Clara Vulliamy

Marshmallow Pie The Cat Superstar (Book 1)

About Author

Clara was born in West London, the daughter of author illustrator Shirley Hughes and architect John Vulliamy. Her first experience of making pictures was being allowed to use up her mother's paints at the end of the day, which was, Clara says, 'like scraping the icing out of the bowl after baking.'

Clara studied Fine Art at Chelsea School of Art, The Ruskin and The Royal Academy. After graduating she began illustrating in newspapers and magazines, and doing a weekly cartoon in The Guardian.

It was when she had a family of her own that she started writing and illustrating childrens books and says she's been hooked every since. She's made about 30 books, including The Bear with Sticky Paws, Lucky Wish Mouse and Martha and the Bunny Brothers.

In 2013 Clara launches her very first book with her mother, Dixie O'Day in the Fast Lane, the first time the mother and daughter duo collaborated on a book. The joyous story follows the adventures, and japes and scrapes of two dog characters Dixie and Percy behind the wheel of their shiny red sports car.

Clara lives in Twickenham with her husband, her two children and a gang of cheeky guinea pigs.

Author link

www.claras.me; www.dixieoday.com

Interview

MARSHMALLOW PIE: THE CAT SUPERSTAR

HARPERCOLLINS CHILDREN'S BOOKS

AUGUST 2020

MARSHMALLOW MARMADUKE VANILLA-BEAN SUGAR-PIE FLUFFINGTON-FITZ-NOODLE PIE - or 'Pie', as his humans insist on calling him - is a fluffy cat who loves the limelight and any excuse to show off his gorgeous self, so when his new owner Amelia Lime decides he should audition for film, he is totally up for the challenge! Unfortunately, not all goes to plan; can Pie find a way to set things right with a small and somewhat annoying kitten, and help Amelia by becoming the star she needs him to be?

This highly illustrated young fiction series is perfect for children setting off on their own reading journeys, with scrapbook-style pages, short chapters and characters with bags of personality.

We asked author and illustrator CLARA VULLIAMY to tell us more about MARSHMALLOW PIE: THE CAT SUPERSTAR and book two, MARSHMALLOW PIE: THE CAT SUPERSTAR ON TV:

Q: Can you tell us a bit about Marshmallow Pie, the Cat Superstar, and if any real life felines helped inspire him? How did you decide on his 'look'?

A: Marshmallow Pie's full name is Marshmallow Marmaduke Vanilla-Bean Sugar-Pie Fluffington-Fitz-Noodle, Pie for short. He is a huge fluffy white cat, with an ego to match. I knew immediately that his big personality and his fabulous appearance would work well together. I've never met a cat quite like him, but I hope I will one day!

Q: Your earlier series, Dotty Detective, featured a pup called McClusky. So, are you a cat person or a dog person? Have you had a favourite pet over the years?

A: I could never choose - I'm a cat person AND a dog person! My family always had cats while I was growing up. When I was young I found a small stray kitten under a bush, sheltering from the rain. I asked my mum if I could keep her, and she said YES. I used to tuck her into my coat and take her down the road to the photo booth in the tube station.

Nearly 50 years later, I remembered this - there's a similar scene in the first Marshmallow Pie story.

It's lovely to hear from readers about their pets, too. But I'm really aware that some children don't or can't have a pet, so I love to chat with them about their imaginary animal companions, or what pets they might have in the future. I don't have any pets of my own anymore, but I do know how much fun it is to make them up!

Q: McClusky was a detective dog, while Marshmallow Pie is an acting cat. Why did you decide to enter the world of auditions and advertising with Pie?

A: I was sure that the world of showbiz and celebrity would be great for chaos, action and humour. Pie becomes famous very quickly, but without really meaning to. He's quite lazy and doesn't feel he needs to make an effort - to be honest he thinks he's a star already.

Q: Can you tell us a little about Pie's owner, Amelia, who is very shy and facing her own challenges?

A: Amelia is shy and maybe even a little lonely, although happily that changes as the series progresses. Because the story is told in Pie's voice we only see her through his eyes and he doesn't really understand - after all, he's only a cat. It's an interesting, indirect way to create a character.

