Emma Yarlett

Nibbles the Dinosaur Guide
Emma Yarlett

About Author

Emma Yarlett grew up in Leicester before moving to study illustration at University College Falmouth in Cornwall. Whilst there she began working as a freelance illustrator and in her third year was 'Highly Commended' in the Macmillan Prize for her book Sidney and his Shadow. After attending the Bologna Book Fair, she was offered her first book deal before graduating with a First Class Honours degree in 2011.

Since graduation Emma's work has been exhibited at various shows including the Picture This exhibition at Foyles Bookshop, and has also produced a clothing line, The Cornish Tale Collection.

Emma's first book, Sidney, Stella and the Moon, published by Templar, was longlisted for the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal 2014 and shortlisted for the Cambridge Read it Again 2014 Picture Book Awards. Her second book, Orion and the Dark, was nominated for the Kate Greenaway Medal 2015. She has also published Poppy Pickle with Templar and created a novelty book, Nibbles The Book Monster, with Little Tiger Press and further collaborative books with Random House.

Emma has remained in Cornwall where she now lives with her husband.

Author link

www.emmayarlett.com;

Interview

NIBBLES: THE DINOSAUR GUIDE

LITTLE TIGER PRESS

APRIL 2018


After the joyful arrival of Nibbles: The Book Monster, it's a pleasure to encounter once again the cheeky little monster doing what he does best - nibbling through pages - but this time in a book about dinosaurs! Naturally, Nibbles ends up in a number of dangerous scrapes but as well as getting him into trouble, his nibbling habit is also often what saves him.

This is a perfect book to combine dinosaurs with a fabulous chase through the pages, alternating facts about dinosaurs with the chase to find Nibbles. Hugely entertaining!

We asked Nibbles's creator, Emma Yarlett, to tell us more about NIBBLES: THE DINOSAUR GUIDE:


Q: Why did you decide to create a sequel to Nibbles the Book Monster?

A: As soon as I handed in the final piece of artwork for Nibbles The Book Monster I knew that Nibbles' journey was only just beginning. As a character, he is an absolute joy and hoot to have around. And with an appetite as large as his I felt his story had to continue to be told.

Entering his world again when I started working on Nibbles The Dinosaur Guide was super, but also a new type of brain worm. I (much to my own annoyance) couldn't face doing the same format as book one, and so finding a new way for him to interact with a book wasn't straightforward. But neither was book one!

SO I did very much enjoy having Nibbles around again - but he is always incredibly hard work!


Q: Did you find creating it easier than the first book as you knew the character already?

A: In some ways it was a lot easier as the character was already there... I knew how to push him around a page and how he would react and interact to whatever he was faced with.

In other ways it was tricky as I didn't want to create a second book just for the sake of it... but for it to be a standalone book - one that could be read on its own, or before your read book one, or after you read book one.


Q: Why did you send him into a book about dinosaurs?
- Was it harder or easier to write the text that is essentially non fiction (it was fairy tales in the first book) and how did you decide to tackle it?

A: It was by far my favourite idea for where Nibbles would go next, and the idea of putting him in amongst a group of dinosaurs - or essentially - prehistoric monsters - I thought would be wonderfully exciting.

Having a non-fiction text to work with - alongside the story elements - was a huge bonus. I love non-fiction books, and there are so many wonderful highly illustrated ones around at the moment - but I liked the idea of hiding them in a picture book.

Dinosaur-lovers and non-dinosaur lovers alike can hopefully get on board with these sneaky, subtle and maybe slightly more palatable dinosaur wonderments.


Q: The colour palette varies through the book - using full colour for the story and single-colour for the non fiction sections. Can you tell us how that developed?

A: I wanted the book to have a slightly more traditional 'encyclopaedic' look on the chapter heads for each dinosaur chapter. It felt like a lovely natural nod to the reams of non-fiction dinosaur books that have come before, and I liked the idea of using muted jewel tones to clearly define each dinosaur and thus each chapter.

It also felt like a wonderful way to break up the story - having a strong introduction to each book and then entering each of their personal 'worlds', wherever they might be on the globe.


Q: The flaps and peep-throughs are so integral to the story, how hard was it to plan the book?

A: It was and always is tricky! I don't like to waste them (they are an expensive element after all!) and so I really like them to be SO integral and form an exciting and interesting part of the storyline.

That said - it does give you a little bit of a headache sitting at a desk and trying to iron them all out in your head. Thankfully my brain is wired a little differently and so I can kind of get my head around it, but there's still times I have to walk away and have a quick chocolate break before coming back and trying to work it out.


Q: Even though there isn't a huge amount of text, did you still need to do a lot of research into dinosaurs? Do you have a favourite dino?

