We were thrilled to feature the fabulous Who Ate Steve by Susannah Lloyd, (illustrated by Kate Hindley), in our subscription box for mini readers recently - a real laugh-out-loud picture book that is a joy to share with children (and adults!) of all ages. Susannah wrote her first ever book when she was five, on her kitchen table, with the help of a large pot of felt tip pens and a stapler. She is now the author of many books featuring all sorts of scoundrels, blunderers, shenanigans, and VERY unreliable narrators! We are excited to have had the opportunity to ask her a few questions about books and writing; read on to find out what she shared with us:
Did you have any favourite books or authors when you were a child?
So many! I think my favourites were often funny books – I adored everything done by Quentin Blake and by the zany authors he worked with like John Yeoman and Russell Hoban. My favourite of those is How Tom Beat Captain Najork and His Hired Sportsmen, and its sequel, A Near Thing For Captain Najork, both by Hoban and Blake. They are brilliant. I also loved The Fat Cat by Jack Kent, about a cat that goes berserk after being told not to eat some gruel. He ends up eating an entire Danish village worth of people. It made me giggle so much to see characters who were badly behaved, and it still does!
Did you always wish to be a writer for children?
Yes definitely. I write to entertain my inner child first and foremost, but I find making children laugh to be one of the most pleasing things it is possible to do in this world. I’m a bit hooked on trying to do that!
What was the inspiration behind the story of Who Ate Steve?
Who Ate Steve is based on two old pets, both lovable scoundrels. The first was a prayingmantis belonging to my son, whose name was Luke Skywalker. We would put crickets in his pot for him to eat. Later that day if I happened to pass by his pot he would freeze, mid pounce, claws in the air, and swivel one eye slowly towards me as if he was checking out whether he had been rumbled or not. I just loved this. It made me laugh so much. Marcel. does something very similar - freeze when he thinks he may have been caught. The other was my cat Oscar who always behaved himself abysmally, at the worst possible moments. Once my children carefully nurtured a pot of caterpillars into beautiful butterflies, but on the magical day we came to release them, Oscar pounced out of a bush and snapped the first one up in one gollop. For shame, Oscar Lloyd!
Do you have any pets, or a favourite animal or bird?
No current pets, but my favourite bird is the pelican. There is a fantastic video on social media of an over ambitious pelican slyly trying to eat a massive capybara (an animal rather like a huge guinea pig.) All he can manage is to fit its beak around the capybara, as if casually measuring it for size, no more. Just the sort of thing Marcel would do.
Which of the illustrations in the book is your absolute favourite?
My favourite image is when Marcel gets into a big huff because the narrator keeps interfering in his plans to eat his favourite worm. He is sticking his legs out in front of him, wings crossed, and his feathers are all fluffed up. He looks put out, SO petulant. I love it.
What do you think is the most powerful aspect of picture books?
Visual storytelling, which I think is very underappreciated. So many people think that the ultimate aim is to get a child reading for themselves and abandon use of pictures. I despair when I hear parents in bookshops telling a child a book is too young for them. There is no such thing! A good picture book is enjoyable for any age. I am 48 and definitely not too old for a picture book. I love to see stories as well as hear/read them. It is a magical combination.
Who Ate Steve makes a fantastic read aloud. What would you say is the most important reason to read aloud to children?
My happiest memories of when my children were younger were of reading a book together with them. We enjoyed reading funny books together especially, books like the Mr Gum series by Andy Stanton. Laughter is meant to be ‘the shortest distance between two people’ (Victor Borge) and I really believe that to be true. Reading together and laughing together is a wonderful way to connect.
What is the biggest challenge when creating a picture book?
For me it is making sure that there is enough space for the reader so that they are active in, enjoying the story, deducing, and thinking, and working things out for themselves. So often for a writer, what you edit out of your text, what you decide not to say, is just as important as what you decide to leave in. But this is the tricky part – making sure that things are not overly explained, yet clear enough so all kids will get it.
What is your top tip for young children wanting to write a story?
Get away from sitting and looking at the scary piece of blank paper on your desk! It is too intimidating to try to write that way. Rebecca Solnit wrote that the mind works at its best at three miles an hour and I am sure that must be true. I can’t generate any ideas at all at my desk. I need to head out and get walking. I’ll be walking along, with a totally blank mind, and all of a sudden some random characters will start talking to each other in my head, and I have to stop, grab my notebook, and scribble it all down before all that chatter evaporates.
Find our more about Susannah's books at www.susannahlloyd.com or follow her on Instagram, or check out our Who Ate Steve book box here!
