Gillian McClure
About Author
Gillian McClures first picture book was published in 1974 when she was an Infant and Nursery teacher. Since then she has gone on to write many highly acclaimed and award winning picture books as well as collaborating, as an illustrator, with writers such as Philippa Pearce and Kevin Crossley Holland.
*********Interview with Gillian McClure**********
Gillians illustrations have moved from a finely detailed and painterly style in acrylic in her early books to a simpler style in watercolour with a fluid ink line. Tom Finger marks the point of change. It is a story that addresses loss; not an upbeat or cosy subject but, nevertheless, something experienced by all children.
When Gillian takes this story into primary schools and asks children whether they have ever lost anything, a roomful of hands go up and sad stories are shared: a lost hamster, a dead goldfish, a friend moving away to a different school. Tom Finger is written in the style of a fairy tale with watercolour illustrations that use the white page to convey a feeling of absence.
Many of Gillians books have a traditional resonance and she is interested in legend, myth and fairy tale because of the way they can cross boundaries of time and place and tap into emotions deep within all of us.
Her book Selkie was not a simple retelling of one of the selkie legends but an original story set on Colonsay where she took family holidays. Only after she had written Selkie did she discover the legends and saw that her own story fitted in with them without any fundamental changes needing to be made.
Boundaries of time and place were again crossed in The Land of the Dragon King and Other Korean Stories. On a visit to South Korea, where she went sketching up in the hills above Ulsan, Gillian discovered a timeless landscape that caught her imagination and inspired her to explore the countrys folk tales. Her sketch book was seen by a Korean editor and designer who worked with her on the stories and pictures that became this book.
Gillian has always stayed closely in touch with her young readers and enjoys drawing out their creativity in her workshops. She is always surprise at what children are capable of achieving. One class of key stage two children had their pictures published by CUP in The Wishing Eel; a story Gillian worked on with them during a terms residency in their school and the wider community.
Author link
Interview
Gillians illustrations have moved from a finely detailed and painterly style in acrylic, in her early books, to a simpler style in watercolour with a fluid ink line. Tom Finger marks the point of change. It is a story that addresses loss; not an upbeat or cosy subject but, nevertheless, something experienced by all children. When Gillian takes this story into primary schools and asks children whether they have ever lost anything, a roomful of hands go up and sad stories are shared: a lost hamster, a dead goldfish, a friend moving away to a different school. Tom Finger is written in the style of a fairy tale with watercolour illustrations that use the white page to convey a feeling of absence.
Many of Gillians books have a traditional resonance and she is interested in legend, myth and fairy tale because of the way they can cross boundaries of time and place and tap into emotions deep within all of us. Her book Selkie was not a simple retelling of one of the selkie legends but an original story set on Colonsay where she took family holidays. Only after she had written Selkie did she discover the legends and saw that her own story fitted in with them without any fundamental changes needing to be made.
Boundaries of time and place were again crossed in The Land of the Dragon King and Other Korean Stories. On a visit to South Korea, where she went sketching up in the hills above Ulsan, Gillian discovered a timeless landscape that caught her imagination and inspired her to explore the countrys folk tales. Her sketch book was seen by a Korean editor and designer who worked with her on the stories and pictures that became this book.
Gillian has always stayed closely in touch with her young readers and enjoys drawing out their creativity in her workshops. She is always surprise at what children are capable of achieving; one class of key stage two children had their pictures published by CUP in The Wishing Eel; a story Gillian worked on with them during a terms residency in their school and the wider community.
