Recap - February 2024

My Jurassic month

I know it’s not quite the end of the month yet (leap year!) but I couldn’t wait to tell you about my February.

Rainbowsaurus

This month kicked off with fantastic children’s book author-illustrator and human being, Steve Anthony’s Rainbowsaurus launch party. He was celebrating not just his new book but also his ten years as an author-illustrator. Rainbowsaurus is his 23rd book! The party was hosted at The Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE). As soon as I stepped into their library, I felt like a child again. The room was surrounded by bookshelves filled with children’s books old and new. The rainbow-filled party had everything - lovely guests, wonderful speeches, book signing, charity ruffle, drinks and snacks, and the most amazing cake I’ve ever seen! It was a book launch goal.

And I must urge you to read Rainbowsaurus if you haven’t. There are some books you know they are going to be a classic as soon as you read them. Rainbowsaurus is definitely one of them. The story is simple. A family set off to find a Rainbowsaurus and they meet colourful animals along the way. The best part is that you can read the lines to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. At the party, Steve recited the book and everyone joined in. It was wonderful and it made my eyes a bit teary. The book also left me with a hint of jealousy. Isn’t it every picture book maker’s dream to create a book destined to be the next Where the Wild Things Are or We’re Going on a Bear Hunt?

Roaring Tyrannosaurus Rex

I started working on a new book last month. I can’t tell you much about it for a while but the story involves a DINOSAUR! If you have read my previous newsletters, you know dinosaurs are not my thing. But the text was too good to say “no” to.

I had a meeting with my editor and art director. We discussed what dinosaur the character in the book should be and we agreed on Tyrannosaurus rex. When I design an animal character, I usually start with observational sketches. Sketching living animals makes you really look at your subjects. You learn not just how they look but also you notice quirks that make them them, like how they waddle or tilt their heads. But it’s not always possible, especially when your subject no longer exists on the earth… So I looked for the next best thing.

I visited Natural History Museum. I had forgotten how magical the place was. (What an architectural masterpiece!) I could have standing in the amazing entrance hall for hours, just looking up to the ceiling, but I went straight to what I was after - the roaring T-rex. The room was packed (I forgot it was half-term…) but I managed to station myself at back of the room and sketched the most famous carnivore for a couple of hours. OK…the animatronic dinosaur’s movements were cranky and its repertoire was limited (and its day was very short; every five minutes the sun went down and the T-rex went to sleep) and I wasn’t sure how anatomically accurate it was. However, the robot T-rex was surprisingly expressive. (It had moving eyelids!) After a while, I started feeling it’s actually alive!

The best thing was that I could sketch the dinosaur from all sorts of angles (except its derrière). I managed to make a decent amount of sketches and took a lot of pictures for future reference.

I also binged on Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous on Netflix. The story was OK and the animation style wasn’t my cup of tea. However, it turned out quite useful for observing T-rex (and other similar dinosaurs) in action and in all sorts of poses.

The next step was to turn these sketches into a character. I’ll share the process another time as it’s still WIP.

Dino Books

The dino story I’m working on isn’t really about dinosaurs but I love reading about subjects I illustrate. So I bought these books. They are very informative and visually stunning in very different ways. Highly recommended.

Dinosaurium by Chris Wormell and Lily Murray

A First Book of Dinosaurs by Simon Mole and Matt Hunt

I also did something not so Jurassic…

The Blue Umbrella (Andersen Press) written by Emily Ann Davison and illustrated by me came out in paperback at the beginning of this month. One Sunday morning, I hopped on a train to Kent and did a couple of events in Ashford and Canterbury with Emily. We have been in touch since I illustrated the book in 2021, and we had a couple of chances to meet in person but we kept missing each other…until now. It’s also not unusual that the author and the illustrator never interact. So it was really lovely to finally meet her. She was as kind and friendly in person as in her messages.

It was the end of half term and the weather wasn’t great. (It was fitting for the story though…) So the events were quieter than we had hoped but a few families joined us and we had fun time reading the book, doing a draw-a-long and some umbrella crafts. One of children brought her own hardback copy of The Blue Umbrella and told us that she read it every night. How sweet is that!

These event also brought something unexpected. I go to the same local farmers market (in south London) every Saturday and I’ve been buying fruits and vegetables from the same seller past 3.5 years. I was chatting with him as usual and casually mentioned the event in Canterbury the day before. It turned out that he lived in Canterbury and he said he’d come by. Cynical me thought “He’s just saying that because I’m a customer.” But the following day, he actually turned up and bought a copy of The Blue Umbrella for his nephew. And two Japanese girls I had met recently via a mutual friend also came to the event. It’s rather sad to say but I was genuinely surprised and touched by their kindness. People are good, I thought. The day reminded me how irreplaceable real human interactions were and how wonderful to connect with others in real life.

And…it’s done!

I finally finished my fourth authored book. I missed the deadline for the final artwork by three weeks but at least it seems it could make it for the Bologna Children’s Book Fair in April. (It’s shame that I’m not going…) It’s been eight months since the conception of the idea so I think I deserve some celebratory treats!

Sneak peek

So that’s it for this month. I have a few exciting things planned in March including some school visits on the World Book Day. (Is it the time of the year already?!) Speak to you next month!

Momo x

Let me know what you want to read/see in my newsletters this year. Or, if you have a question for me about being a writer/illustrator, about my book, or want to share your thoughts, feel free to leave a comment.

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