“Humanbeings have
always shared stories
through images”
When it comes to illustration,
Liz Pichon
is keen for
people to look at the bigger picture...
I
do have memories of learning to read
– like sitting with my mum, trying to
sound out words froma book and being
told to “break it down”every time I got
stuck. I found that SO frustrating; I
just wanted her to tell me what it was so I could
get on with the story! My strongest memory,
though, has to be getting my first library card.
I remember this amazing building, completely
crammed with books, and being told we could
choosefivetotakeaway.Thatseemedlikeahuge
number, and the range of content was dizzying.
I always went for the pop-up books, which were
usually a bit shabby, but they were expensive
to buy and my absolute favourites. I’ve still got
some picture books from when I was five.
One in particular – Brian Wildsmith’s
representation of Aesop’s fable about the Lion
and the Rat – is stunning. I was given it by my
older sister for my birthday, and even back then
I was struck by how beautiful and special it
was. The way the text was laid out on the page,
workingwiththosedistinctiveillustrations;itfelt
like a book to be treasured.
My parents were avid readers, so there were
always books in our house – I’d pick them up if
I knew something about the story or the covers
lookedinteresting.Artworkandthelookandfeel
of a book has always been an important part of
thereadingexperienceforme;tinyfontsorgreat
longwodgesoftextIfoundreallytrickytoread.I
had a huge collection of different comics that I’d
read over and over and again and then copy all
the characters from them too.
It really bugs me when people say it’s not
‘proper’ reading if abookhas toomanypictures.
I heard an ‘education tsar’ on TV the other day
in music and worked on some brilliant tracks
for all the different bands in the books, which
fans can play and sing along with. I always put
inlotsofinteractive“EXTRAS” forreaders,like
drawing on -shirts and making paper bangers.
I love showing kids how to doodle at events, it’s
especially great watching themrealise that they
CAN draw and seeing the results they get too.
It’s so hard for teachers right now as it feels
like time for being creative is being squeezed
out of lessons because of all the changes that are
being made. I was thinking about the Olympic
Games opening ceremony four years ago and
how much of it was bursting with fashion,
music, art, books – all the thingswe do sowell in
thiscountry,historically.We’reknownforbeing
a creative nation. I’d love to see more creativity
in all areas of learning – not less.
It’s one of the reasons I’m so thrilled that my
books are read by kids with such a wide range
of ages and abilities. Quite often I’m told it’s
‘reluctant readers’ - which is not something
I ever purposely set out to have happen. I
just want to write the best story I could and
something I would have wanted to read at that
age. I can’t think about how other people react
to it – I’d go nuts if I did. But now I get emails
every day from parents keen to tell me how
muchtheir‘strugglingreaders’enjoyTomGates.
My own son didn’t learn to read or write until
he was 11 and had a rotten time at mainstream
school before being moved, so I can really
empathise with what they are feeling. I’m SO
unbelievably lucky to have found something
that I love doing so much. I just want to keep
writing and drawing books for as long as Judith
Kerr has.
say that designing posters as part of a lesson is
a waste of time. I’ve lost count of the amount of
times I’ve had to convey information to people
visually on a webpage or through posters or
postcards. Human beings have always shared
stories through images; why wouldn’t it be a
useful and helpful communication skill for
children to learn about?
I never expected to write books at all. I
trained as a graphic designer and worked for
a record label doing album covers until I built
up a portfolio and went freelance. I did
loads
of greetings cards, T-shirts andmagazines then
got commisioned to illustrate a few baby board
books, which gave me the confidence to write
my own children’s stories.
My Big Brother Boris
wonaSmartiesSilverprize,whichwasamazing.
I look at that book now and can see it was like
an early version of Tom Gates, which actually
started out as a picture book idea first. I had to
rewriteitafewtimesandtheagerangejustkept
going up; it wasn’t until I sat down with a real
schoolexercisebook,andimaginedTomwriting
about a terrible campingholiday, completewith
doodles and ink blots on the pages, that I knew
I had something that would work. My lovely
agent asked if I’d heard of ‘Wimpy Kid’ my
heart sank! But I think the popularity of Jeff
Kinney’s books worked in my favour in the end
aspublisherswerelookingforsomethingsimilar,
though Tom Gates and Greg Heffley are very
differentcharactersandthevoiceandstylearen’t
the same either.
I love the fact that I can incorporate lots of
different strands of creativity into my work –
music, for example. I met my husband when I
was working for the record label; he still works
MY LIFE IN BOOKS
Liz Pichon
40
TEACH READING & WRITING
