Interesting Thoughts Whilst Packing CBCA Book Week Merchandise

Felicity Sly is Merchandise Officer for CBCA Tas Branch and a Teacher Librarian at Don College in Devonport. The artwork of a previous Picture Book of the Year Award winner, Bob Graham, adorns the 2019 Book Week merchandise. Worthy inspiration for this week’s post.

Whilst handling and packaging up the CBCA Book Week Merchandise in recent weeks, I was again charmed by the expression and feeling that Bob Graham can achieve with just a few ink strokes and colour. A young Muslim girl sits reading a book about soccer. She is totally engrossed in what she is doing, we can see that…but her facial expression is a U shaped nose and two elongated dots for eyes…how does Bob do that…how does he achieve so much feeling, with so little detail? The dog Bruno, in Queenie the Bantam, is no more than an oval with two dots for eyes, a few splodges of shaded patches, a triangle nose, and all the personality in the world.  PS. I feel I can call him Bob as I manhandled him into his jacket in the rain in Hobart a few Book Weeks ago.

This also got me thinking about the inclusivity of Bob’s stories and artwork. The Disciples of Death in Greetings from Sandy Beach are scary, leather clad and ready to lend a helping hand and join in family fun. There’s the school bus tripper who sticks her tongue out, then becomes a friend. And naturally there is a very cute dog. First impressions may not always be true. Seemingly tough and sporty Crusher is happy to play tea parties with Pete’s little sister Claire (and the stuffed toys Pete has just cleared from his room) in Crusher is Coming. Mr Wintergarten resumes a life in the community because one child, Rose, and her mum were happy to ignore the lore about his meanness, and give him a chance to be kind (Rose Meets Mr Wintergarten). Bob’s mums and dads have nose rings, tattoos, piercings, squidgy bits and men with straggly hair and pony tails. These are not key to the story being told, they just are.

All Bob’s characters are kind. They rescue hens from drowning in ponds, let them take over dog beds and a dog can hatch a clutch of eggs (Queenie the Bantam). They get a pup Dave, but then return for Rosie, the old dog (Let’s get a Pup!). And even when a character isn’t kind to begin with (Mr Wintergarten and the Brigadier in ‘The Trouble with Dogs’…said Dad) they develop kindness.

Bob likes to play in his illustrations. Families sit reading books…books that are Bob Graham books. In the book Buffy: An adventure story, Buffy is the book being read. In Queenie the Bantam, it’s Rose Meets Mr Wintergarten.

Not only is he a gifted illustrator, but Bob’s uses language in the most delicious of ways: In ‘The trouble with dogs’...said Dad, Dave is exuberant. Kate wonders what ‘rough edges’ he has because Dave has ‘nothing but soft and squashy bits’. She tells the Brigadier ‘I think shouting hurts Dave’s feelings and we should always be polite to our dogs’. The real trouble with dogs…is that their ears are so silky (and there is a Bob Graham book on the chair), In Max he is ‘hovering like a summer dragonfly’ and in Jethro Byrde Fairy Child ‘and to whom do we owe the pleasure’. Bob is unconcerned that his words may be too challenging or the idioms too hard to grasp. He knows that children will find ways to understand.

His characters can be so normal whilst not being normal at all. In April Underhill, Tooth Fairy, she phones her mum for advice…on her mobile phone…with one finger in ear against the traffic noise. In Jethro Byrde, Fairy Child mum ‘sees’ the fairies in the garden: ‘We must make them welcome and make them tea,’ but she was looking the wrong way.

I have decided that if I am stranded on a desert island, then I want a selection of Bob Graham’s books to keep me company…but not any that have been printed in such a way that the alligator from Mr Wintergarten’s garden is NOT seen wandering away around the corner, when the fence and cacti come down. I was horrified that in a ‘set’ of Bob Graham books purchased that the alligator got the cut from the final illustration.

Bob has written and/or illustrated more than 70 books. How lucky for us that a batch of ill health, and time off work, resulted in Pete and Roland being written.

Sources

Austlit.edu.au. (2019). Bob Graham: (author/organisation) | AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. [online] Available at: https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A14858 [Accessed 5 Jul. 2019].

Walkerbooks.com.au. (2019). Bob Graham - Authors & Illustrators - Welcome to Walker Books Australia. [online] Available at: https://www.walkerbooks.com.au/Authors_and_Illustrators/Bob-Graham [Accessed 5 Jul. 2019].

Felicity Sly

Editor's note. 2019 Book Week merchandise can be viewed on the CBCA estore at https://store.cbca.org.au/. 

Working in collaboration

Tasmanian author and illustrator team, Tahnee McShane and Mary-Ann Orchard, share their creative collaborations to bring Annabel and Turtle to life.

Our process in creating Annabel and Turtle was an unusual one; we were both new to publishing a children’s book and we learnt a lot of new things along the way. We knew each other prior to making the book together, and were aware of each other’s talents and our joint passion for working with children. During our initial discussion things gelled and we were excited to get started. We met (almost) monthly in early 2018, at our favourite local café, The Wooden Spoon, in Oatlands, perfecting our art.

Author’s recollection

After wanting to write children's fiction for so long, Annabel and Turtle is finally here. The story evolved from one I used to tell my children at night to a persistent idea that would not me alone. Driving in the car one afternoon (where I often have my best thinking time) I was struck with the inspiration to seek out Mary-Ann to help bring my words to life on the page, and the project took off at an almighty pace soon after.

What came next was a creative and collaborative process, in which Mary-Ann and I built on each other’s knowledge and ideas. Mary-Ann regularly sent me pictures of her sketches. It was an incredible feeling to see my stories come to life visually in a way that I never could have imagined.

Illustrator’s recollection
Working with Tahnee’s words has been an enjoyable challenge. She had a clear idea on how Annabel should look, which was extremely helpful when it came to creating her. Apart from Annabel, I was given free rein to create. Tahnee was very encouraging during my experimentation period. After I had the characters and the treehouse created, it was time to experiment with colour. Tahnee got to see how water-colour, pencil and acrylic looked, before we settled on pencil, which strongly reflects the soft nature of the text. A pencil is usually a child’s first encounter with creating colour and I felt this would be familiar to the little readers of this book.

Knowing Tahnee was working hard behind the scenes on the promotional and business side of publishing was comforting. Annabel and Turtle have their own website, Facebook page and Tahnee’s whole family have embraced these characters with their entertaining podcasts.

Tahnee and Mary-Ann are looking forward to collaborating further with more tales from Annabel and Turtle in the near future.

About the author: Tahnee McShane is a Tasmanian author, teacher and podcaster. Tahnee began her career as a violinist and music teacher, before becoming a farmer’s wife, mother, qualified teacher and business manager for her family farm. Tahnee has a master’s in teaching and degrees in English, Journalism and Music. Annabel and Turtle is her first book.

About the Illustrator: Mary-Ann Orchard is an award-winning artist and illustrator living in the midlands of Tasmania. Mary-Ann’s art often features animals with curious and interesting personalities that bounce off the canvas. Annabel and Turtle is her first illustrating venture. Mary-Ann also works as a Pastoral Care Worker, where she provides moral support, mentorship and enriches children’s broader educational outcomes.

Annabel and Turtle

Format: Hardcover

ISBN: 9780646993362

Publisher: 40 South/Tahnee McShane (Tasmania)

RRP: $24.95

Publication Date: June 2019

annabelandturtle.com/@annabelandturtle (Instagram|Facebook|Spotify|itunes)

Editor's note: Tahnee's podcasting and musical skills are evident in her podcasts telling of the adventures of this duo. Why not listen to the Introduction to Annabel and Turtle for starters?