I need to take some deep breaths and try to stay calm because Nick Sharratt (Yes, THE Nick Sharratt) is joining me in The Reading Realm today to talk about his new children’s picture book, YOU CHOOSE PARTY TIME, which is written by Pippa Goodhart…
Before we settle down in The Reading Realm for a chat, what’s your drink and snack of choice?
A frothy coffee and a piece of homemade flapjack.
Tell us about your book in three sentences and then three words!
It’s all about choosing everything you would like for your perfect imaginary party.
You choose the kind of party, the location, the guests, the cake, the games, the music… even how you’d like your face painted.
When you read the book again you can choose a whole lot of different things!
Three words: Party time choices!
If one of your characters could come to dinner, who would you invite and what would you cook them? What do you think you’d talk about?
Can I invite two characters – Timothy Pope and his dad from Shark in the Park? I think they’d both like homemade veggie burgers. Mr Pope would talk about which are the best Elvis Presley songs and Timothy would talk about sharks.
What’s the funniest word you know that always makes you laugh?
Bibelot. It’s a fancy word for an ornament or knickknack. There are a lot of bibelots in our house!!
What’s the silliest or strangest thing you’ve ever researched for a story?
The Gooey Chewy Rumble Plop Book, a fun children’s guide to digestion, required quite a lot of visual research on my part and unfortunately I still remember looking for reference to help me with my illustration of a bucket of sick.
Do your characters ever surprise you?
When I wrote my The Cat and the King stories (my first ever chapter books), I was surprised how both characters became completely real in my head and how I felt like it was them rather than me who decided where the story went. I’d heard other authors say similar things about their characters and up until then I thought they were talking nonsense!
If your writing desk or office could speak, what would it say about you?
My studio would say, ‘He’s a messy <dot dot dot> and he needs to tidy up in here, NOW!’
Did you like reading when you were a child?
I liked looking at the pictures more. The Giant Jam Sandwich immediately comes to mind.
What’s your favourite book that isn’t yours?
Any book by Allan and Janet Ahlberg.
What book do you wish you could read for the first time again?
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
What’s the funniest thing a child has said to you?
Very young children can struggle a bit with the concept of a question. A little boy in Scotland sticks in my mind. He put his hand up during questions and said, ‘I’ve got a centre parting.’
If you weren’t an author/illustrator what would you be?
A paper boy. Delivering newspapers is the only other job I’ve ever had.
What BAD advice would you give to someone who wants to be an illustrator?
You don’t need to bother with reading the story that closely before you get going on the illustrations. Just skim through it.
SPEED ROUND:
Cake or biscuits? Cake
Dinosaurs or unicorns? Dinosaurs
Pirates or astronauts? Pirates
Museums or theme parks? Museums
Cats or dogs? Cats
Summer or winter? Summer
Aliens or robots? Robots
THANK YOU Nick for joining us in The Reading Realm today!
