for Illustration Shortlist. I am really grateful to the YLG SE Committee members as they have all been very enthusiastic and passionate about everything we set out to achieve.

You've been a judge for the Carnegies, what was the most challenging aspect of this and what was the most rewarding?

I think the main challenge was the obvious one of reading over 200 books across both medals. I had to be very strict with family and friends and at Christmas I would sneak upstairs and furtively read a few exciting chapters of a Carnegie or get absorbed into a Kate Greenaway. Meeting the other judges and discussing the books in such detail was incredibly stimulating and everyone was so committed about the whole judging process.

The best part of being a judge is how much it has helped me in my job as a Children’s Librarian. It gave me a greater awareness and knowledge of literature for children and young people, and obviously helped me with my Shadowing groups over the years as well. Shadowing the Carnegies is a brilliant way to find out about new books for children and particularly books which are often more thought provoking, diverse and promote discussion. I always ensure there is an informal setting with snacks and the children find that chatting about books is just a great thing to do.

What has been the highlight of being involved with YLG?

I think this has to be my two years as a Carnegie judge (2017 and 2018) and particularly the award ceremonies.  Before this 2014 sticks in my mind as this was the year that my Chatterbooks shadowing group won the Shadowing Magazine Award. It was fantastic and we were invited to the award ceremony when Jon Klassen won the Greenaway and Kevin Brooks won the Carnegie. My group did a radio broadcast to start with and then met lots of authors and illustrators as well as watching the ceremony live. The group members are all practically grown up now but I’m sure they will all look back on it as a very memorable experience.  I also really enjoyed chairing the Funny Fiction panel at the 2024 conference in Glasgow, it was such fun!

Are there any particular areas or themes you hope to make the focus of your time as chair?

I’m very excited about the National One Day School which we hope to hold in Eastbourne in the autumn of this year. It will be themed around Journeys and encompass books in translation, empathy, refugees and how children and young people embark on their reading journey.

We need to look at communication with our members and how we currently deliver this and if we can make improvements. AI and new technologies will be affecting the way we all do things so this is another area that the YLG should focus on. There have been a lot of cuts in public services over the years and it’s really important to find ways in which we can support our colleagues who work in the public sector. Governance and business planning should underpin everything we do at a regional and national level.  National committee meetings will be discussing other themes that should be focused on throughout my term as Chair, I’m very fortunate and grateful to have such a brilliant team of people on the National Committee who have already given me so much support since becoming Chair.

Can you give us three top tips for books you enjoyed in 2024 please?

Rainbowsaurus by Steve Antony is a joyful, inclusive and extremely colourful picture book whose characters jump off the page. The family, which has two dads and three children, set out to find the Rainbowsaurus and invite the reader to join them in addition to a number of distinctly coloured animals. Different age groups of readers will engage with this book as there is so much to look out for in the illustrations. This is much more than a simple picture book.

Code Name Kingfisher by Liz Kessler is a compelling and poignant novel set in World War II written from different points of view in a really accessible way. The writing is beautiful with well defined characters from past and present.

Glasgow Boys by Margaret McDonald is a beautifully written coming of age story and includes themes of acceptance, love and guilt but also the importance of family in its widest sense and friendship.

A big thank you to Jenny Hawke for taking time out to be interviewed!

As the finale to our Libraries in the Picture feature for Libraries Week, we are delighted to welcome illustrator Yu Rong to the blog.  Yu Rong is a great friend to libraries, she created the Youth Libraries Group logo and was the cover-artist for the inaugural issue of Pen & Inc magazine.  Yu Rong's work is a fusion of traditional Chinese papercut and pencil sketches creating a distinctive and fresh style.  Yu Rong has been awarded the Golden Apple by the Biennial of Illustrations, Bratislava for Free as a Bird in 2013.  She has illustrated Matt Goodfellow's Shu Lin's Grandpa which will publish with Otter-Barry Books in 2021.

Please can you introduce yourself?

