For the next few weeks I’m doing a retrospective of my picture books. The first one is Pilchards, a light-hearted look at bullying and teasing. Two naughty spuds keep shouting “Pilchards!” at a mild-mannered carrot called Kevin.
It’s got a special place in my heart, this one, not least because it’s based on a doodle of a smiling carrot by my friend Mollie, who also suggested that the carrot should be called Pilchards. I worked the idea up into a picture book without telling her, and presented her with the first copy as a surprise, and I can still vividly remember how delighted she was. She kept going through the pages over and over again, finding new things in them. It’s probably the nicest reaction I’ve ever had to something I’ve made.
For me, the whole book has a very sunny feel. All the pictures were created digitally using Inkscape, and I like the bright colours, sharp outlines and simplicity of them; having said which, I think my favourite one is actually the most complex, where Kevin is sitting down to his tea of pilchards on toast, on a gingham table-cloth, with the two naughty spuds tittering outside the window.