Jonny Lambert explores mindfulness in As the World Goes By

About Author

As the World Goes By reminds us to pause in our busy lives, and to be open to the quiet beauty around us. ReadingZone finds out more from its creator Jonny Lambert.

Jonny grew up knowing he wanted to be an artist of some sort. Encouraged by his grandfather and, later, his art tutor at the Reigate School of Art and Design, Jonny is now an internationally-published author and illustrator, children's book designer and paper engineer. He lives with his family and a menagerie of animals near Horsham, West Sussex

Interview

Jonny Lambert explores mindfulness in As the World Goes By (Little Tiger Press)

Jonny Lambert's new picture book, As the World Goes By, introduces young children to mindfulness, with a story about pausing to notice the beauty of the world around us.

In a bustling city, who will stop to enjoy the beauty of a single, blue butterfly as it flits past busy cafes and noisy roads. One curious dog is enraptured by this moment of beauty - but can it make anyone else stop for long enough to notice it?

Review: "A beautiful book and story with an important message for us all to stop and admire nature and of course, to take care of our world and its creatures."

Find out how Jonny Lambert's dog helped inspire As the World Goes By, what he hopes children will recognise in its pages, and how he illustrates his stories, in this month's Q&A with the award-winning author and illustrator.

Q&A with Jonny Lambert: Introducing mindfulness in As the World Goes By

"Only if you take the time to 'see' will you be enthralled and appreciate the spectacular beauty and fragility
that can exist in the smallest of things."

1. Can you tell us about the kinds of books you enjoy creating? What has been your favourite career moment to date?

Over the many years I've worked in publishing, I've created books in every genre and format. And I've worked with wonderful people and enjoyed every title, even the ones that caused the biggest headaches or failed to sell.

But I think the most fun and enjoyment I've had in recent years, has been in creating children's books. From early learning titles for one- to three-year-olds, to cross-over historical novelty picture books for the whole family to read. And most recently, as an author and illustrator of picture books.

Favourite career moment? Gosh, that's a hard question to answer. There have been many, but if I could pick two, they would be: Working alongside my 'hero' David Sheppard CBE at the Natural History Museum, encouraging children to explore nature through the medium of art; and secondly, the publication of Little Why, my first picture book with Little Tiger and my agency Plum - a story inspired by our daughter.

2. What is your new book, As the World Goes By, about?

As the World Goes By is about being aware of the beauty and fragility in the smallest of things. In this busy, distractive world, it's also my reaction to how I sometimes see humans… not all… and how they've lost the ability to see and be aware of the world around us.

3. So what inspired you to write this story about mindfulness, and pausing to notice the beauty of our world?

It partly combines my answer before. I wanted to write a story to celebrate the excitement of life beyond the things we believe are important. It was also partly inspired by someone walking into me, while I stood at a train station. Now I have no claim to beauty, but it set me thinking…They were so engrossed in their mobile phone, that they didn't even notice I was there.

However, I found that story direction more difficult to write without it sounding as if I was telling somebody off. But it was while walking with our dog Buttons, our Working Cocker Spaniel, that I found my 'voice'. He's far more aware of the world around him, and he's always keen for us to engage, even if it's for the simplest reason.

4. Was this a difficult concept to explore through a picture book, then? Why did you choose the flap of a butterfly's wing - a commonly recognised metaphor - as a central motif in the story?

With Buttons as my 'voice', the story became easier to write. He has a butterfly attitude to life - always on the go, from one thing to another. He's so tuned in, that he'd notice the flap of a butterfly's wing before we would. I love his attitude to life and share his awareness of nature and of people, so choosing a butterfly to carry the story was a natural development.

Nearly all things that fly in nature make a sound, whether it's to raise alarm, give a warning, show excitement, or simply to say 'hello'. But we (humans) have grown to ignore them and have become accustomed to their activity and existence. However, a butterfly relies on silence, colour and dance. Only if you take the time to 'see' will you be enthralled and appreciate the spectacular beauty and fragility that can exist in the smallest of things.

5. How do you make your main character, a small dog, so relatable to children who are following the story through the images?

Before children's lives are distracted by the directions and attitudes imposed upon them by adults, they express their delight and awareness of the world in the simplest of things. Buttons' mannerisms reflect those of a child seeing something for the first time.

6. How have you approached the illustrations through As the World Goes By, and how do you draw attention to the butterfly in such busy pages?

I've drawn attention to Buttons and the butterfly by lowering the viewer's eye line to focus on them. The humans remain important to the story, but they are abstractly illustrated in order to represent everyone.

7. We love the layered, collage-style images; how did you create these, and which spread was the hardest to get right? What other challenges did you face in illustrating this story?

As an artist mark maker, I approach every illustration with a new set of challenges. In this book, I decided to overlay several coloured swatches and scribbled textures to create movement and depth to each scene. The most difficult images were the ones where I used multi-layer swatches to create several humans in bustling scenes.

'Finding' new marks is always fun and a challenge. Sometimes my inspiration for these comes from tree bark, water, gravel, stone, coarse fabric…anything that can be used to make a mark to enhance the illustration.

8. The little dog encourages the world to 'STOP' and notice the beauty of the butterfly. What kinds of things encourage you to stop and take notice of the world around you?

Apart from butterflies…I 'stop' for an intriguing shadow or to see spaces between things, before discovering what's made them.

9. Can you suggest ways to help adult readers take what we find in As the World Goes By further, in the classroom or at home?

Recognise that how sometimes, in living our lives, we can miss the simple pleasures of the world around us. Take time together for a few minutes, away from mobile phones and other busy day distractions, to sit quietly and see.

10. For children who enjoy As the World Goes By, which of your other picture books do you think they might like to have read to them? Are you working on other books currently?

All my picture books tell a message and are based on a real event and real characters, but I think Home is Where the Heart is would be a great story to read. Its message will resonate with adults too!

I'm currently working on a story called 'Always By Your Side' that features a new environment and characters. They share a journey that we may all recognise and meet their own challenges, some for the first time.

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