My name is Yu Rong and I am an illustrator whose work grows out of traditional Chinese folk art form of papercut.  Traditionally papercut has very strict limitations, it is flat and two-dimensional.  When I was a student, publishers and my course-leaders were impressed by these techniques.  I felt encouraged by this and wanted to experiment to find ways that I’m less limited by the method of papercut.  I am the type of person who likes to accept challenges so I wanted to play and find ways to overcome the barriers with papercut.  I use different papers, experimented with limited colours and different types of material – from Chinese rice paper which is only red and blue, to tissue paper available in all sorts of colours.  I love to experiment with colours and textures.

The way paper is cut can make it difficult to show features and body language, so I see it as being like a stage-play.  My white paper is the stage and the paper is the puppets that I move around to form the drama. 

When I started out, I was very passive, but I have turned papercut into a good friend and spent a lot of time thinking about how to be able to portray what I want.  Now when I think about what I want to show, I have good ideas of how best to do this.

This year’s Libraries Week is themed around books and reading, can you tell us about some of the books you enjoyed as a child and why these connected with you?

I grew up in China and in my childhood we didn’t have many story books that were specifically for children.  My mother was a headteacher in a primary school and there we had some memorable fairy-tales from overseas like The Little Match Girl and The Little Mermaid.  We also had traditional Chinese stories like Hua Mulan.  There were also little booklets which told stories by Chinese authors and which were illustrated.  They were not much like picture books nowadays. 

We had special sort of comic books which were the size of postcards and featured rectangular illustrations and text underneath.  They were useful in helping children to learn and often told traditional tales like The Monkey King.  Maybe there is a link between these and why I’m so interested and fascinated by picturebooks.

What do you feel is important about libraries?

Having a library for children to read in is amazing!  The library is not only for books, it’s a special world for children to be in and find all manner of different stories and enter new worlds!  Even a corner with children’s books in is a treasure trove and I love that in waiting rooms there are little places where children can pass the time and explore and imagine!

Can you share details of one of your favourite libraries – this could be a school library or a public library?

The library I choose is at the Peace Primary School in Shenzhen.  It is a very innovative school in China.  What I liked about the library was the way they had little corners where children could sit and cuddle themselves up, losing themselves in books.  The space was comforting, relaxing and inspiring.  It was a really fun place to be and a hideaway too.  One of the things I love about libraries is the way they have different sections for different ages - even toddlers can be like adults making their own choices about where they want to be and the stories they love the most!

Can you tell us anything about your next book?

I’ve just finished illustrating a book called The Lost Child.  It has a very simple text ‘I am a lost child’.  It’s a story about a subject that happens to everybody.  We all get lost very easily and sometimes we just need a moment to find ourselves.  One of the things I loved about working on the book was the chance I had to add a special baby book, a rainbow book, that has a one-tone paper cut for every colour of the rainbow.  The baby book has no words, it just shows an imaginative journey and then we come back to reality.  I still love to experiment and challenge myself as an illustrator!

My next book is going to be around the story of Turandot the opera.  I am excited to work on the stage design and costume design.  The story relates to China but was made outside China so it gives me a good chance to experiment again.  I always feel I need to love the process of what I am doing.  My job is about finding what is best for me, what is best for the author and what is best for the story, I experiment and play to achieve this and there is a joy and an energy in that!

Photos 1-4 Copyright Jake Hope, 2019

Image One shows Yu Rong creating a very special library doodle on the walls of the Peace School Library where it can be enjoyed by children and staff alike!  

 Image Two shows Yu Rung with author Qin Wenjun enacting I am Hua Mulan at the Shanghai Book Fair during a celebration of its publication.

Image Three shows children at the Peace School Library dancing and reciting I am Hua Mulan in traditional dress during a visit by Yu Rong.

Image Four shows the outside of the Peace School Library.

Image Five shows the brilliant logo Yu Rong created for the Youth Libraries Group.

A big thank you to Yu Rong for the interview, for the brilliant support that she offers to libraries and for creating the Youth Libraries Group logo!

We are delighted to continue our Libraries in the Picture feature for Libraries Week and welcome Jen Khatun to the blog.  The books Jen has illustrated include David Ashby's Gribblebob's Book of Unpleasant Goblins and most recently Chitra Soundar's wonderfully warm Sona Sharma, Very Best Big Sister.  

