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 Jubilee
Books: Your new book 'Little Giant' is out soon. What can
you tell us about it?
Simone Lia: It's a picture about a little girl who's
the smallest in her family and is too small to do things
like reach the light switch. She's a bit frustrated at being
the smallest. She discovers that when she's in the garden
she's actually bigger than most things, so she begins to
feel quite powerful.
What was your first children's book?
'Reds Great Chase' and that was about a monster who chases
a little girl. I wanted to do something that was quite scary
because I think that kids like being scared by books. But
in the book the monster eventually catches the little girl
and he's actually not scary at all. In the end the monster
actually turns out to be the girls mum.
You've also illustrated books by other
authors. How different is the process of illustrating your
own books and illustrating books by other authors?
It is quite different. I think that for me it works better
when I'm working with image and text, I like working with
words and pictures. Sometimes I look at other illustrators
and think 'wow, you can illustrate all these things really
beautifully', but for me I have to use the words when telling
a story.
Your book 'Billy Bean's Dream' deals
with things like colours, shapes and numbers but has a jelly
bean as the central character of the book. What gave you
this unusual idea?
I was in a restaurant once when I heard an American woman
say 'I know what you mean Jelly Bean' and I though it was
really funny because she was referring to this Jelly Bean
as a sort of character and I just imagined this small character
having a personality of it's own. I think I wanted something
that was so small and insignificant to have a dream and
actually make it happen, quite empowering.
You also write comic books. Can you tell
us about those?
They're not really aimed at children, anyone can read them
I suppose but they're maybe a bit more dark and inappropriate.
But then look at the Simpsons, that's for all ages.
When you are writing books for children
are you particularly conscious of your audience?
No. I think with the 'Little Giant' I do remember feeling
like I was really small and that I couldn't do things when
I was younger. I think the books are kind of based on me.
What books did you like as a child?
I only had a few books. I had this one about a bear called
Corduroy who gets locked in a department store, it was quite
sad. No one would buy him because he didn't have a button,
but eventually someone does buy him so it does have a happy
ending. I loved that book and I read over and over again.
Tomi Ungerer as well, they were just weird. I also liked
Roald Dahl.
Are there any illustrators who you think
have influenced your style?
I like David McKee and Tomi Ungerer.
What are you working on at the moment?
I have a book on the back burner with Egmont about a kangaroo
who has a tantrum on her eighth birthday. I'm also writing
a graphic novel for which I'm trying to get some funding.
It's about a bunny and his dad and I'm going to Sicily later
this year to research that.
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