Q: What have been your favourite Pie antics so far?

A: I especially enjoyed the scene in which Pie has a bath, although HE did not enjoy this one bit! And also when he discovers he has a co-star, a cheeky kitten called Gingernut. He would much rather have the spotlight all to himself.

Q: What's next for Pie?

A: Next up for Pie the big screen awaits - he is packing his best bow tie and jetting off to HOLLYWOOD!

Q: Where and when do you create your books?

A: I work every day, and I can work anywhere. I'm happy to write at the kitchen table with the bustle of family life going on around me, but to do the illustrations I have a studio at the top of the house with my drawing board and all my art materials.

Q: Which do you enjoy more - writing the text or creating the illustrations?

A: It's a bit like being equally a cat person and a dog person - they are BOTH my favourite! I particularly love the way that the words and pictures work together on the page. Being the author and the illustrator gives me the freedom and control to develop them both alongside each other.

Q: The pages of these books are quite busy, a bit like a scrapbook. How do you get that effect, and why do you want to create the pages like this?

A: I know that a lot of emergent readers are put off by big chunks of solid text, so I like to break it up with pictures and other visual assortment. It's how my brain works, too - a scrapbook of allsorts to browse and enjoy.

Q: What have you been doing during lockdown to relax? What are you looking forward to most this summer?

A: I'm very lucky to have a job that wasn't really affected by lockdown, so the working day carried on being business as usual. But I have made sure to get out for a walk each day, sometimes very early in the morning or late at night, which is lovely and very peaceful. Best of all, just this week, I managed to get to the seaside for a swim - I have missed the sea SO much!

DOTTY DETECTIVE: THE BIRTHDAY SURPRISE

HARPERCOLLINS CHILDREN'S BOOKS

JANUARY 2018

If you're looking to introduce young readers to the detective genre, then the DOTTY DETECTIVE series from Clara Vulliamy is the perfect way to do so. Starring Dot, her trusty sidekick Beans and McClusky the dog, the trio set about solving mysteries that are close to home.

DOTTY DETECTIVE: THE BIRTHDAY SURPRISE is the fifth book in the series, which has also included DOTTY DETECTIVE (book one), DOTTY DETECTIVE AND THE PAWPRINT PUZZLE, DOTTY DETECTIVE: MIDNIGHT MYSTERY and DOTTY DETECTIVE: THE LOST PUPPY.

In the latest story, it's Dotty's birthday - but it's her teacher who is most excited about his upcoming birthday celebration. Dotty plans a wonderful present for him but, when it disappears, will she and her friends be able to solve the mystery of the missing gift in time? And how will Dotty solve her own problems with her best friend, Beans?

We spoke to Clara Vulliamy about the series and she answered the following questions for us:

Q: Why did you decide to make your main character, Dot, a young detective?

A: I think the detective genre is a lighter, funnier and more familiar way of looking at solving a mystery. I like that the story can be absolutely part of their everyday lives and isn't fantastical, and a lot of children like solving puzzles. Dot is a great word search fan and I always liked doing those too.

I found it's also a nice peg to hang a story on, there's a lot you can tell about a person and their life through observation, which the genre lends itself to. Plus I like the visual clues and Dot has to work with things like half torn clues, hieroglyphics, secret writing and other visual aspects to find all the information she needs.

The children in my stories always do their detecting work on their own; no adult will ever know about them, it will be their secret and I think children need privacy, they need their secrets. These days we follow so closely what our children are doing and I think stories can give them something back; this is something they can do on their own.

Q: How hard is it to develop mystery stories for younger readers?

A: I find plotting a mystery story quite challenging, so I try to establish the bare bones of the plot, before getting carried away with the detail.

Whatever I am writing, it doesn't matter to me if my readers are very young, young or older - if the scaffolding of the story is sound, the rest will work.

Q: What gave you the idea for basing Dotty's activities around birthdays for this story?

