Brenton's KIDLIT & WRITING Blog
Writing updates, book reviews, writing tips I find and share, and a smattering of things in between.
 Please welcome Catherine Meatheringham and Max Hamilton, here to chat about their stunning soon-to-be-released picture book 'Our Home' (published 1 May 2024 by prestigious Windy Hollow Books) and their picture book careers at large! 1. Hi, Catherine and Max! Your upcoming picture book 'Our Home' (which is so gorgeous!) is published next month by Windy Hollow. Can you both share a little about how this story originated and your process of bringing the book to fruition? MAX: Thanks so much Brenton. OUR HOME was a labour of love so I really appreciate your kind words. OUR HOME came about because Catherine, the author, fell in love with an illustration spread in the book I illustrated “When the Waterhole Dries Up” (written by Kaye Baillie). The illustration is of an outback landscape including a weatherboard home and the little boy from the story. Catherine decided she wanted to write a story that included lots of beautiful Australian landscape illustrations and therefore came up with the concept for her story OUR HOME which celebrates different families, homes and landscapes across Australia. Because Windy Hollow had worked with Catherine and I on our debut title and I've illustrated several other books with Windy Hollow Cristina Pase was more than happy to pair us up again for OUR HOME as per Catherine's suggestion. CATHERINE: Thanks Brenton, that’s very kind! The idea for Our Home came after reading When the Waterhole Dries Up by Kaye Baillie and Max Hamilton. I loved Max’s illustration of the outback home and immediately knew that I wanted to write a book that showcased children’s homes around Australia. I feel very strongly that children should be able to see themselves reflected in picture books. I wanted Our Home to be a way for children to see part of their life in the book - whether it’s their family, community, housing type or a landscape they recognise. I spent ages researching the diversity of landscapes and housing in Australia before picking the homes and onomatopoeia. I wrote the manuscript with Windy Hollow Books, Cristina Pase (editor) and Max Hamilton in mind, and I am thrilled that we have created this book together. 2. Max, what are the joys, and even the challenges, of your illustrating process? MAX: I have a lifelong love of picture books and illustration so it’s a joy and a privilege to do this as my job every day. It’s also a joy to be a part of introducing young children to stories, books and reading through my work. I hope too that children pour over all the details in my work while they are snuggled up next to a loved one while sharing a bedtime story. The main challenge for me as an illustrator is the very low income illustrators receive which does not correlate to the hours spent on the work. Other challenges that occasionally cause me grief are tight time frames to work within. My work is quite detailed so it takes a bit of time to create my illustrations. The last major challenge is not having enough hours in the day to get through the all the book projects I have committed to already before I can focus on my own stories as Author / Illustrator - many of which are constantly brewing in my head. 3. Is there anything you know now about the publishing world that you wish you knew when you began? MAX: I wish I knew that most publishers can only publish a few picture books titles per year because this would have helped me understand when I was starting out why it was so hard to crack into the industry. I also wish that I'd started in the industry sooner so I'd be at a different stage of my career now than I am currently at. CATHERINE: To write what is true to you. Early on I tried to write stories that I thought publishers would want, not the ones that I wanted to write. Needless to say, the former never went anywhere, but the ones that I felt passionate about writing have been published! 4. Catherine, your other picture books are the wonderful Knock Knock and the popular All Dogs Bark. Why have these stories resonated so well with readers young and old? CATHERINE: I love onomatopoeia, including cross linguistic onomatopoeia and how everyday sounds, like a dog barking or knocking on a door, are so different around the world. I think most people find that part interesting too, and children love to say the sounds with me when I read the book. Both books are illustrated by Deb Hudson and her illustration are so detailed and vibrant that children pour over the details. 5. For you both, as creators and as readers, what qualities make a perfect picture book? MAX: For me a perfect picture book is beautifully illustrated, professionally designed, includes an eye catching cover and stunning end papers, and the story is well written and is full of heart and humour. It’s a bonus if the cover has lovely printing finishes such as a de-bossed title, or a spot gloss UV varnish or even a cloth spine!!! Don't get me started! CATHERINE: My mum was a preschool teacher, so growing up I was surrounded by picture books that were wonderful to read out loud - like Pamela Allen’s books. This has influenced what I love in picture books. They must be a joy to read out loud with the words and rhythm sounding and feeling great. And of course, the illustration and design must be beautiful too. As a writer I always imagine how my stories will sound if they’re read to a classroom of children. 6. Max, your picture book 'Where the Lyrebird Lives' with Vikki Conley won a CBCA Book of Year last year! What does an award like this mean to you as an artist? MAX: Winning the CBCA Picture Book of the Year Award (Early Childhood) in 2023, along with the Author Vikki Conley, was a life affirming moment for me. I have wanted to illustrate children’s books since I was little and I think this is partly due to the CBCA Awards and my love of Library lessons at school so it meant the world to achieve my goal of winning this prestigious Award. I also hope that winning a CBCA Award will result in more opportunities to illustrate my own titles in the future. 7. Catherine, 'Our Home' is not the first time Max's illustrations have been paired with your words. You collaborated on 'My Possum Plays the Drums'. Talk a little about how your stories and Max's art work so well together? CATHERINE: Both Our Home and My Possum Plays the Drums are both very simple stories from a text perspective, which I think left lots of room for Max’s beautiful and detailed watercolour illustrations to shine. They are also ones that explore life in Australia and Max is incredibly talented at illustrating Australian landscapes, flora, fauna and homes. 8. Max, if you had to choose just 3 of your books to be put in a time capsule, to give future generations an understanding of who you are as a creator, which 3 books would you choose? MAX: Oh man, this is a hard one Brenton! This is like choosing a favourite child but to answer the question at this very point in time I would have to choose “Where the Lyrebird Lives’ and then the latest two books I've illustrated “The Beehive” by Megan Daley and “Our Home” by Catherine Meatheringham because they are both fresh in my mind and both involved a huge amount of time and care to illustrate. These three choices would also showcase my more naive, early childhood style verses my Nature Storybook, more detailed illustrative style. 9. Thank you both, Catherine and Max, for joining me today. Before we go, can you both share what is coming up next for you? Anything in the pipeline? MAX: I am currently illustrating a chapter book trilogy for Harper Collins, written by Tina Strachan, and am also working on my very first Author / Illustrator picture book, published by Allen and Unwin which I am so excited to get stuck into soon!!! I am also working on a historical, non fiction picture book that I hope to get published in the near future. CATHERINE: I have another book coming out next year with Deb Hudson and Windy Hollow Books which I’m very excited about. I’m also making a video of children from around Australia describing their own home to accompany the release of Our Home. THANK YOU Catherine and Max! Congratulations on 'Our Home', published by Windy Hollow Books! Remember to buy a copy from your local bookstore, or online, from 1 May 2024. 'Our Home' is a sure-fire hit, a beautiful story about community, family, love and where we belong. See the May issue of literary magazine 'Magpies: Talking About Children's Books' for my full review of 'Our Home'. See Windy Hollow's website for more information about 'Our Home' at: https://www.windyhollowbooks.com.au/products/our-home Visit Catherine online at www.catherinemeatheringham.com Visit Max online at www.maxhamiltonillustration.com.au
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
RSS Feed
