Ged Adamson

About Author

Author and illustrator Ged Adamson introduces Be Normal!, a story about accepting our friends for who they are.

Ged was born in Liverpool and as a child he was obsessed with drawing, listening to music and making up tunes. In 2016, his story about a short-sighted dog, Douglas You Need Glasses!, became his breakthrough picture book.

Ged has since written and illustrated many books including Shark Dog!, A Fox Found a Box and The Elephant Detectives. He lives in London with his partner and son.

Interview

Be Normal! (Nosy Crow)

August 2024

Theo is hugely excited to get his first dog, but when his new pet arrives, it isn't what Theo is expecting. For a start, the dog is called Geoff Thorndike, and Geoff doesn't do any of the things that dogs are supposed to do, from chasing squirrels to going for walks...

ReadingZone speaks with author Ged Adamson to find out more about Be Normal!, a story about social rules, expectations and friendship!

Q&A with Ged Adamson introducing a very unusual dog, Geoff Thorndike

"Be Normal started as a humorous thing ... but then the idea expanded into the question of
what exactly is 'normal'? Are any of us normal?"

1. How did you start writing picture books, and what kinds of stories do you enjoy creating? What have been the highlights of your picture book career to date?

Writing and illustrating picture books was always something I wanted to do. When I was a kid, I enjoyed making up stories and drawing characters from my imagination. I hardly ever drew things from life. I felt that picture books were where I could combine two of the creative things I really enjoyed doing.

But as an adult, my job for a long time was writing music for adverts and stuff like that. So it was a while before I started to seriously work on a picture book idea and put it together.
Highlights have been: working with Lee Wade at Random House; Being included in the Society of Illustrators exhibition in NYC; Signing up with Nosy Crow and doing ‘The Elephant Detectives' and many other projects with them; winning best picture book award with Barry Timms at Stockport Children's book awards. There are so many highlights!

2. Can you tell us about your new picture book, Be Normal, and what happens in this story?

Be Normal! is about a dog (Geoff Thorndike) who arrives at a boy called Theo's house and proceeds to confound all Theo's expectations about what a 'normal' dog should do. The boy's growing disappointment is fuelled by embarrassment - why can't Geoff just be 'normal'? After a meeting with his friends in the park not going at all as he expects, Theo finally realises it's wrong to force pre-conceived notions of what you think is the 'correct' way to behave onto others.

3. What sparked the idea about a far-from-normal dog, and his boy?

I imagined what it would be like to have a dog who didn't behave like a dog. In an early version of the story, Geoff arrives and points out to Theo that one of the bulbs in the kitchen ceiling has died. He then admires the garden shed. I always try and make myself laugh. Be Normal started as a humorous thing - and still is hopefully - but then the idea expanded into the question of what exactly is 'normal'? Are any of us normal? It's also about the stress and isolation of feeling you don't know the 'rules' of everyday social interaction. Hopefully lots of readers will identify with Geoff!

4. How did Geoff's character, his name and his 'look', develop? Do you have any special friends who helped inspire his character? And was he always going to be a dog?

I based Geoff's character on different people, real and fictional! There's an old school-ness to him. That partly comes from meeting people in the music and advertising worlds who'd been around since the 1970s. There's also an old fashioned chipperness about Geoff. He's single minded but very sweet and kind.

I wanted his clothes to reflect all this. When I was a kid, everyone's dads dressed like Geoff. So there's a nostalgic element too.

5. This is a tender story, but it's also funny - how do you manage that balance?

Thanks! I kind of know when the balance feels right and that's usually after a fair amount of work. I think humour is just so central to life - it helps us cope with all the difficult stuff. It never feels wrong to have comedy in a book with even the most serious message.

6. What would you like children to take from Theo's wish for Geoff to be 'normal'? What kinds of discussions or questions would you like Be Normal to inspire?

I'd like children to read Be Normal and then think about their friends or classmates - or anyone they come across - that do things a little differently or talk a little differently from the way they do things themselves. And I'd like the story to make them to think about the quirky little things they do - or they do with their families. Also, is 'normal' a useful word? Maybe sometimes it isn't. Maybe we're all a little bit of a mixture of Theo and Geoff? I think some of these could be ingredients in a great classroom discussion!

7. How did you create your illustrations for this picture book? Is this how you always work? Is it important with picture books to develop specific colour palettes for your story?

I draw everything in pencil and do some paint textures and scan them into my mac. Then I work the art from there. I do lots and lots of tidying up. My art would be a bit messy otherwise!
I always carry a sketchbook with me and my characters and other things are worked out mainly in there. Usually in a café somewhere.

8. Do you have any other picture books that children and families who enjoy Be Normal might also enjoy?

Definitely The Elephant Detectives - it's a big favourite of mine. I illustrated a series with the very talented writer Barry Timms and my favourite of those is This Is Not A Dinosaur - kids seem to like all those three Barry books.

9. If Geoff were to knock on your front door, how would you like to spend an afternoon with him?

I love this question! I think Geoff might like to go mudlarking with me. This involves going to the side of a river - the Thames in my case - when the tide is low and searching among the mud and stones for old, interesting things. I may have to carry him in some areas because I know he doesn't enjoy getting too dirty! Then we'd go home and I'd ask him to make one of his lovely smoothies for us both.

10. What do you enjoy doing when it's time out to relax? And where do you go for inspiration for the next story?

Apart from mudlarking, I like to play music. I can play the piano and guitar. Not very brilliantly to be honest! But I love it all the same. I do like wandering around London looking at buildings and meeting my friends.

But I love just spending time with my son Rex and his mum Helen in our house by the park. And we now have a very sweet dog called Coco, so I'll be spending lots of time with her and doing lots of walks and other doggy things.

Story inspiration can come from anywhere. It's never really from the same place. I just hope it keeps coming!

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