A: I knew that sunny-side-up Dot would be very excited about her birthday - but not half as much as her teacher Mr Dickens is about his! I had lots of fun thinking about presents, parties, and how McClusky would celebrate HIS birthday, too.

Q: Which detective tropes do you think children recognise at this age, and which do you try to include in these stories?

A: The mystery, the clues, the list of suspects, the false lead and the final denouement when everything falls into place: I think children can follow it all as long as the plot is absolutely rock solid and clear. Some readers will be ahead of the characters in solving the case and some won't - both are equally good!

Q: How careful do you need to be when laying clues in your stories?

A: When I read a mystery novel or watch a detective programme on TV, it always irritates me when the case is solved with an unexpected reveal you couldn't possibly have predicted - a long-lost identical twin, for instance. So I make sure every clue is there to be discovered. I like the feeling at the end of a story when you think - OF COURSE! So that's why that happened!

Q: In this book, you introduce Egyptian hieroglyphics as a way for the children to send coded messages - do you bring different forms of coding into each story? What else have you used?

A: Egyptian hieroglyphics are a perfect way for Dot to send secret messages; in fact she has created her own picture-code-alphabet before, in The Midnight Mystery. Children love to invent their own secret codes - it's a highlight of the events I do in schools and festivals.

The Join the Dots Detectives have also made their own invisible ink, another top favourite, and I can reveal that in the next book (The Holiday Mystery, published in May) Dot and Beans will be getting to grips with morse code!

Q: Alongside the mystery element of this story, you also explore everyday problems that children can encounter. Why did you decide to look at friendship in this story?

A: Friendship is such a huge part of school life, with it's many ups and occasional downs. There's a new boy in class, which at first brings trouble, but also an opportunity for the characters to show kindness and inclusivity.

Q: There is also a strong 'boy versus girl' theme in this story, why did you want to tackle that and what would you like children to take away from this?

I really believe that gender is the new frontier. Boys and girls are at last becoming much more free to be themselves, and not defined by outdated ideas of feminine or masculine qualities and behaviour. I'm very keen to build on this, with positive role models and strong stories, but always with a light touch and a big helping of humour.

Dot and Beans are best friends, and a great team. When they find themselves on different sides of a boys versus girls race to solve the mystery, they aren't at all happy about it. Without spoiling the ending, there's a very nice message for readers to take away about friendship and fun across the unnecessary girl-boy divide!

Q: As the Dotty Detective books have progressed, are you still concerned with keeping the text in short sections?

A: Yes! The quick, immediate, running-commentary style of Dot's voice is at the heart of these stories: a diary on the move. Readers are enjoying the short chunks of text interspersed with lots of illustrations and doodles, and the good feeling of having read a proper length book without being bogged down by too many words on the page.

Q: How important is it to you that you illustrate these stories yourself?

A: Being an author-illustrator is a bit like being the playwright, director, stage designer and ALL the actors rolled into one! The characters pop into my imagination visually first and foremost, and I can decide how the words and illustrations playfully complement each other. Funny to think of it - I've illustrated for other authors but never written for other illustrators. Maybe one day...

Q: Can you tell us a little about the kinds of events you do for schools?

A: The school events have been such an important and rewarding part of working on this series.

I talk about being an author-illustrator and do a reading and lots of 'live' drawings to present the characters; I then talk about writing mystery stories and we make up ingenious secret codes and messages - and finally we collaboratively write and solve a Dotty Detective story all together. Children love the invisible ink made from lemon juice, and sending secret messages with only a banana and toothpick!

After my visit l leave plenty of ideas for teachers to follow up with and use creatively: writing a mystery story, inventing strong characters, secret alphabets, codes and encryptions.

Q: Dot is a real 'stationery' fan - does she get that from you, and what are the favourite items on your desk at the moment?

A: She certainly does get that from me! In lots of ways we are unalike - I'm not good at maths, nor can I run fast - but stationery is a love we share. And I'm so glad you ask, because on my desk I'm especially enjoying my new Christmas presents: a pair of gold scissors, some geometric post-it notes and many rolls of washi tape. Check out those gold dots - I think Dot would approve!

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