In honour of the Booktime 2009 title, we have an exclusive interview for you from Ed Vere, the author of Mr Big.
How long have you been writing children’s books, and how many have you written?
I began writing and illustrating children's books all the way back in 1998. I studied fine art and still spend half my time painting but fell into children's books by accident, I was working part time for a greeting card firm to pay for my studio. I designed a couple of ranges of cards for children, which a publisher from New York saw and liked. They asked me to illustrate a couple of books and since then I've done about 16 books.
What was your favourite children’s book when you were growing up?
It's far too difficult to narrow it down to just one! Amongst my favourites were The Enormous Crocodile by Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake. He's such a wickedly bad character, full of secret plans and clever tricks to have a nice juicy child for his lunch. Blake's illustrations have a brilliant anarchic quality that works perfectly in this book. I also loved Winnie the Pooh (A.A. Milne & E.H. Shepard) and The Wind in the Willows (Kenneth Grahame & E.H. Shepard), they're both wonderful worlds to inhabit and are beautifully illustrated by the great E.H. Shepard.
Do you have any memories of being read to when you were a child?
To be honest, my memory going that far back is pretty sketchy. I do remember from the age of about seven, when I could read by myself, hoovering up large quantities of books. Asterix, The Famous Five and anything by Willard Price. Hal & Roger Hunt the jet setting teenage zoologists (who seemed to be able to travel internationally at will) were my first heroes!
How did you feel when you heard that Mr Big had been chosen as the Booktime gift book for 2009?
I was amazed - there's so much great stuff out there to choose from so it's a huge honour! It's hard to believe that quite so many children around the country are going to be reading something I've written and illustrated. I'm glad I didn't know in advance, I'd have never been able to write it!
Where did you find the inspiration for Mr Big?
Most of my ideas come from my drawings, so in this case I'd drawn a picture of a gorilla playing the piano, he looked quite intimidating but at the same time he had a vulnerable, sympathetic quality. I thought both those things together might be interesting to explore.
What would you tell any child, parent or carer who’s become interested in reading as a result of the Booktime book pack?
Carry on! Join a local library and you'll be able to read as many books as you like for free. Try and read together at least once a day - and when you do, don't hurry it, leave enough time to explore the book, to see what's going on in the pictures. Very often there's a lot more going on in the illustrations than you think!
Also, try and read to your children with a sense of theatre, if you sound bored when you're reading - your child will obviously pick up on that.
