Lizzy Stewart

Lizzy Stewart

About Author

Illustrator and artist Lizzy Stewart graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 2009, and received an MA in Communication Design from Central St Martins in 2013.

She is also one half of independent publishers Sing Statistics and an associate lecturer at Goldsmiths College.

Her first book, There's a Tiger In the Garden, was the winner of the 2017 Waterstones Children's Book Prize, Illustrated Books Category.

Lizzy currently lives in London.

Interview

JUNIPER JUPITER

FRANCES LINCOLN CHILDREN'S BOOKS

MARCH 2018


LIZZY STEWART, winner of the Waterstones Children's Book Prize (Picture Book), returns with a new picture book, JUNIPER JUPITER, featuring a young superhero for whom no task is too little - or too big. But being a superhero can get lonely; Juniper Jupiter needs a sidekick, but how will she find the best one?

Juniper Jupiter is a great can-do female character who will be an inspiration to many other young wanna-be superheroes!

We asked author LIZZY STEWART to tell us more about JUNIPER JUPITER:


Q: Your previous picture book, There's a Tiger in the Garden, won some major awards. Did that affect how you approached your next picture book?

A: I was already most of way through Juniper when this happened so, luckily, it didn't have too much of an affect. I think if I'd know just how much people had responded to There's a Tiger in the Garden when I started my second book I'd have been completely stumped. It would have turned into my 'difficult second album' I think.


Q: Your latest picture book follows Juniper Jupiter, a 'real' super-hero who is looking for a side-kick. Why did you decide to focus on a super-hero?


A: I originally wrote the story for my friend Eleni for christmas. She had recently got a dog (called Peanut) and the story was about her search for a suitable sidekick. I made her a superhero because, to me, that's what she is (and so many of my other friends). I liked the idea that someone could be a hero just because you declared them one and gave them a cape!

Q: And why did you decide to make her a girl?

A: I think all my characters will end up being girls. Mostly, I think, 'because that's what I know. I remember being a child pretty well but I also remember my sister and my friends and other family members. I like basing characters on people I know so it makes sense that they end up being girls.

I am also happy to admit a bit (a lot) of a feminist agenda here. I think children's publishing has really stepped up its game in terms of equality (though not, always, diversity) but there's more to do. Boys have a century of picture books where characters who look like them get to be explorers and adventurers and heroes. Girls are catching up but I think there's a way to go until there are an equal number of female characters doing all the things that boys have been doing in books for years. So, for that reason, I'll probably keep doing books about girls; to level the playing field.


Q: How did you decide on Juniper's 'look' as a super-hero? And the very ordinary home setting for the story?

A: I wanted Juniper to be comfortable when she's hero-ing. Lycra onesies may look cool on marvel heroes but Juniper exists in the real world and I felt her clothes should represent that. Her leggings and shorts combo is comfortable and means she can run and jump and fly with ease. Which is important when you're a tiny superhero.

I also wanted her clothes to be achievable for the children reading the book. I want them to be able to go to their wardrobes and pull out a similar ensemble and feel like a superhero! The same goes for her home and her suburban environment. It's important that for as many fantastical book-settings there are ordinary ones to remind you that amazing things happen everywhere and that all stories are valid and interesting!

Q: The story is about friendship - Juniper isn't just looking for a side-kick but a real friend. Was this the theme you wanted to explore from the outset or did it arrive as you developed Juniper?

A: When I originally wrote the story for my friend the focus was on the dog being the missing piece of the puzzle. That developed over the course of rewriting till it became more clearly about friendship and valuing the people (or dogs) around you. I hope it encourages readers to think about what they value in their friends, even if its only something as simple as having someone to eat ice-cream with!

Q: You use the images to develop the story; children might spot Juniper's 'side-kick in waiting'! How difficult is it to get that balance between telling the story through the words and the images?

A: For me that's the most fun part! A joy of being both the author and the illustrator is that you get to play with the relationship between the words and pictures from the start. I don't think you have to draw exactly what is said in the text and you don't have to describe exactly what is happening in the pictures. Reading pictures is really special when you're a child, especially when you can't read the words yet. So I feel its really important that there's plenty of work to be done when looking at the pictures!

Q: There are some fabulous details in the illustrations - how important is it for you to introduce these details into the spreads? Do you have a favourite?

A: The queue took ages but its worth it I think. Its full of people I know including my sister and my parents, friends and studio-mates and my sisters' pet rabbit! Its so much fun doing pages like that. I like that it means I can do special things for people I care about but I also like knowing how much I'd have loved that page as a child.

My favourite thing was pouring over really detailed pictures, there'd always be something I found really precious buried in there. I am delighted that I get to do that for other children!


Q: There are some very funny moments in the pictures, too - is it important that your picture books also have humour?

A: I'm so glad you think that! I think Peanut definitely provides a bit of light relief from Juniper's difficult search. I like that she's always there, in the background, getting involved in some way; barking at a cat or getting tangled up in an elephant's trunk!

Laughing at pictures is fun. Much like putting things in the pictures that aren't in the text I think it means that younger children who can't yet read, get to do some comprehension (albeit in a fun way).


Q: Can you tell us a little about how the text and images develop, are you drawing as you write the initial story idea?

A: For me I like doing the text first. I like knowing what the story is before the drawing starts because I tend to get a bit carried away in the drawing process. I've been an illustrator a lot longer than I've been a writer and my natural tendency would be to draw and draw and draw and then wonder why I didn't have a coherent story! Once a story is written I can play around with what the characters look like and how they express themselves visually, which is a lovely stage in the process.

Q: How do you go about creating your images; deciding the colour palette and tone of the story? And what media do you use to create them?

A: I draw them with pencil and then I paint them in with watercolour and colouring pencil. I scan them and start tidying them up with photoshop. After that sometimes I add in layers of texture and things to make the colours a bit richer. Sometimes watercolour can look washed out once its been scanned.

I wanted the palette for this book to be different from There's a Tiger in the Garden which was SO GREEN! This one is bright and playful. I'm particularly fond of the sunshine yellow that runs throughout. In my head every room in Juniper's house is bright yellow!

 

Q: Who or what would be your side-kick of choice in real life? What are your top tips for children to create a fabulous super-hero plus side-kick?!

Q: I think I'd probably be quite a good sidekick to someone else's hero! I'm not very good at being in charge! If I had to have a sidekick I'd like it to be the elephant that appears in the book. I think it'd be really fun to have a MASSIVE sidekick stomping along behind you, plus she could give me a lift whenever I got tired!

I hope that readers have a think about what they'd like from a side-kick. I think you have to think about what you like doing and the kind of person or thing that would be good at doing those things with you. Maybe you want someone similar to you? Or maybe someone the total opposite? Maybe they should have skills you don't have?

Q: Where do you create your picture books and do you do work outside of picture books?

A: I work in a studio in Forest Hill, South London. It's above a library, so that's useful! I work on lots of different kinds of illustration outside picture-books; book covers, magazines, comics. Currently I'm mostly working on my third picture book but I'm also doing some illustrations for a book for adults and trying to do more writing in my spare time. I need the practice!


Q: What is your favourite escape from writing and illustrating?

A: I love swimming. There's a pool next door to the studio, pretty handy. I like getting out of London as often as possible for a wander around and an explore. I love reading and going to the theatre especially. I love other people's stories and I want to consume as many of them as possible!

Q: What are your top tips for children and young people who are interested in illustration?

A: Draw lots and read lots! Draw the things that happen to you, a bit like keeping a diary but with drawing. You never know when an interesting story might appear.

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