Recognising sounds and spellings with Em Lynas's fun picture books
About Author
Em Lynas and Matt Hunt's rhyming picture books, including The Bear and the Hare and the Fair, can help develop children's awareness of sounds and spellings - and their love of stories.
Em Lynas loves to write funny books, and stories about magic, dragons and folklore. Em has also worked as a primary school teacher, a mum and an educational publisher. She lives by the seaside on the North East coast.
Matt Hunt started out as a fine artist before becoming a children's illustrator. He works in mixed media - paint, pens, crayons, and digital - and is influenced by old movies, classic illustration, cartoons and books.
Interview
May 2025
Recognising sounds and spellings with Em Lynas's The Bear and the Hare and the Fair (Nosy Crow)
Each story in the hilarious series of rhyming picture books by author Em Lynas and illustrator Matt Hunt comes with guaranteed giggles! But the books are also a fun way to reinforce the sounds and spellings they are learning in class. ReadingZone spoke with author Em Lynas and illustrator Matt Hunt to find out more about their picture books.
In their latest collaboration, The Bear and the Hare and the Fair, Hare persuades Bear to come to the fair - but not everything goes smoothly. Can these two friends find a way to make their day at the fair a happy one?
Review: "Full of fun, humour and fast-paced adventure. It could also be used to link with teaching the 'air' sound in phonics."
The Bear and the Hare and the Fair The Goat and the Stoat and the Boat The Cat and the Rat and the Hat
Q&A with Em Lynas and Matt Hunt, introducing their fun rhyming stories
"They're very accessible and text is rhythmic and fun. They are great for children
getting into reading and learning to read." Matt Hunt
1. The Bear and the Hare and the Fair is your third rhyming picture book in this series. Can you tell us what started your passion for rhymes and rhyming picture books? What kinds of books do you enjoy creating?
Em: I think I'm a natural rhymer, I find not rhyming difficult but I do try! And I love reading rhyming books. One of my all-time favourites is Peepo by Allan and Janet Ahlberg. The rhythm and rhyme is perfect, it's a book I wish I'd written. Another one is Mem Fox and Helen Oxenbury's Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes. I never tire of reading that and it's another one I wish I'd written.
Rhyming books are definitely my favourites to create. They don't just provide a story they provide an experience for young children and their reader, they can bounce along with the rhythm and they're memorable.
2. What happens in each of these stories and the latest adventure, The Bear and the Hare and the Fair? Do you enjoy creating these picture books?
Em: I've loved working on these books, seeing Matt's illustrations for the first time is always a special moment. I think he's an incredibly funny illustrator who can give characters hilarious personalities.
The Cat and the Rat and the Hat is about greed. They both want something (first the hat, but then the cravat) but they're not willing to share so they end up with nothing and Bat gets the hat.
The Goat and the Stoat and the Boat is about Stoat being willing to share the boat with Goat. Which he will not do until he needs to float on Goat in the moat - which leads to friendship.
The Bear and the Hare and the Fair is about compromise and friendship. Finding the best ride for both Bear and Hare is challenging! But worth it.
Matt: It's been great expanding the world and introducing characters with each new book. It's really nice to see that people have been enjoying this series, they're always fun to illustrate.
3. As well as being a lot of fun, the Bear and the Hare explores friendship and finding common ground. What is your starting point for each story?
Em: I never choose the direction. I go with the flow. I always start with a list of rhymes and write down lots of phrases and somewhere in those phrases there'll be a story waiting to be found.
4. Why do you think these books have become so popular? What is the one thing you would highlight to potential readers?
Em: I hope it's because they're a lot of fun to read over and over again.
Matt: They're very accessible and text is rhythmic and fun. They great for children getting into reading/learning to read.
5. As a former teacher yourself, how useful are the books in the classroom, especially for exploring phonics sounds?
Em: I didn't write the books with phonic teaching in mind but I would definitely have used them in the classroom. I would have worked with other sets of words that could be explored to create simple phrases that could become stories. E.g. Ted ate bread. Ted ate bread in bed. "Don't eat bread in bed," said Ned. "We eat bread in the shed!" etc.
6. How can adults sharing the books with children take the stories further?
Em: There's lots to talk about - sharing, friendship, who was right, who was wrong. It's easy for children to read along and anticipate too. They could find the rhyming words that look the same or find phrases like I WANT THAT HAT!
Matt: My son is six and he's loves doing phonics at school. So as we're reading we talk about certain words and how they're spelt. He likes to point out the ‘tricky' words and why they sound the way they do.
It's also great to talk about stories they particularly enjoy and what their favourite parts were. We recently discovered Mo Willems' Elephant and Piggie series, which he finds hilarious. They're perfect for doing funny voices and expressions as your reading.
7. Each story is very different but the illustrations support the tone and the humour in the series of books. How did you decide to approach illustrating these stories?
Matt: I take the cue from the text. These stories have a bouncy rhythm, they're funny and slapstick, so I try to make the images bold and humorous. We used neon inks within the illustrations to really make them pop and I think it matches the tone of the text really well.
8. What are the challenges in interpreting the text through the illustrations, particularly in The Bear and the Hare and the Fair?
Matt: To keep the energy up throughout. There's plenty of action and slapstick moments so thinking of the funniest scenarios for the characters is a fun challenge!
9. Do you have more rhyming adventures planned? What are you writing / illustrating currently, and where do you prefer to work?
Em: I can't really talk about the current projects except to say they will feature:
Cats
Babies
Dinosaurs
A bear and squirrel
Hens and ducks
Sheep
And they will mostly rhyme. I prefer to write in a café but I do a lot of thinking while I'm walking, gardening or watching the sea.
Matt: I'm currently writing my next author/Illustrated book with Nosy Crow and working on a fun project with Magic Cat. You'll usually find me at the end of my garden in my studio. If I'm roughing out a project or doing a lot of writing I've started to get out a bit more and go to a cafe or the library to work, a change of scenery really helps sometimes!
10. What kinds of things do you enjoy doing when you're away from your desk - do any involve pets, boats or fairs?!
Em: None of the above! I draw and paint, I read and knit, I walk and talk.
Matt: No boats or fairs but we have two cats. We love to go camping and getting out into nature when we get the chance.
School visits: Do you offer school events, in person or virtual, and what can schools expect from your events? How can they get in touch with you to organise an event?
Matt Hunt: I don't offer school visits but I have been contacted by a few schools recently asking to visit and talk to the children about illustrating and writing which I'm happy to do. I can be contacted through my website or via Instagram.
The Bear and the Hare and the Fair
The Goat and the Stoat and the Boat
The Cat and the Rat and the Hat
