Morag Hood
About Author
Morag Hood is a children's author and illustrator from Edinburgh.
Morag spent her childhood writing stories, painting, and dreaming of having a pet duck. Following a degree in Costume Design from Wimbledon College of Art, and an MA in Children's Book Illustration from the Cambridge School of Art, Morag returned to live in her native Edinburgh with her husband where she now works with a view of the hills. She still likes making stories, printing, cutting and sticking, and freshly sharpened pencils.
Her debut picture book Colin and Lee, Carrot and Pea was a runner up in the Macmillan Prize in 2014. Her other self-authored books include When Grandad was a Penguin, I Am Bat, The Steves and Aalfred and Aalbert, and she is also the author of Sophie Johnson: Unicorn Expert, illustrated by Ella Okstad. The pet duck is yet to make an appearance.
Interview
AALFRED AND AALBERT
MACMILLAN CHILDREN'S BOOKS
JANUARY 2019
AALFRED AND AALBERT is a warm and funny picture book about two aardvarks who are perfect for each other, but who seem destined never to meet, despite the best efforts of a little bird.
We asked author and illustrator MORAG HOOD - whose other picture books include Colin and Lee, Carrot and Pea and When Grandad was a Penguin - to tell us more:
Q: What is your background in writing and illustration, and what inspired you to create picture books? Are there particular artists / picture book creators who stand out for you?
A: I've always loved picture books. As a child the work of Janet and Allan Ahlberg always stuck in my mind and I associated picture books with a sense of fun, play and reading purely for pleasure.
I started out working in costume for theatre, but it wasn't quite the right thing for me. I had carried on reading and admiring picture books - especially those by Oliver Jeffers and Jon Klassen - and thought I had better give it a go, rather than always wondering what might have been!
I started off with some short courses before I applied to the MA in Children's book illustration at Cambridge School of Art. That introduced me to a whole world of exciting picture book makers and really cemented my love for the picture book form. When I graduated I found my agent and started working with my publisher, Two Hoots.
Q: You both write and illustrate your picture books, but what is the starting point - illustrating a character or writing the text?
A: Most often it is a bit of a mix of the two! I will draw lots of little scribbly sketches with a word or phrase beside them and see what sparks an idea. Sometimes I then work with just the words while I sort out the story, but other times the whole book gets written in a series of quick drawings and words.
Q: Your debut picture book Colin and Lee, Carrot and Pea received a lot of attention but what inspired you to create it?
A: Colin and Lee came about when I was studying for my MA. I was writing my dissertation on making simple faces and I had drawn all of these little circles with different facial expressions - the peas were born!
I wanted to make something very simple and started playing around with the idea of peas on a plate. When I drew a carrot stick it all started to come together - these vegetables looked very different but of course carrots and peas should be friends!
Q: Your picture books which also include I Am Bat, The Steves and When Grandad Was a Penguin, are all very different and your stories are distinctive - what for you makes a great picture book text?
A: I really enjoy playing around with the gap between text and image because that is what makes picture books special. They are like a little puzzle where you need both the image and the words to make sense of what is going on. My favourite picture book texts always involve humour and surprises.
Q: And despite their differences, do you feel that there are ideas or concepts that hold your work together?
A: I'm really pleased that each of my books is quite different from each other, but I do think they sit well together. Ideas to do with friendship and food come up a lot, probably because those are my two favourite things.
Q: Your latest picture book, Aalfred and Aalbert, explores friendship and difference, why did you want to follow this idea through a picture book and how did the story develop?
A: This question follows on well from the last one! Friendship and difference are also very much the focus of Colin and Lee, Carrot and Pea. But the two books take the theme and do something quite different with it.
I don't really think of Aalfred and Aalbert as being opposites in the same way (apart from their sleeping habits!) more that they are individuals with their own interests who are content with their lives, but then discover the joy of sharing experiences together.
Q: Why did you decide to make Aalfred and Aalbert Aardvarks, and both boys? How did you decide what they would look like?
A: Aalfred and Aalbert always had to be aardvarks. When I lived near London I used to go to the zoo and the aardvarks were always curled up asleep together in their burrow. There was a time one of the aardvarks had a problem with their leg and there was a little sign up saying the zoo were aware of it and that the other aardvark was staying close by and looking after them.
I always I had this very clear idea of a story of two aardvarks finding each other. I started off with Aalfred and when he needed a companion, Aalbert came along. The aardvarks evolved a bit in terms of how they look - partly as I tried out different mediums. It was always important to me that they looked very similar, but of course you do need to be able to tell them apart!
As for them being boys, that's just the way it happened. I am so pleased to be living in a country which has moved on from when I was a young person and Section 28 was still in place. Books for children should reflect the world around us as well as being silly and fun and sometimes about aardvarks.
Q: There are lots of lovely details and expressions in your picture books - how important is humour to you as a picture book creator, and do you have a favourite moment in this book?
A: Thank you! I think humour is really important. I always try to make myself laugh when I am coming up with ideas. Aalfred and Aalbert does have a lot of humour in it but this book also gave me the opportunity to be a bit more earnest in places.
I especially enjoyed writing Aalfred and Aalbert's thought bubbles - they are both quite straight forward and deadpan. I like it when they both FINALLY meet and Aalbert's only comment is "That's an aardvark." He hasn't even spilt his morning cup of tea.
Q: How do you decide on the colour palette for each of your books and how do you go about creating the images?
A: Sometimes the colour choices come about really easily and naturally - with Colin and Lee, Carrot and Pea we just had to choose the nicest shades of green and orange, When Grandad was a Penguin began with that icy blue which suits the penguin, but I worked with Two Hoots to add some splashes of warmth so that it didn't end up looking too cold.
I AM Bat was always those bold colours right from the start and I am so lucky that Two Hoots were able to replicate that in the printing process and make the final book as bright as possible. With Aalfred and Aalbert there was some delicate colour balancing to pick exactly the right shades for each aardvark and to represent night and day.
I like to vary how I make the images themselves in order to keep things fresh. Most of my work is collage, lino printing or a mixture of the two. Aalfred and Aalbert is a little different - each shape was hand-painted in black gouache and then coloured and layered digitally.
Q: Carrot sticks, puffins, bats - is there anything you wouldn't want to illustrate?
A: I think I enjoy illustrating pretty much anything - as long as I feel a connection to the story.
Q: 11 What are you working on at the moment? Can you describe your studio?
At the moment I am just finishing up final tweaks for a picture book which is coming out in August and starting work on one to come after that. It is still very much in the scary early stages where I am figuring out the story so I am making a lot of rough drawings to send to my publisher.
I am very lucky that the little room I work in at home has views out to the Pentland Hills on the outskirts of Edinburgh. I have a desk to print and draw on, a desk for a computer and my prize possession - a drying rack! It is one of the best things I have bought (and means my husband doesn't have to trip over half-dry prints all the time!)
Q: What are your favourite escapes from your work?
A: When I'm not working I love to cook and go for walks. If I'm feeling really stuck then a walk or chopping an onion or two is the best thing for me! I also listen to a lot of comedy podcasts and audiobooks.
Aalfred and Aalbert
