Ali Pye
About Author
Ali Pye is the author and illustrator of a number of picture books, including You Can Never Run Out of Love and Rosie Is My Best Friend.
The Adventures of Harry Stevenson is her first fiction series and was inspired by a real-life guinea pig (who turned out to be a girl and was re-named Harriet Stevenson). She lives in Twickenham with her husband, children and two guinea pigs: Beryl and Badger.
Interview
THE ADVENTURES OF HARRY STEVENSON
SIMON & SCHUSTER CHILDREN'S BOOKS
JUNE 2019
THE ADVENTURES OF HARRY STEVENSON, inspired by a real guinea pig, follows a food-and-sleep loving guinea pig called Harry Stevenson, who also proves to be quite feisty when he discovers his family has just moved house - without him! In these two adventures, Harry finds himself fighting dogs, hitching rides on passing trucks and accidentally flying. The stories are eye-catching with great illustrations by Ali Pye.
We asked author ALI PYE to tell us more about THE ADVENTURES OF HARRY STEVENSON:
Q: You both write and illustrate stories for children - which came first for you, and how did you move into writing for children?
A: I always wanted to be an author and illustrator but although I went to art college for my first degree it wasn't until I studied for an MA in illustration in my late 30's that I got around to doing either. I illustrated my first book in 2011 and I'm currently working on my 30th!
I've mostly illustrated other people's stories in picture or chapter books; I've written three picture books but I don't find it particularly easy. The Adventures of Harry Stevenson is my first fiction book. I pitched Harry as a picture book character to Simon & Schuster, but Lucy Rogers in the fiction team fell in love with him. I had to jump right in and get writing, hoping that something decent would emerge, and luckily the story started to flow after a while.
Q: These are very warm stories about an adorable, football-loving pet guinea pig - what inspired Harry Stevenson, and his name?
A: Harry Stevenson was a real-life guinea pig. He lived with my family and was a lovely little chap. My children chose his name - they couldn't decide whether to call him after Harry Potter or Steve Backshall the TV presenter (they were really into Deadly 60 at the time), so we combined the two names.
Q: Why did you decide to make this pet a guinea pig rather than some other small rodent?
A: Sorry if any hamsters, gerbils, mice or fancy rats are reading this, but guinea pigs are simply THE BEST small rodent. They have so much character, are adorably plump and are very sociable. What other rodent will 'wheek wheek' when you open the fridge, involuntarily jump up in the air with joy (it's called 'popcorning'), or lie on your chest with their heads down flat, gazing up at you like a little dog? None! I rest my case.
Q: Did you have guinea pigs or other pets as a child? What would have been your dream pet then?
A: Yes, my first guinea pigs were called Timmy and Browny and led a carefree life scampering around a Herefordshire orchard in the 1970s. We had lots of pets - a lovely scruffy dog, several cats and quite a few chickens.
My sister and I named the guinea pigs, but my dad named all the other animals after players from Ipswich Town Football Club or Essex County Cricket Club. So the dog was called Jay (after cricketer JK Lever), the cat was called Fletcher (after the wily Essex captain) and the chickens were called Mills, Mariner and Muhren after the famed ITFC line-up of the late 1970s. We also had a cat called Thijssen, named after another Ipswich player from that era.
My dream pet back then would have been a fox, but it would have made short work of Timmy and Browny, so it's a good job that was only a dream.
Q: What would you say are Harry's main characteristics, and what made him fun to write about?
A: There are two sides to Harry: the indolent lounger who loves to eat, and the loving pet who will do anything for his best friend Billy. He's fun to write about because he is a reluctant, timid adventurer who accidentally achieves amazing things.
Q: Given that Harry lives mainly in a cage inside Billy's bedroom, was it hard to think of adventures that you could take him on?
A: No, it was OK because Harry has his family, the Smiths, to help him exit the flat - whether he's meant to or not. The sky is the limit, as Harry finds in the story!
Q: In the first story, Harry moves house together with Billy and his family. Why did you decide to make that the focus of the first book?
A: I wanted the first book to start in a domestic situation, but with some change and movement to add pace to the narrative. Also, moving house can be a big deal for children, so it is a realistic problem without being too full on and scary.
Billy doesn't find it easy to settle into his family's new flat, and Harry does his best to make his friend feel better.
Q: Despite all the mishaps, Harry does a great job of reassuring Billy when he's down. Was it this connection between children and their pets an important part of these stories for you?
A: Yes. I've watched my children interacting with our guinea pigs over the last seven years. My older son in particular loves to pick up his favourite pig and chill out on the sofa together. It seems very calming and comforting, and guinea pigs can be very affectionate to humans, if they are treated properly. It's well documented that having a pet (or even just stroking an animal), is beneficial to people's wellbeing.
Billy and Harry are best friends - although we do point out in the book that in real life, guinea pigs need to live with other guinea pigs as they are very sociable animals. I believe that it's actually illegal in Switzerland to keep just one guinea pig on its own.
Q: The illustrations are gorgeous - why did you want to illustrate as well as write this story, and how did you decide what Harry and his family would look like?
A: Thank you. I think that Harry is too personal to me (as he's based on a real-life pet) to have been illustrated by anyone else. I wanted him to look fairly plain, as he's a very ordinary guinea pig. I wanted the Smiths just to be ordinary, modern people too, not particularly well off, just muddling through, as you do, but full of love and happiness in each other's company.
I think Mr Smith is quite cool, he's into football, wears a Sparky FC bucket hat, and in the next book he and Mrs Smith go to what Harry calls a 'Northern Soul Wheekender'.
Q: What next for Harry and Billy?
A: I'm currently in the middle of the second book, which contains even more greed-induced escapades for poor Harry. The action moves to a school and a hotel - and Harry thwarts a crime!
Q: Where do you write and illustrate the Harry Stevenson stories?
A: I have a tiny box room office where I write and draw. There's not a great deal of space but it seems to work.
Q: Can you tell us what you do in your school events for the Harry Stevenson books?
A: With all my events I hope to make them as interactive as possible, and contain a good chunk of drawing for the children. I usually do some live drawing, and a reading, and aim to come up with something that's fun and creative at the end.
Q: What are your favourite escapes from making books?
A: I don't do enough to get out of my tiny box room: I need to make sure that I do other things as it's not very healthy or good for my state of mind. So I'm hoping to get a dog in the autumn, and do lots of walking together.
My favourite evening escape is going to gigs - we are very lucky in our part of London as there's a small venue (Banquet in Kingston) that gets some excellent bands.