Please can you introduce yourself?

Hi I’m Jen, a Children’s Illustrator, represented by The Bright Agency Group. My clients include Bramble Kids Books, Pushkin Press & Walker Books.

My favourite things are: 

-Spending time with my family, fiance and our dog Juno. 

-Collecting Berets and wearing them (See my doodle for proof!) 

-Cooking and dancing at the same time. 

-Watching my favourite Mystery moguls, Poirot, Columbo and Holmes. 

My work is heavily inspired by natural surroundings, the people around me and my favourite childhood books. I enjoy creating quaint yet quirky, loose and spontaneous illustrations that deliver an essence of nostalgia and everyday magic. I have always been an avid pen and ink Illustrator, but recently I have tried creating my illustrations digitally, which does help with time and meeting quick turnovers with projects. 

This year’s Libraries Week is themed around books and reading, can you tell us about some of the books you enjoyed as a child and why these connected with you? 

My favourite books that really moulded my creativity were Roald Dahl Books. His stories alongside Quentin Blake’s illustrations were altogether awe-inspiring. I loved the simplicity, the natural-ness, the imagination that they both delivered in each book. 

What do you feel is important about libraries? 

I feel a Library can bring communities of all ages together to read, learn, inspire and provide a great insight of the actual world and the imaginative world.

 Can you share details of one of your favourite libraries – this could be a school library or a public library?

I can’t say I have a favourite Library, as each library has a specialness to it. But I always have a lovely memory in the Library in my hometown, Winchester, Hampshire. When I was very little my Dad took me to the Library where he got me my first Library card. And the Librarian explained to me all the books I can borrow. I was so delighted, I felt like I had ‘the golden ticket!'

Can you tell us anything about your next book?

I can’t say much, but it’s full of fun facts about maths and science…and there’s a library mouse in there too!

A huge thank you to Jen for taking part in our interview and for creating a brilliant library doodle!

As part of Libraries Week, we have an illustration focus.  We'll be talking with a number of illustrators about their thoughts and views about libraries and many have created special library doodles for us to share!  We are thrilled to welcome Ehsan Abdollahi.  Ehsan is an art teacher, illustrator and animator.  He has illustrated several books including Thinker: My Puppy Poet and Me and A Bottle of Happiness.  

Please can you introduce yourself and your work?

I'm a lecturer of illustration at Tehran University of Arts and an illustrator.  Most of my illustrations are for children.

I always like to experiment with different techniques in illustrating my books, such as collage, watercolor, acrylic, etc.  In the last book I published in the UK The Secret of the Tattered Shoes (Tiny Owl), I used a combination of paper dolls and collages.

This year's Libraries Week is themed around books and reading, can you tell us about some of the books you enjoyed as a child?

When I was a child, I was very interested in The Little Mermaid storybook.  My father always read this book to me or I listened to his story tape and looked at the pictures in the book.  The mysterious spaces under the sea have always fascinated me.  Although the  characters had fish-like tails, they were amazing and magical to me.
Sometimes I thought that maybe one day I would have a tail like a mermaid

What do you feel is important about libraries?

In my opinion, the most important thing about library spaces is their soothing atmosphere. This is where people, children, and grown-ups can find peace. They are also points of knowledge and nothing can replace them. A dreamy library for me is one with sunlight, green plants, beechwood, and white walls.

Can you share details of one of your favourite libraries please?

The most beautiful library for me is still the library in my nursery school. This library was not large, only a few blue shelves with a number of children's books. But it is still the most beautiful library for me.

What are you working on next?

Currently, I'm working on a book about the lockdown. This book is an experience of group work, in which various illustrators contribute their experiences during the lockdown in the form of an illustration. Hopefully, this book will be published by Tiny Owl in March 2021.

The latest book published by me was a unique experience collaborating with Jackie Morris, The Secret of the Tattered Shoes, (Tiny Owl).

I'm going to write a story about mermaids. This is a good opportunity for me to illustrate my own story.

A huge thank you to Ehsan for sharing his thoughts and creating such a special library inspired doodle!