The comic inspirations behind Swapna Reddy's new Reggie Rabbit series

Reggie Rabbit: The Ghost of Seagull Rock
The comic inspirations behind Swapna Reddy's new Reggie Rabbit series

About Author

Humour, comic-style illustrations and daring-do will have children reaching for the new Reggie Rabbit books by Swapna Reddy, illustrated by Becka Moor.  

Swapna Reddy also writes as Swapna Haddow, author of the Dave Pigeon books. Friendship and humour are always at the heart of what she loves to write. Swapna lives in New Zealand with her husband, son, and their dog, Archie.

Becka Moor lives in Manchester with her partner and two cats, Hank and Martha. Since graduating in 2012, Becka has illustrated over 70 books. She has a real passion for strong character design and funny stories. 

 

Interview

Reggie Rabbit and the Ghost of Seagull Rock  (OUP Children's Books)

October 2024

You might remember Swapna Reddy as the author Swapna Haddow, whose Dave Pigeon series has done so much to encourage young readers.  Now she has turned her attention to a new hero, the aspiring detective Reggie Rabbit, although these highly illustrated novels have a more edgy, Batman-esque tone, which Swapna attributes to her early love of comics.  The Reggie Rabbit books, The Great Carrot Heist and The Ghost of Seagull Rock, are illustrated by Becka Moor.

Review:  "The Reggie Rabbit series is the perfect combination of narrative and graphic novel which will keep the young chapter book reader from beginning to end."

Find out more about Reggie Rabbit from author Swapna Reddy in this short video, and explore how illustrated books can support children's reading development in this month's Q&A.

 

Q&A with Swapna Reddy and Becka Moor, exploring the inspiration for Reggie Rabbit

"Readers from the age of five to ten years old have just discovered their reading superpowers -
but I think visual literacy is still very important to nurture at this age."


1. Can you tell us a little about yourselves, and how you started writing and illustrating for children? What would your dream job be if you weren't a writer / illustrator?

Swapna:  Writing is how I have always expressed myself.  I kept journals as a kid, wrote poetry and would even write and make short storybooks to barter with in the playground.  I think if I wasn't a writer, I would probably be a detective.  I think both authors and detectives have to be a bit nosy about the world to be able to do their jobs and I'm very nosy!

Becka:   I've always loved drawing and doing anything crafty and creative.  I remember illustrating my first book at the age of seven for my neighbour who had written a story about her two boisterous cocker spaniels. It was never published of course, but from that day it's all I wanted to do.  If I weren't illustrating, I'd love to run my own bakery!


2.   What kinds of books do you enjoy creating?

Swapna:  I love writing things that make me laugh.  I'm not sure if they make anyone else laugh but if I'm enjoying the process, I'm hoping whoever is reading the finished book will enjoy the read.

Becka:  I absolutely love illustrating grumpy characters with frowny faces.  My favourite books to illustrate are definitely funny, silly books!


3.   What happens in Reggie Rabbit's adventures - The Carrot Heist and The Ghost of Seagull Rock?

Swapna:   I don't want to give too much away but both books follow young Reggie Rabbit who is an aspiring detective.  In each book he’s trying to solve a case. In The Great Carrot Heist, he's looking at the mystery behind hundreds of missing carrots and in The Ghost of Seagull Rock, he's investigating the truth behind some spooky sightings.

Reggie not only has to solve these mysteries but he's also navigating making new friends and the meeting his heroes. It's a brilliant series to work on because it has a bit of everything.


4.   Swapna, what inspired these detective stories, and the urban mysteries they need to solve? Is the setting based on a place you know and does your own town help to inspire your stories?

Swapna:  I worked really closely with my editor and we established early on that we wanted a gothic, Gotham-esque vibe to the book.  I took heaps of inspiration from Batman and Dick Tracy comics.   All the mysteries in the books had to feel like they would happen in the city of Bearburgh and would be what a young rabbit detective would investigate, so of course carrots feature heavily and lots of villainous animals do, too.


5.   Can you tell us about the format of the books, and why you wanted to tell the story through images as well as text? Were you a comic reader as a child?

Swapna:   I love writing young illustrated fiction. Readers from the age of five years old to ten years old have just discovered their reading superpowers, but I think visual literacy is still very important to nurture at this age. Combining text, illustrations and comics is the perfect mix for this age group.

I loved reading comics as a child - in fact, I still do! I grew up on a diet of Amar Chitra Katha and Archie comics so illustrated text is something I'm always drawn to.


6.   Do you enjoy creating animal characters? Who are the main characters in The Ghost of Seagull Rock and what do readers learn about friendship through their adventures?

Swapna:   I love writing animal characters because you can break all the health and safety rules! It's tricky to put human child characters in the situations I like to put pigeons, pandas and rabbits in and I'm not sure any editor would let me so I default to animals so I can have a bit of fun!

The main characters you will meet in The Ghost of Seagull Rock are Reggie, the young detective, Pipsquark, Reggie's best friend and Kai, Pipsquark's good friend.  Reggie isn't too keen on Kai to begin with and I think that's a lot to do with the fact that both he and Kai share a best friend in Pipsquark.  It's hard to share a bestie.  Both Reggie and Kai learn to navigate this space and discover things about each other that help them build their very own friendship.


7.   Becka, how did you decide on the style of illustration and look of each character? What is it like working with rabbits and raccoons, birds and bears, as characters?

Swapna: Becka, you are brilliant and I love you!

Becka:   As soon as I was told what the series would be about, and what kind of world the characters lived in, I knew I had to illustrate it. Swapna's stories are so full of fun and adventure, and her characters just leap off the page. I knew straight away I wanted them to look bold and really expressive, and that this would work well with the limited palette and comic-style spreads.

Drawing animals is one of my favourite things because you can really lean in to their physical attributes and exaggerate them, yet they look so different from each other, and if done well, you can easily tell what they're feeling, or if they're thinking mischievous thoughts...


8.   What is your favourite moment or spread in The Ghost of Seagull Rock?

Swapna:   I always love the moment where Reggie has figured it all out and in that moment, he explains how he pieced the solution to the mystery together. It reminds me of the moment in an Agatha Christie novel where all the potential suspects are gathered in a room and there's a dramatic final reveal of the culprit but with a rabbit and a bunch of raccoons instead.

Becka:  I really love the spread where Kai is telling us about The Famous Seagull Pirate.


9.   What else do you have planned for Reggie Rabbit? What are you working on currently and where is your favourite place to go for inspiration?

Swapna:   There are more adventures for Reggie on the way. We are working on a jewellery heist and a mystery involving underground tunnels and a mouse community. It's all very exciting!   

Whenever I need inspiration, I go to stories. Whether it's books or podcasts or movies or gossiping with a pal, being surrounded by stories will always inspire a story in me.


10.   We learn a lot about the characters and the places they live in these stories. What kinds of things do you enjoy about the places where you live? And have you ever uncovered any mysteries of your own there?

Swapna: I live in beautiful Aotearoa, New Zealand, near the coast - and it's the best place on earth! I've seen penguins and seals and dolphins and whales in the wild and we have absolutely stunning beaches.

There are a whole bunch of spooky myths about different places in my city, Dunedin. I haven't seen any ghosts (yet) though I am currently trying to solve the mystery of who ate the last Jaffa Cake from my secret stash . . .

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