When it comes to creating children’s books, there’s so much more to the process than meets the eye. Aspiring authors and illustrators might imagine the magic of storytelling and picture-making, but behind the scenes, it’s a detailed, creative collaboration. Today, we’re sitting down with two talented people in the industry—award-winning author Lian Tanner and renowned illustrator Jonathan Bentley. Together, they’ve brought to life beautiful stories like Ella and the Ocean and When the Lights Went Out. We’ll dive into what it really takes to craft a picture book, from finding the heart of a story to creating vibrant, unforgettable illustrations.
Hi Lian, thank you for chatting with us, my first question is about the most surprising thing you’ve learnt from writing children’s books?
That picture books are just as hard to write well as novels. A lot of people think that because picture books are so short, and generally don’t have a lot of text, they’re easy to write, but it’s just not true. A good picture book doesn’t have a single unnecessary word in it, and half the challenge is working out which words ARE necessary, and which ones aren’t. My picture books go through so many drafts as I try out different ways of telling them, and look for the essence of the story. The words that remain also have to sound good when you read them aloud, because that’s such a big part of picture books.
Are there any hidden messages or Easter eggs in your books that readers might not notice at first?
Oh yes, so many! I like to layer my books so that you can read them on several different levels, depending on your age. There’s the simple story, for the youngest kids. There are the themes, for the older ones. And I also like to throw in a few Easter eggs that only some readers will notice. If I’m reading a book, I get a real kick out of finding things like this, so it’s fun to do it as a writer, and imagine someone picking it up.
As an adult, how do you connect with what children want in stories?
I write for myself when I was a kid. I think every successful children’s author or illustrator maintains a very strong relationship with their younger self – I don’t think you could do it otherwise. Children’s books have changed a lot since I was young, in that they are faster moving and far more inclusive, but there are some things that don’t change. Picture books have always addressed children’s fears and hopes, their experience of the world around them and the possibilities that lie ahead of them, and I suspect they will always continue to do so.
What advice do you have for aspiring children’s authors?
Read a lot of contemporary children’s books to see what’s being written now, both in terms of picture books and novels. Most people have favourite books from their childhood, and some of those books might not get published these days, so it’s important to know where children’s literature currently stands. But having done that, write the book you really want to write. Write the book that’s in your heart, the book that you would have adored when you were a kid. Pour everything you’ve got into it, do that messy first draft without fear or self-criticism. Then put it aside for a couple of months so you can come back to it with fresh eyes, and see what needs to be done to make it into the book you wanted to be.
What do you love about the collaboration with illustrators?
I love the surprises. Sometimes an illustrator creates something that is completely different from the image I had in my head, but it works beautifully. At other times, they somehow pluck the picture out of my imagination and put it on the page. That’s what happened with the dancing in When the Lights Went Out, it’s almost exactly how I envisaged it, even though I never spoke to Jonathan about it or tried to describe it to him.
Hi Jonathan, thank you for your time today! Did you always want to illustrate children’s books?
I loved picture books from a young age, especially the illustrations of people like Maurice Sendak, W.Heath-Robinson, and Arthur Rackham. But I didn’t know I wanted to illustrate books. I kind of fell into it after a chance meeting with someone when I was showing my portfolio around Sydney. Before then I was mostly illustrating for newspapers and magazines.
What’s the process from start to finish with illustrating a children’s book?
When I am lucky enough to be offered a story to illustrate, I take a few days to read it through and think about whether it is a story that resonates with me. With When the Lights Went Out, Lian and I had already worked on the book Ella and the Ocean, so I I knew how wonderful she is. The next stage is to sketch some ideas of the main characters, and in this case to create the street where the whole story is based. I send these initial sketches to the publisher who often shares them with the author. If they are approved, I start creating tiny thumbnail sketches of all the pages, including how to split the text into fifteen spreads for a thirty-two-page picture book. I work these sketches up into more finished roughs and again I send them to my publisher for approval.
The next stage is to enlarge the rough sketches on my computer, which I enlarge and then trace onto a piece of watercolour paper. Then I spend the next two to three months drawing many tiny crosshatched lines to create most of the detail and texture in illustrations. Once all the pages are drawn, I use a lightbox to paint the colour (using watercolour paints) on the reverse side of the paper. I then scan the linework and colour into Photoshop and put them together on my computer. This allows me to enhance and clean up the artwork. The element of illustrating a book which is harder to explain, is the overall visual tone and mood. This is mostly instinctual and I am not always sure how I get to the end result I do. With When The Lights Went Out, I found myself drawing lots of curvy swirling scenes. I think it started when I drew a circular green space on the street, which then led to making the street curved, which also echoed the moon. This also worked nicely in the swirling dance scene with the owls and foxes.
The other main puzzle was to create a dark night-time world without deadening the pages with black. So I had a wonderful time painting with a lot of blues, greens, and purples.
Do you have a favourite character you’ve illustrated?
No, not really. I am always more excited by the next book idea I have.
What advice do you have for any aspiring illustrators?
Draw anything and everything. Draw, draw, and draw some more. And when you have worked out what you love drawing the most, do that and have fun.
What do you love about the collaboration with authors?
They come up with the most beautiful and fascinating stories which I would never have thought of. And I feel incredibly fortunate that some of those authors have become close friends.
