Nicola O'Byrne explores big emotions in The Rabbit, the Cloud and the Rainy Day

About Author

Nicola O'Byrne's new picture book, The Rabbit, the Cloud and the Rainy Day, explores how children learn to manage big emotions and helps them to grow in empathy.

Nicola was born in Swaziland, grew up in Singapore, and has lived in Papua New Guinea, Kenya, Edinburgh, London and Cambridge. She has a degree in Illustration from Edinburgh College of Art and an MA (Printmaking) from Camberwell College of Art.

She now lives in Los Angeles with her husband, daughter and their invisible dog, Chewbacca. In her spare time she enjoys weightlifting and baking.

Interview

The Rabbit, the Cloud and the Rainy Day (Nosy Crow)

March 2025

Rabbit does not like rain, so when a rain cloud interrupts his plans for fishing, he stuffs it into his bag and off he goes. But his friend, Duck, does like rain and knows how good rain is for nature. Can the two friends work things out?

Award-winning author and illustrator Nicola Byrne talks to ReadingZone about her new picture book, The Rabbit, the Cloud and the Rainy Day, and explores the themes of the environment and empathy that she explores through the story. Nicola also shares ideas for further activities to help young children engage with the story.

Nicola O'Byrne introduces her new picture book, The Rabbit, the Cloud and the Rainy Day

"Children (like adults) experience big emotions and need to be taken seriously. Something that seems like a small deal
for us can be hugely frustrating for them."

1. Thank you for joining us on ReadingZone. Can you tell us a little about yourself and the kinds of books you create, and how you became an author and illustrator?

I was drawn to children's book illustration even before I knew it was a job. I used to tell people I wanted to be a book designer or graphic designer because I thought that was the same thing. I chose my university (Edinburgh College of Art) after seeing Catherine Rayner's degree show and her book Augustus and His Smile. As soon as I saw her work I told my Mum that I'd found the right course for me. I met my agent at a graduate trade fair in London immediately after graduating, and my degree show project became my first book with Nosy Crow.

I'm not sure what kinds of books I create... I hope they will be considered modern classics, but I don't go chasing trends or labels. I draw humour, love, and characters who interact with the world around them, particularly characters that are experiencing big feelings and still learning what to do about them, because that's my experience of the world, too. I have a beautiful and clever two-year-old daughter, and I get so much joy watching her grow, so I have no doubt that will influence my future books.

2. What is your new picture book, The Rabbit, the Cloud and the Rainy Day, about?

Rabbit has a strong personality and likes things to be his way. When his fishing trip is ruined by rain, he stuffs the raincloud into his backpack and goes about his day. But we need rain! Luckily, Duck is around to show Rabbit how beautiful a rainy day can be.

3. We love that Rabbit stuffs the cloud into his bag - but what was the initial spark for this story for young children, what did you want to introduce to them?

Children (like adults) experience big emotions and need to be taken seriously. Something that seems like a small deal for us can be hugely frustrating for them. They're also still learning impulse control (me too, hello chocolate bar). Rabbit has very little impulse control; he does what he likes. But he's not unreasonable, and he's not naughty. He just doesn't yet know that what he wants in a particular moment isn't necessarily what others want and need.

It is not my intention to be didactic in my stories. I want to make books that are humorous and create opportunities for discussion between the child and the reader, whether that's about the language used (my daughter loves the words "pitter patter, pitter patter" and we've spent a many occasion discussing onomatopoeia after reading this book together) or the scenarios in the book, or something else.

The idea for this book, though, actually came from my dog. Every time it rains and she wants to go out, she looks at me as though I am personally responsible for the wet, and huffs as though I have offended her. She will often not go outside unless I hold an umbrella up for her to do her business.

4. Why did you decide on a rabbit, and a duck, as your characters for this story? How did you decide on their 'look'?

Rabbit was an established character from my previous book, The Rabbit, The Dark, and the Biscuit Tin. The world he lives in already existed, but we expanded on it. Previously we saw Rabbit's garden and kitchen, but in this book he ventures out into the world.

We spent quite a long time going back and forth on Duck. I wanted to draw a white runner duck, they have a very pleasing elongated bottle/ pear shape, but the white didn't work well with the backgrounds, especially since sometimes the backgrounds are so minimal. In the end, we decided we really couldn't pass up an opportunity to add more colour.

They are very soft looking characters, done in watercolour with coloured pencil shading and fur lines. I wanted Rabbit in particular to look cuddly. When Rabbit is a little bit bossy, or grumpy, he's still endearing and lovable.

5. How does Duck help Rabbit to eventually understand why we need rain and how the weather cycle works?

Duck goes through pretty much everything he can think of and none of it sways Rabbit. Duck shows Rabbit a field of flowers, appeals to his love of carrots (carrots need water, too), and tells Rabbit that he (Duck) personally loves rain. The backgrounds in the book become increasingly bright and bleached out looking as the book progresses, but Rabbit still isn't sold.

