Nicola Killen
About Author
Nicola Killen has always loved drawing and colouring in. She designed greetings cards for several years before her love of children's books led her to study for an MA in Children's Book Illustration at Cambridge School of Art. During the course she started putting down words to go with her pictures, and realised she rather liked writing too! That was ten years ago, and since then she has been busy working on picture books, board books and pop-up books, while knitting wonky scarves in her spare time!
Interview
OLLIE'S MAGIC BUNNY
SIMON & SCHUSTER CHILDREN'S BOOKS
MARCH 2019
When a magical breeze blows, Ollie's toy bunny comes to life - but the little bunny soon gets into scrapes and it's up to Ollie to save it.
This is a charming story that has plenty of excitement for younger children, about a little girl, her favourite toy and the adventures they get up to.
We asked NICOLA KILLEN to tell us more about OLLIE's MAGIC BUNNY, and her work as an author and illustrator:
Q: How did you get into creating picture books?
A: I spent a long time designing and illustrating greetings cards, first as a freelancer and then working in design studios. At the same time I was becoming more and more interested in picture books and when I found out about the MA in Children's Book Illustration at Cambridge School of Art, I decided I would apply!
During the course we were encouraged to come up with our own story ideas as we worked on the illustrations, gradually building up from a wordless sequence of images to a whole picture book. I graduated ten years ago now, and I'm very happy that I'm still working on picture books!
Q: What words of advice would you give to your younger self about this career?
A: My advice would be to keep drawing as much as you can - lots of my ideas come from scribbles, sketches and notes I've made over the years. I would also say that you need to keep working hard and experimenting with different techniques and ideas - it's good to keep learning and trying new things however old you are!
Q: Ollie is a gorgeous character, do you look for great characters first and then develop a story around them, or do you focus on the story first?
A: Thank you! I actually work in both ways. With Ollie, the character came first: I was trying out some black and white illustration techniques and made a picture of a little girl wearing a reindeer suit. Everyone really liked this sketch so I started working on story ideas around it, and that's how Ollie's Christmas Reindeer began!
I Got A Crocodile also started with little pencil sketches of a crocodile and a child having a messy meal of spaghetti together. One of my books that started with a story idea first was Fluff and Billy. The idea came when I was doing some drawing at a local nursery school during my MA, and two little girls copied each other constantly. Once I'd got the basic story, I tried to think of characters and settings that would really work, and soon I was drawing lots of penguins!
Q: Ollie is obviously keen on bunnies - was that kind of obsession young children have something you drew on from another child or your own childhood?
A: I don't know if my family is unusual, but I'm the youngest of three and we were all fairly obsessed with one thing or another throughout our childhoods! My sister's room was full of badges and smurfs, my brother collected stamps and had stickers everywhere, and I absolutely loved the children's tv programme Blue Peter! I used to try and make all the art and craft projects and always got the Blue Peter annual for Christmas.
Q: The idea of a magical gust of wind, that brings Ollie's toy bunny to life, is lovely - but how hard was it to find a way to illustrate the magical breeze?
A: When the story developed and the magical breeze started to appear, using foil to create the blossom blowing in the wind was the perfect solution. It really stands out as it catches the light, and adds extra magic! I painted the movement lines of the wind onto the artwork, and then Harriet, the lovely designer I worked with on the book, created foil guides to show where all the blossom would be.
We also introduced cut-outs as part of the design. I think the cut-outs are a great way to lead the reader through the story and to give a hint of what's to come. I know when I was little I loved books with die cuts and the feedback I've had suggests that children still do!
Q: Ollie has lots of adventures with Bunny, including saving her toy. Do you feel young children enjoy more jeopardy and adventure in stories?
A: I think children enjoy all sorts of different stories as they provide a place for their imaginations to run free! Perhaps following a character's adventure (and changing emotions through it) can allow them to think about and discuss situations they wouldn't normally encounter.
Q: What is your favourite part of the creative process, and how do you create your images?
A: It's quite difficult to pick an absolute favourite part of the process. I really like working on the early ideas when I make VERY rough sketches to plan out the story. And I also love painting the artwork - it's very time consuming but I often listen to audio books while I'm working which makes it even more enjoyable!
Q: Will there be more adventures to come with Ollie and Bunny?
There will be another Ollie adventure but it won't be with Bunny (although he will appear somewhere in the book). Ollie's first adventure was with a reindeer, and her next one will be with a different animal. I've just started to paint the artwork so I'm very excited!
Q: What do you do during your school visits and what you feel children get out of meeting an author / illustrator?
A: I really enjoy this part of the job! I usually talk about what my job involves and show how I develop my ideas, as well as reading some of my stories.
Activities depend on the age of the class I'm working with but we usually draw some characters together and then I have a range of different pop-ups that can be made by reception classes and upwards. The children are always so amazed with what they can make - it's so nice when they come up to proudly show me the pop-up they've made!
Q: Where do you like to work - and what is your favourite escape from your studio?
A: I usually work at my studio - I have a stand-up desk where I draw and paint and I sit down to use the computer. Sometimes if I'm writing stories I work at home - I read everything out loud to see how it sounds so it can be quite embarrassing if other people are around!
There's a small park not far from the studio so I often go there for a walk especially if I'm in need of inspiration. It's lovely in all seasons and there's always lots of dogs being walked whatever the weather!
Q: We're running a competition for children and young people to create their own picture book. What are your top tips for children who want to create a picture book?
A: My top tip would be to plan your story using a story board. I always do this when I'm working on new ideas. If your picture book is going to be 24 pages, get a big sheet of paper and draw a little box for each page. Then start working out what will happen on each page.
Try to make your pages look different - you can do this by making some of your pictures cover a whole page, and some of your pictures smaller.
As you are in the process of planning your story, your storyboard can be as messy as you like. Mine are usually covered in scribbles and notes and rubbing out! Finally, remember that it's good to surprise people when they turn the page!
Ollie's Magic Bunny