A: YES. So much research! I think the seven-year-old version of me would think researching dinosaurs as a part of 'my job' would be the best thing ever... But 27-year-old me found it a bit much at times! But hopefully my new found knowledge will make me an excellent member of a pub quiz team.

I think my favourite dinosaur would be the Diplodocus. They are just so huge and weird. And I love the mystery and confusion that surrounded them for so many years (at one point scientists thought they had a huge elephant trunk - can you imagine?!?).


Q: In the first book, Nibbles's holes meant some of the fairytales were 're-written'. How do Nibbles's holes affect the text in this story?

A: Again, hopefully they add another facet to the story. His nibble holes can disrupt the text sometimes in such a 'cough' accidentally 'cough' wonderful way!


Q: What media have you used for the different sections?

A: I think the best way to describe it would be 'A broad array of bits and bobs'. The bigger bits are gouache paint, pencil, collage and pen. The bigger bobs are Arches' watercolour paper and craft paper!


A: Were there any sections that presented particular challenges?

Q: Like the Jack and the Beanstalk section in Nibbles The Book Monster, the difficult section in this book was the Velociraptor section. Melding the facts with the storyline and interaction with Nibbles has its challenged at points - but with a bit of poking from a rather large stick - I think the dinosaurs all did as they were told in the end.


Q: Will there be another Nibbles book and if so, where will you take him?

A: There may well be one more... but I can't say anything about that quite yet. But let's just say that the clues for his future adventures may be hidden in the books somewhere.


Q: Can you tell us a bit about what you do during your school events?

A: I have the most wonderful of times! Its like being a kid again! I'll generally say a little hello and tell everyone a little bit about myself, what being an illustrator and author is like and try and encourage children that the arts are super important and worth pursuing!

Then I'll jump into a little bit of live action retelling of the book where sometimes little Nibbles runs amok (but only if everyone's sitting very quietly). After that I might do a bit of craft with the children, perhaps get them creating their own characters and their own stories, perhaps teach them how to draw a certain little yellow chap... as much as I can fit in to the allowed time! But the plan is always just to have the most fun.

When I was a little school bean I don't remember ever meeting an author or illustrator... or ever being told that I could one day be an author or illustrator... so I always hope to be the grown-up I'd have loved to have met at school. The plan is to do myself out of a job eventually with lots of young and wonderfully creative people! Fingers crossed it works!


Q: Where do you create your books?

A: I create my books from a lovely little studio space in Falmouth, Cornwall. I sit surrounded by paint, books and pencils next to my husband and overlook the wonderful little coffee shop Espressini. Sometimes a little dog called Charlie works in the studio with me. Sometimes a seagull might poop on my window. Sometime I hear the ships hooting in the distance. It's rather wonderful.


Q: What are your top tips for children for creating a great picture book character?

A: Imagine they are ALIVE. In fact... they are alive! Talk to them, draw them over and over again, pop them into different situations, see what they do, how they react what expressions they pull.

Perhaps focus on one particular part of there personality... For example, Nibbles has lots of different parts to his personality... but his most important part is his appetite! If your character feels too run-of-the-mill, pick a few important parts of their character and exaggerate them. Or think of something that might wonderfully transform them physically or emotionally... where could they go? What could they do?

One of the things I do when I am visiting a school and running a character workshop is ask lots and lots of questions about the children's characters... it helps so much to create a rounded and real character.


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

A: Making and doing... in any capacity! My husband and I have been refurbishing our home for the last few years in our spare time. I also love to knit and bake and crochet. I recently made over 100 pom poms and sewed them into a really long pom pom garland.

I also can't help but knit a baby hat for every baby that I know. And I'm hoping to learn to weave soon! I'm a maker through and through. It does my husbands head in sometimes when I keep jostling him with my elbow whilst knitting...

 

 

 

NIBBLES: THE BOOK MONSTER

LITTLE TIGER PRESS

APRIL 2016


In this enticing picture book we follow the mischievous Nibbles the Book Monster as he chews his way through some traditional fairy stories, bringing havoc and changing endings as he goes. Will you, the reader, be able to stop him from disrupting more stories...?

We asked author / illustrator EMMA YARLETT to tell us more about her latest picture book creation.

Q: Can you tell us a bit more about how you became a picture book creator?

A: My mum was a teacher and so I grew up with lot of books in the house, and after school I used to go to her classroom and it was filled with picture books. So I grew up with picture books and always loved the art of pictures and creating things by following programmes like Art Attack. I remember trying to create a 3D game of Naughts and Crosses in the kitchen - honestly, it was a bit of a mess!

I went on to study art at Falmouth College of Art and had decided to focus on illustration during my A level in graphic design. We were allowed to look at a specific designer and I had chosen to study Quentin Blake.

I knew that after completing my illustration degree I'd pursue a career in illustration so while studying, I concentrated on making industry contacts because I knew I needed to make a living at it.

