Two children’s picture books out this year showcase writer/illustrator Aura Parker’s keen creativity and offer readers some delightful treats. In this Q&A Parker talks about the playful process of pairing words and pictures, the joys of reading aloud with children, and her excitement that children will soon be able to explore her miniature bug world.

Your first children’s pictures books Twig (published by Scholastic Press) and My Magnificent Jelly Bean Tree (illustrated by you, written by Maura Finn, and published by New Frontier) will be released in 2016. How does it feel?

On one hand I want to shout it from the hilltops because publishing is a long process and I’m excited to finally have books out this year. On the other hand I’m so critical of my work that I also feel like hiding it away in a cupboard so nobody can ever see. I guess I’m a bit torn to extremes. Perhaps after the books are out for a while I’ll feel more even keeled about it.

You are both a writer and an illustrator. How common is this combination in the world of children’s publishing? What’s good about being able to do both?

There are quite a few writer/illustrators out there but probably more often a book will have an author and an illustrator but, no matter how the book is made, everyone is chasing the perfect fusion of image and text for their storytelling. I like it when the words and pictures contradict each other or the text is so minimal that the picture delivers the message so the meaning is made between the two. Illustrators can bring their own ideas into a book but if you have ownership over the whole project you can edit as you go. It is a playful process trying to get it right and it is incredible fun.

Who are two or three Australian writer-illustrators of children’s pictures books you most admire and why?

I love Alison Lester’s work, especially her colours and the way she draws animals. Her stories are tied up with memories of reading together with my little kids all snuggled up in bed. That is something I really love about picture books—that they are for sharing, reading aloud, cuddling up and bonding over. The Wrong Book by Nick Bland is a book that struck a chord with us. I think our copy of that is practically worn out from so much reading.

You have described writing a book as being ‘like pouring a whole lot of time into some uncertain cup in the sky, really exciting and really hard’. What kept you going through the uncertainties?

I love it. The more I do it the more I love it. And as time goes by that cup is growing a little more certain.

Twig is full of bugs and grew out of your four-year-old’s obsession with insects. Which of your ‘noisy’ bug characters is your favourite? Can you share a picture of this bug to entice www.abiggerbrighterworld.com readers to read the book?

Like my own children they are all my favorites! I can’t wait to see kids exploring my miniature bug world as there are hundreds of tiny characters and things to find within the illustrations. If I had to choose … I’d have to say Heidi, although I do have a soft spot for little Midge.

This is Heidi trying to catch up with the bug bus.

This is a snippet of the playground at Bug School.

What is one fun fact, whimsical sentiment or other inspirational delight that you hope young readers will take from your story?

Twig is about starting school and I wrote it when my four-year-old was about to go through the whole transition. He was into bugs and about to start Kindy, so somehow those two ideas joined together and I came up with Bug School. It is an exciting time and can be a huge change and often there are tears from both the kids and the parents. At the heart the book are all those feelings about fitting in, friendship, finding someone to play with when you don’t know anyone. I hope kids can take something from the personal and emotional side of these little characters.

What three words best describe the style of illustrations that you created for My Magnificent Jelly Bean Tree, written by Maura Finn?

Imaginative, delicious and fun.

What was it like to collaborate with Maura Finn on this book project? Can you briefly describe the process? The fun you had?

I would have enjoyed a collaborative style of working, but I wasn’t in contact with Maura while illustrating the book. I’m in touch with her now and we met for the first time at the book launch. As you can imagine, we get on like a house on fire! I discussed ideas with the publisher at the beginning of the project. I wanted the book to start black and white and use jelly bean shaped frames that increase in size and build up the colour as the imaginary world grows. I was given some notes to go on and at the same time pure creative freedom to be carried away—to invent a playful imaginative tree—it was a lot of fun indeed!

Here’s the tree, a boy bean and a jelly bean sky …

You and your sister-in-law, interior designer Marena Von Behr, hand-print artworks and coordinating textiles in your studio in Sydney under the label Studio Bonnie. How does this work complement and/or feed into your work as a children’s writer and illustrator?

The textiles work certainly informs my illustration style. I used to try and collage the fabrics on but I’ve come to realise the nature of the textiles is in the underlying design of the page. The tendency to space things out and my treatment of perspective has likely grown out of making patterns where forms are reduced to shapes. How the colours work together is important to the success of a fabric print and that is carried through to the illustrations too. There is even a crossover happening in the themes, hidden things to find and camouflage seem to be happening in Twig as well as our Studio Bonnie work.

What words of encouragement and practical advice can you offer a fledgling children’s writer or illustrator attempting to gain a foothold in the children’s publishing industry?

• Find like-minded creative people.
• Share illustrations online—but only the best stuff!
• Cherish your passion for what you do.
• Be kind to yourself.
• Don’t rush.
• Don’t forget to play.
• And keep going.

You are passionate about art, design and children’s literature and try to read and draw with your three children as much as you can. What do you most hope your children will take into their lives from these creative encounters with pictures and words?

Creative courage is a handy skill to have and further down the track it can flow on positively to everything they endeavor. Children are inventive, the way they put crazy things together and that is to be encouraged. I especially love it when we come up with ideas and it all gets a bit silly, so for now we are having as much fun as we can with it all.

What are three children’s books that your children have read this year (either by themselves or with you) that have touched a chord in them and become their favourites?

My daughter is a fan of Lulu Bell by Belinda Murrell. We all loved Mr Huff by Anna Walker, and lately all three of my children have taken to reading The Bad Guys by Aaron Blabey aloud to each other in silly voices.

When in 2016 are your two new books due out and where will ABBW readers be able to buy them?

Twig will be out in November and My Magnificent Jelly Bean Tree was released in May 2016, both available from bookstores. Illustrated prints will be available on my website. www.illustrated.com.au.