Emma Yarlett dips into The Post Bag series

About Author

Discover Emma Yarlett's Unicorn Post and find out how The Post Bag series can help inspire a love of letters and writing.

Emma Yarlett grew up in Leicester then studied Illustration at University College Falmouth in Cornwall. She won the Macmillan Prize for Illustration 2011 and began her career as an author and illustrator. She now paints, draws, collages, designs, doodles, splatters and sketches for a living from her studio at home in Falmouth.

In her spare time, Emma loves to eat Jaffa cakes, craves pets and suppresses a desire to spend her entire income on colouring pencils.

Competition to win a set of The Post Bag series

Interview

August 2025

Emma Yarlett talks to ReadingZone about creating The Post Bag picture books (Walker Books)

Emma Yarlett's The Post Bag books bring a surprise on each page, with letters to read and maps and novelties to share; the perfect treats to inspire a love of stories, as well as introducing letter-writing, maps and other novelties.

ReadingZone spoke to Emma about the latest Post Bag book, Unicorn Post (Walker Books). Discover how a coal cellar helped inspire The Post Bag series, why Emma is so inspired by paper engineering and novelty elements, and how we can use The Post Bag books to entice young readers to become writers!

Q&A with Emma Yarlett, introducing her latest The Post Bag adventure, Unicorn Post

"One of my favourite things to do is to take an idea and then push the limits of how children can interact
through them with interactive and novelty elements."

1. Your series The Post Bag and the Nibbles the Book Monster books are full of heart and fun for young children. How do you get into the minds of your young readers?

I really, really, really love creating books, especially books that I hope I would have enjoyed as a child. One of my favourite things to do is to take an idea and then push the limits of how children can interact through them with interactive and novelty elements. It also really helps that I have a six-year-old bookworm daughter to try out all of my ideas on!

2. There are often novelty elements and paper engineering in your books. Why are you drawn to this for your picture book creations?

It's honestly has always been the way I envisage my stories - right from the very first book I created whilst studying Illustration at Falmouth! If there's a way to help the book deliver its message that involves paper engineering, I will always strive to use it to make the book as engaging as possible. It's also just really good fun, and I enjoy the process of working out all of the intricacies of how the book will work as a whole when put together.

3. Unicorn Post, Monster Post, Santa Post and Dragon Post are all part of The Post Bag series, can you tell us a little more about the series and what sparked the idea for the first book, Dragon Post?

My husband and his grandparents' house inspired the first title (Dragon Post) in The Post Bag series. Alex's grandparents lived in a Victorian terrace in Battersea, complete with a coal cellar. As a child, Alex was told that a Dragon lived in amongst the coal, and that if he peeped down into the cellar, he might catch a glimpse of the dragon. He never did quite see it, but he could often feel the warmth coming up through the floor, and imagined the dragon moving under the floorboards. Sometimes he even thought he spied a piece of coal moving - dislodged from where the dragon had just been!

This seed of an idea was then combined with my love of giving and receiving letters and interactive storytelling to create Dragon Post. And from there, all of the other books were spawned.

. . . Do you have a favourite from the series?

Oof a favourite . . . I think given Dragon Post book was inspired by my husband, it makes it very special. I really love the naughtiness of Monster Post ( I cackled at my desk whilst writing that one!), and the Christmas magic of Santa Post makes it such a festive feast!

But I must say, writing Unicorn Post has really been such a love letter to my daughter - and marks a new found confidence in the way I make art. In this book I felt at ease to be less of a perfectionist, and to allow my art to reveal it's imperfections and 'human-ness', with brush strokes and pencil marks clearly visible.

4. Why do children get so excited about the letters that come with each story? Do you hope The Post Bag series might inspire some letter-writing from young readers, too?

Ooo I hope so! Letter writing is becoming a bit of a lost art form, isn't it? But it is SO wonderful to receive something special in the post. I have one of my letters from my grandma framed and on our wall. She had such beautiful handwriting, and to read it makes me remember her so warmly and clearly. I will always try to imbue some of that in the richness and personality of each piece of 'post.'

5. Are you a letter-writer? Do you still write and receive letters - perhaps from your readers? What are your favourite kinds of letters?

I used to write often to my grandma, and have kept all of her letters to me - but nowadays my letter writing is a little more 'in-house'! Every night I doodle a little card to my daughter with a message to her and post it under her bedroom door. If I'm lucky I will also get a beautiful letter back in the morning! I also really encourage my daughter to write to her grandparents as much as she can, and she so enjoys having a letter from them arrive through our letterbox!

I do sometimes get some absolutely beautiful letters from readers of my books, it is always so special to receive such handmade and handwritten treasures.

6. What happens in your latest The Post Bag book, Unicorn Post, and what can children expect to find in the novelty flaps?

In this book we find a little girl having a wonderful imaginary tea party in her rainbow filled treehouse. Just when she thinks things couldn't get any more wonderful - there is a tap at her tree house door. And lo and behold - It's a unicorn!

After working out that the unicorn is obviously in desperate need of help to find a new place to live (and after having a biscuit), they set out on a quest to find the perfect unicorn home. This book features lots of interactive leaflets, invitations, maps and coupons that show the potential of all of her wild ideas - ending with one piece of very special unicorn post.

7. The Post Bag books are also very funny. How do you bring humour into these stories, and what do you think children will giggle at in Unicorn Post?

I like to keep the words in my books as simple as possible, but also to have a fun interplay between them and the pictures. It's often here that the humour in my work often come out.

I think one of the funniest parts of this book is the little girl. I really love her! She loves singing with wild abandon, and just loving the unicorn with her big heart as much as possible - even though she sometimes completely misses the point.

8. Can you suggest any follow-up activities for the books?

There have been some wonderful activities I've seen from schools and librarians - the best ones always revolved around letter writing; often writing a letter to me, or to the main character of the book making their own suggestion of ways to look after Dragons, perfect Christmas presents or tasty recipes.

9. Are you planning another The Post Bag story? What are you working on currently and where do you create your stories?

Another Post Bag story is beginning to percolate, but I have just today finished my next Walker book (although I still have to illustrate the front and back cover!) which features some slightly different paper engineering which allows the reader to peek inside and help to find a lost cat called 'Mister Tibbles'. It's called 'Finding Mister Tibbles' and should be out hopefully this time next year. It's been an absolute joy to create, especially as I was able to revel in my love for interior design in this one!

10. What are your favourite things to do in your 'downtime'? Where do you go to seek out inspiration for new stories?

I have a real passion for interior design and making things in any and every form! Knitting, carpentry, cakes… I adore doing anything creative. I also just really love spending time with my husband, daughter and dog (Coco!). Walks along the Cornish coast, paddle boarding, sea swimming. Today my daughter is going for her very first horse riding lesson, and if all goes well I'm keen to get back in the saddle too!

Creative 'Write a letter' Challenge: One morning, you find a magical creature on your doorstep that needs a new home. Write a letter to its new owner, telling them all about it, what it likes and doesn't like, and how they can become friends with their new magical pet.

School visits: What can schools expect from a visit from you, and how can schools get in touch to arrange an event?
I do offer a very limited number of school events per year. This is due to a busy schedule and living very far away from most schools, so often a one-day event can take three days with travel! But the few that I do, I enjoy immeasurably. They can be tailored to each school and/or setting but will often include live storytelling, character drawing sessions, craft etc. If any schools are interested, please do get in touch with me at [email protected] and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

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