Smriti Prasadam-Halls
About Author
Smriti Prasadam-Halls is an award-winning, internationally bestselling British author whose books for children include I Love You Night and Day, The Ways of the Wolf and Don't Call Me Sweet.
Smriti worked for the BBC and across children's publishing and television for 12 years, as a writer and commissioning editor. She began writing books of her own in 2012 and is now published in more than 30 languages worldwide.
Smriti lives and works in London with her husband and three sons.
Interview
THE LITTLE ISLAND
ANDERSEN PRESS
OCTOBER 2019
While politics and Brexit have dominated headlines and airspace for the past three years, these are not easy subjects to introduce in the classroom. So how do you handle children's questions about politics, and ensure that the politically divisive landscape beyond the school gates doesn't impact on a schools' naturally inclusive and supportive atmosphere?
SMRITI PRASADAM-HALLS's new picture book, THE LITTLE ISLAND, illustrated by ROBERT STARLING, is a brilliant introduction for young children to ideas of democracy and inclusivity.
The picture book follows what happens to the geese and ducks that live on a small island within a pleasant farm, after the geese vote to keep all the other animals off their island.
The story ultimately highlights the benefits of teamwork and inclusivity without being overtly political, providing a sensitive way to handle discussions about how we can all live and work together.
We asked author SMRITI PRASADAM-HALLS what inspired her to create THE LITTLE ISLAND and how the picture book can be used to explore some of these issues and ideas:
Q: What brought you into writing picture books?
A: I was a children's commissioning editor for several years. As editor, I originated ideas and wrote dozens of texts for wonderful illustrators, including several for Axel Scheffler.
Whilst I very much enjoyed commissioning fabulous authors and illustrators and writing books in-house, I realised more and more that I wanted to focus on writing and that there were things I wanted to say and stories I wanted to tell as myself, and not the publisher.
I decided to send out a couple of picture book texts of my own... just to see what happened. The first was something that I'd written to one of my sisters and the other a funny story I'd written for my boys. To my joy, they were both picked up and I've been writing picture books ever since.
Q: Can you tell us a little about your writing, are there particular subjects you enjoy writing about?
A: My stories are peopled by characters as varied as carrot crunching t-rexes, feisty little monsters, human aliens and elephants wearing underpants. I want to make children laugh, have fun and help them to become life-long lovers of books. In spite of the wide assortment of characters, there are very definite themes that run through my writing.
Several of my books are concerned with identity - trying to work out who you are and your place in the world. My characters are often trying to fit in - or not, and confronting others' expectations of who they are and what they should be. I am concerned with what it feels like to be in your own skin - and how it feels to be in someone else's. I'm interested in challenging stereotypes and representing those who are underrepresented.
Several stories are concerned with the larger issues that affect us in our world today - the environment and social politics. I'm keen to write books that raise questions and push boundaries, that challenge how we think of ourselves and others and open up discussion on some tricky subjects.
And in everything, I have always tried to write powerfully and empathetically about love, acceptance and compassion. These are the messages that surrounded me as a child and shaped who I am; I want to reassure and empower my readers - children and adults alike.
Q: What for you makes a good picture book text?
A: My favourite picture book stories are first and foremost, a pleasure to read aloud. They are those that use words in a careful and considered enough way to allow room for the pictures. They take me on a journey where I'm not certain where I'll end up - or at least how I'll get there.
They are those which move me deeply - either with humour, emotion or the sheer skill of the storytelling. They are the stories which creatively and cleverly challenge me to think.
Q: What was the inspiration behind writing your latest picture book, The Little Island?
A: I was inspired to write this book as a personal response to the emerging national and international political situation of the last few years and the wider, divisive social behaviours that were emerging. I wanted to find a way of translating this complexity in a way children - and adults - could understand.
I wanted to present the big issues in the form of an allegorical story, with different layers of understanding, allowing readers the space and opportunity to respond to the story at whatever level they chose - first and foremost as a story of solidarity and friendship - and further, if they or their parent or teacher chose, as a spring board to discuss some of the parallels with today's political landscape.
Most of all, I wanted to create something hopeful out of the chaos and to counter the language of division and hate with a story of hope.
Q: Why did you choose that title?
A: No goose is an island... The title is connected to a piece of writing by the poet John Donne (or John Duck according to the dedication page at the front of the book), in which he says, "No man is an island entire of itself". It expresses the idea that people work best in community with others, not in isolation. It gave me the perfect setting for my story - and the perfect title for the book.
The word "little" is a metaphor for how small minded we are sometimes when we aren't respectful of others around us and are unwilling to share what we have. It's also a reminder of the fact that although we may believe ourselves to be big and mighty, to others we may appear small and vulnerable all on our own... where foxes may be lurking just around the corner.
Q: Why did you decide to set this story in a farm?
A: Well, I couldn't resist the obvious connection with a rather famous fable, also set on a farm full of animals! However, quite aside from this, a farm felt an ideal setting for the themes I wanted to explore. It's the perfect illustration of interdependence: a community working together, helping each other, and whose survival and prosperity relies on the contribution that all its members make.
It's also such a wonderful picture book setting. It's so friendly and familiar that it makes it easy for children to immediately feel affection for all the creatures living on the farm - flaws, feathers and all.