Eventually, Duck wants to show Rabbit something amazing, but he needs to let the cloud out first. Rabbit is swayed by the promise of a lovely surprise, and on the very next page, there is (spoiler alert!) a giant pop up rainbow.

6. What other kinds of questions about weather and nature could the story help children think about and discuss?

This is pretty open ended; you could talk about drought, climate change, rain, seasons, topography, crops, farming, etc. in as much depth or as little as the child's interest or understanding allowed. Rabbit eats carrots and sits in a wheat field and wants to fish in the river, but you could also talk about how different regions of the world grow different crops and what is required to grow them.

This year I am going to plant a small herb garden with my two-year-old and talk to her about growing food using this book, but if she were older we could use it as a starting point to talk about almost anything to do with nature and our interactions with it.

7. How does Duck also help Rabbit learn about friendship, and seeing things from another person's perspective? Do you feel it's important to start learning about empathy through picture books like this from a young age?

Duck and Rabbit have totally different opinions about rain, but (mostly) Duck is very patient with Rabbit explaining how he feels. By the end of the book, Rabbit and Duck are able to enjoy rain together. Rabbit still doesn't like everything about wet weather, but he understands that not everyone feels the same way.

I think that many children develop empathy quite naturally and for other children it's more difficult to understand, but either way, nurturing empathy through picture books, actions in the classroom, sports, playground, and life generally, is so important. It is so relevant to our world, and our ability to live together.

8. Can you talk about how you created the images through the story, and how much 'work' the pictures do for this story? Is there a surprise at the end?

I draw multiple sets of pencil roughs for every book I do. In this book the text wasn't finalised until quite a late stage, so there was some back and forth, moving things around in the story and trying new spreads. The story relies on dialogue between the two characters to move forward, but I didn't want to have a case of "talking heads"; it's hard to read and it gets monotonous, so we used a mixture of full page, full background spreads, spot illustrations with minimal backgrounds, and single page spreads to slow the story down or speed it up.

Ideally, the pictures should look light and effortless, but it takes a significant amount of work to make them look that way. This book is a result of over a year's worth of collaboration with the team at Nosy Crow. For the final artwork, sometimes I did six or more variations for each page. Sometimes the changes would be small, such as adjusting Rabbit's expression to make him look grumpier or more thoughtful, and sometimes they would be significant reworks where I was basically starting from scratch.

The characters are done in pencil and watercolour, and textures are layered digitally. The backgrounds are a mix of watercolour, acrylic, brush pen, and digital collage. There IS a surprise at the end! My daughter saw it and said, "Mama made a rainbow."

9. For children who enjoy The Rabbit, the Cloud and the Rainy Day, what other picture books of yours might they enjoy? What does your creative process look like in creating your books?

They might enjoy The Rabbit, The Dark, and the Biscuit Tin, which is about a Rabbit who does not want to go to bed, and shuts the dark in a biscuit tin so he doesn't have to. Use Your Imagination is a good introduction to how stories work. It's about a wolf who is a librarian (or so he says) and is best enjoyed if there is already some familiarity with basic fairy tales such as Little Red Riding Hood. Open Very Carefully is an interactive picture book where a crocodile is trapped in the story of The Ugly Duckling and wants to get out.

Sometimes I have an idea and I sit down and write the story first and then develop characters when I already know what text is on each page, and sometimes I have a character and the story and text grow more organically together. I don't have one way of working, I wish I did, I think it would make things a little easier. Sometimes I have no ideas for months and months and then I get several in a row when I'm doing something random like sitting in the bath or driving to the gym.

I create my picture books at home in my studio, or sometimes in coffee shops, where I like to write because writing around people and activity sometimes gives me energy.

10. You have travelled quite a lot in your life - do new places help to drive your stories? Where do you like to go these days for inspiration, and to relax away from your studio?

I definitely think new places help drive my stories. I just came back from an artist's retreat in Bogotá, Colombia. The colours, food, architecture, and flora of the city were totally different from what I see day to day in LA. This year I am also travelling to Costa Rica, London, and Guadeloupe.

I usually come back from travelling feeling refreshed and excited to be in my studio. Sometimes the correlation between what I've seen while travelling and what appears in my artwork is direct and obvious, and sometimes the influences are subtle and difficult to pinpoint. Last year, I didn't travel much, so I tried to find things around Los Angeles that were interesting, and this ranged from rock pools at the beach to checking out construction sites with my daughter (she loves diggers).

When I'm home too much I can get burned out. Being somewhere new for a night helps me reset and prioritise more clearly what I want to do. For me, routine is a bit of an inspiration killer. I also need to get out of the house and do things not directly related to my illustration practice in order to feel excited about my illustration practice.

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