I did a two-week work placement with Little Tiger so I had a long-standing relationship with them and while I was still at university I worked with them on Steve Smallman's Bear's Big Bottom, and I entered competitions like the Macmillan Prize for Children's Illustration.

I mainly work on children's books now but I also do other typographical projects and I've just finished a huge artwork for the Church of England.


Q: What for you makes a great picture book concept?

A: I think it's about finding a simple hook within the idea and trying to see what I would have loved about it as a child.

For this book, what appealed to me was that anarchy of a monster running wild and causing havoc. In another of my books, Orion and the Dark, the idea of the dark coming alive felt magical to me. I then run with the idea and try to pare back the text and keep it accessible.


Q: Did you draw lots of different 'Nibbles' to get his look right?

A: We worked quite hard at getting Nibbles' 'look' right; he had to be endearing rather than frightening, which is hard when he has got such a big mouth and so many teeth! But from the start he looked to similar to how he ended up, we just wanted him to be as 'mouthy' as possible, and he was always yellow.


Q: There is a lot of paper engineering in Nibbles: The Book Monster, including holes in the pages and 'books within books'. How did those elements develop?

A: I really like the idea of having a book with some paper engineering or novelty elements and Little Tiger was happy to work on a picture book with novelties with me.

We decided on the die cut cover with holes through the subsequent pages so we could bring to life the idea of Nibbles chewing through the pages of the story. I also wanted to introduce the idea of 'books within books'. The Jolly Postman had been one of my favourite books as a child and I liked books that had quite a clever idea behind them.


Q: How did you decide which fairy tales Nibbles would find a way into?

A: There were three main things we wanted from the stories we chose. First, they had to be stories that Nibbles could disrupt in some way, and food was a very good way to do that, hence Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

The stories also needed to be really loved and be well known by children. They couldn't be too strange and unfriendly and had to be known internationally.

Finally, there had to be an obvious moment for Nibbles to interrupt the story.

Goldilocks and the Three Bears was always an obvious choice and I put that together first. I had to choose which part of the fairytale Nibbles would interrupt and it felt very natural doing so when Goldilocks is eating the porridge.

It was harder to know where to interrupt Little Red Riding Hood and in this book, Nibbles has to speak because it didn't work without that. In Jack and the Beanstalk, Nibbles interrupts the story when Jack is about to steal the Golden Goose.


Q: What were the most challenging parts of the story to bring together?

A: By coming into the fairy tales, Nibbles changes them and I thought it would be extra fun to write out the blurb for each book as if he was about the original story. Then Nibbles chews out the words from the blurb and so he changes the blurb just as he has changed the action in the pages. It was quite hard to get it right.

The most complex pages to put together, though, were the map pages where children are asked if they can find Nibbles as he runs between the piles of books. If children look closely they can see which books he will end up in as he nibbles his way through the stories. It was quite hard to get the perspective on that spread.

We also had to lay out each of the pages very precisely so that when Nibbles went through one hole, he'd end up in the right place on the next page.


Q: How did you plan the layout and get the holes in the right places?

A: I created a rough of the book by hand, then did the sketches by hand and scanned those in to get the placement right digitally.

I decided I wanted to do all the artwork by hand and so the rough had to be really precise and I had to transfer the finished images precisely onto watercolour paper, but it did mean I could make tweaks to the pages digitally.


Q: Why did you decide to create the artwork by hand rather than digitally?

A: I have found from the other books I've worked on that I really enjoy creating things by hand even if it takes longer. I create books because I love doing it and I suppose that working digitally could be a more efficient way of doing it but I lose the enjoyment of creativity.

I enjoy creating things with my hands and having the artwork in front of me and fingerprints within the paint. It's not quite as perfect as it would be if it was created digitally but for me, it's more satisfying.


Q: What media did you work with to create the images in Nibbles: The Book Monster?

A: Most of the illustrations for Nibbles have been created using pencil, gouache paint and crayons although for the spread with all the books and the map, I also used collage, pencil and pen.

Each of the little books were different so I used watercolour for Goldilocks, watercolour and gouache for Little Red Riding Hood and watercolour and collage for Jack and the Beanstalk; so I used what I normally do but separately, and so Nibbles stands out, he doesn't look like he's in his own book when he's in these pages.


Q: Did you design the cover as well?

A: Yes I did. This was originally going to be a crate (in the story, Nibbles it put into the crate to stop him chewing the books...) but it was felt that this didn't really say what was inside the book, it needed to be more explicit, although some other countries including the US preferred the crate cover. I like both versions for different reasons.


Q: What do you do during your school and library events?

A: I live in the South West and do school events in my region. These will include doing readings and encouraging children to draw along with me.

We can also organise Nibbles treasure hunts around the library to find out which books Nibbles has hidden in, something that helps teach children how to find books in the library.

Author's Titles