Q: How difficult was it to encapsulate the kinds of divisions you explore between the animals in a picture book text?
A: It flowed very naturally, very organically, and I was astonished by the parallels that kept appearing during the process of writing.
I was able to absorb into the story big issues of division but also more subtle references to things that stoke that division: a glorification of the past, fear or resentment of 'others', lack of appreciation or understanding about their contribution and involvement. Set on a farm, with a cast of delightful ducks, geese and assorted animals, these topics played out with a degree of humour and warmth that made them accessible and relatable.
Children understand division - they navigate the complexity of relationships all the time within their own friendships and home life. There's much here about how we work out our differences that they can relate to.
Q: And also to find a way to describe for younger children the politics of discussion and debate, protest, democracy and difference?
A: At the crucial part of this story, the animals of the farm raise their voices together to show solidarity and to protect others. I hope it demonstrates to children that it's important to speak up and use our voice to counter injustice; to protect our fellow animals when they are in need and to stand up for the values we believe in - whether that's sticking up for another person on the playground, challenging how our country faces issues around the environment or thinking carefully about how we use our vote when we're older. We are all connected with and engaged with one another.
As this is a PICTURE book, much is conveyed through illustration. A single protest banner reading 'better together' sums up so much about the debate. How much these themes are explored will be up to the parents, carers and teachers who read this book with children. This is a springboard, a way of opening up the topic. The choice about how deeply they delve in is theirs.
There is a school's discussion guide available to help teachers focus on various aspects of the book, full of curriculum based activities and fun games for both KS1 and KS2. CLPE have also developed their own set of in-depth teaching notes for the KS2 classroom.
Q: What was the hardest message to get across in this picture book?
A: None of it felt difficult. I think that's because I had no real agenda when I sat down to write this. It was an experiment and, to begin with, as much for me as anyone else... a way of processing recent events and converting them into a set of circumstances I could more readily understand.
Stripping it back in this way helped me to feel a lot more compassion for all involved and closer to the essential truths. There are no absolute baddies here, merely creatures who take a course of action and then push on with it in spite of their obvious unhappiness - "at least we are happy" they grumble in clear misery.
Perhaps writing it with no expectations and certainly no sense of wanting to 'teach' something helped it to emerge very holistically. I simply wanted to present a picture and open up the conversation. And because it's a book for children (the biggest of whom is myself!) I wanted to convey the message that it's never too late to make friends and build bridges - it needed to be a book of hope which believed the best of everyone... in the end.
Q: Is it important that younger children are given ways to understand what is happening politically?
A: I think it is. I believe it's better that we try to engage with children's questions on big issues thoughtfully and sensitively in the safe spaces of home and school, rather than leaving them to pick up what they know from inflammatory newspaper headlines or angry conversations they might overhear... even when we don't have all the answers.
The seemingly simple format of a picture book has frequently explored the big issues of the day and encouraged its readers to think about political topics. There are many excellent examples, from When the Wind Blows by Raymond Briggs and David McKee's understated The Conquerors, to more recent titles like The Day War Came by Nicola Davies & Rebecca Cobb and The Suitcase by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros.
And we KNOW that children are interested. Regarding the current 'big issue'; OUP chose 'Brexit' as the 2019 children's word of the year, following the huge number of stories entered in this year's 500 words competition which demonstrated wonderful creativity and a real desire to 'fix Brexit' - with the help of cats and unicorns of course - and why not? Children have irrepressible inventiveness and curiosity; how hopeful that feels for our future.
Q: What would you like children (and adult!) readers to take from your story?
A: The Little Island carries a message of solidarity and hope, of tolerance and compassion; of valuing those around us, of noticing one another and the richness of the society we live in.
I would like my readers to take away the belief that although relationships aren't always perfect, it's never too late to build and rebuild bridges - and that in togetherness, we can overcome danger and division, work out our differences and build a better future.
Q: Have you enjoyed seeing Robert Starling's images, do you have a favourite spread?
A: It has been a joy to see Rob's artwork bring the book to life. I have many favourites but the one I love most is the night-time scene in the barn where the geese call a midnight meeting. It gives me goose bumps whenever I look at it. Rob has created a scene crackling with extraordinary atmosphere and drama. I don't know how he has achieved this. Pure genius.
Q: Where is your favourite place to write and how does your writing day go?
A: Pure writing days are not as frequent as I'd like. I usually have several projects on the go simultaneously, all at different stages, and so I'm often at meetings, making edits, checking layouts or taking part in events or publicity, depending on where they are in the publishing process.
But when pure writing days DO happen, they are pure heaven. 'Where' can be, and has been, almost anywhere. I'm often at home - if I can reclaim a space that hasn't been invaded by origami, board games or history homework - but also in the library, the park, the car (I've occasionally had a sleeping child in the back seat), the train and so on. I love to have a view of the sky, but that's not imperative. The most important part for me are the conditions - complete quiet, comfortable clothes and much coffee.
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: I'm lucky enough to have several new picture books publishing in 2020 so I'm working on exciting ways to bring them and THE LITTLE ISLAND to life for schools and festivals - I'm very much looking forward to getting out and about with these books.
I'm also writing and refining several new texts and sequels, ready to be sent out into the world - always the most exciting and nerve-wracking part of the process!!
