Finding Your Voice in Children's Books

Our last post offered a brief overview of the fantastic depth in the collections of Helen Craig and Katharine Holabird held at Seven Stories. One of the interesting aspects displayed by these collections is the attention to detail that goes in to creating a series of books as successful as the Angelina Ballerina titles. Particularly noteworthy is the level of research and planning that goes into the books, as evidenced by the stacks of drafts and rough versions of stories and illustrations, created by both Helen and Katharine.

More than anything else, the collections highlight what an absorbing experience it can be to write and illustrate children’s books. The level of work and dedication required to succeed in the world of children’s books is keenly felt by Michelle Robinson, author of picturebooks such as How to Wash a Wooly Mammoth and the forthcoming There’s a Lion in my Cornflakes.

We spoke to her about her experiences finding her way into the industry and developing her own distinct style. In her own words…

“Agents and publishers are always seeking original voices - ones that grab us from the first word and hold us beyond the last. Forget interesting marketing angles, bestselling trends and clever manuscripts - a fresh voice is the only thing that will give you a chance of publication.

So how do you find that voice? Where does it come from? When you do find it, why won’t it leave you alone, even when you’re in the shower? And why must it insist on asking questions instead of providing answers?

I found my voice through hard slog. Like a child learning to ride a bike, I started off writing with the stabilisers on. I read a lot, absorbed a lot and wrote my early stories in the style of other authors. I didn’t mean to, I just hadn’t found my own way into it yet. But I was getting there.

The more I practiced, the better I became. I gained confidence, loosened up, experimented, gathered pace and was soon freewheeling in my own style. I could push the metaphor further and say I fell off a few times (and still do, regularly), but it’s getting rather tired. So, forget bicycles and picture yourself in Devon.

The birds are singing, you’re drifting in a digital-free haven and there’s nothing to do but write. Because if practicing is how I found my voice, a writing course is where. The course came at just the right time. I needed to be challenged. I had to work harder. I relished the chance to show off. I was ready to go, I just needed a captive audience: my tutors. Thanks to them I secured an agent and the first of many book deals. I’d found my voice - and I had an awful lot to say.”

The Seven Stories collection is a unique resource for aspiring writers and illustrators.

For information about research opportunities, please contact collections@sevenstories.org.uk

Michelle Robinson’s next book There’s a Lion in my Cornflakes is due out in July, published by Bloomsbury.

Helen Craig's studio

At the end of February we visited author and illustrator Helen Craig at her home in Cambridge. Most of you will know Helen as the illustrator of the world famous Angelina Ballerina books (written by Katharine Holabird). We were visiting Helen to pick up artwork for the two latest books in the series: Angelina's Cinderella (published last year) and Angelina's Big City Ballet (which is due to be released in November this year).

It was in the early 1980s that Katharine Holabird first came up with the idea of a story (based on her two daughters) about a ballet loving little girl called Primrose. When Katharine showed the story to her friend and collaborator Helen Craig, Helen drew Primrose as a white mouse. The character's name was later changed to Angelina, due to the fact - as Helen points out - that there was already a little mouse called Primrose in Jill Barklem's popular Brambly Hedge series of books. Angelina's debut story book Angelina Ballerina was published in 1983. The little dancing mouse has since appeared in over 20 books, two animated series, and even on stage with the English National Ballet.

We are delighted that Helen has chosen Seven Stories as the home for her Angelina artwork - over the last few months Helen has donated the artwork for every one of the Angelina titles she has illustrated. Helen's collection includes everything from intricately detailed storyboards and dummy books, right through to her wonderful finished artwork. Seven Stories already holds Katharine Holabird's archive, which she very kindly donated to us in 2012. Katharine's fantastic collection includes, amongst a variety of other things, her drafts for the books, a selection of Angelina merchandise, and papers relating to the Angelina animations. The two collections side by side make for a truly wonderful resource for researchers and Angelina fans alike!

Helen looking through some of her rough artwork

On our visit to Cambridge, Helen was kind enough to show us around her studio. As you might expect in Helen's studio, Angelina pops up everywhere you turn. Helen showed us the very first Angelina doll she made by hand back in 1986 after the publication of the fifth book in the series.

This is Helen holding the very first Angelina doll she made by hand in 1986

Helen also talked us through her creative process and the materials she uses in her work. Most striking was her three layered box of watercolour pencils.

Helen's very neat pencil box

If you'd like to know more about the Helen Craig and Katharine Holabird collections you can email collections@sevenstories.org.uk. Both collections are available to view at the Seven Stories Collections department in Felling, Gateshead (Helen's collection will be searchable on our online catalogue soon). Some of Helen's artwork is currently on display in our Picturebook in Progress exhibition at the Seven Stories visitor centre in Newcastle upon Tyne. Angelina Ballerina will be featuring in other Seven Stories exhibitions and events soon!

Moving Stories Introduction Evening

The next exhibition opening at Seven Stories is Moving Stories, Children's Books from Page to Screen Saturday 5th April. This is an exhibition curated in partnership with the National Media Museum in Bradford, and was on display there during Summer 2013. It will be displayed over BOTH galleries at Seven Stories!

The exhibition aims to show all the fantastic ways that stories can be adapted, be it in a book or on film. The exhibition is divided in to 5 themes; Fairy Tales, Journey of Adventure, World of Fantasy, Overcoming the Monster and Friends and Family.

To find out more about the exhibition, click here or here!

Last night was the introduction event, to show the plans for the exhibition off to all staff and volunteers involved with Seven Stories. We had a fantastic turnout, with a few photos below. Gill (Senior Curator), Beth (Learning Co-ordinator) and I (Alison, Curator) presented all the different elements of the exhibition, our new methods of interpretation and a brand new drama experience for all visitors - watch this blog to find out more about the exhibition content.

The audience broke in to groups to explore different areas of the exhibition, before feeding back their favourite parts of the exhibition and the books involved.

Some of our fantastic textile illustrations from the Judith Kerr Exhibition, exploring the Sensory Explorer Bags being rolled out for the new exhibition.

Alison (Curator)

David Almond and Polly Dunbar talk about My Dad's a Birdman

One of the most interesting aspects of making an illustrated book is the collaboration between the various creative forces.

The Seven Stories Collection includes numerous archives showing the interplay between author and illustrator. An excellent example of this can be found in the material relating to the book My Dad’s a Birdman, by David Almond and Polly Dunbar.

My Dad's a Birdman © Walker Books

In the summer of 2008, author David Almond donated his original manuscript and notes for the book to Seven Stories. Later that year illustrator Polly Dunbar donated all of her work from the book, from initial character sketches through to the finished artwork.

The material gives a unique insight into the creative mind of the author, as well as an interesting take on how an illustrator responds to a text and brings their own interpretation to it.

Last week, Seven Stories was pleased to host an event in conjunction with Newcastle University that marked the first time David and Polly have ever spoken together about the process of creating the book.

Polly and David at the event

As well as busting some myths about what it is like to collaborate on a book (the two never met until after the book was released), they both spoke of their desire to make a book with such strong and adult themes accessible to a young audience. Here's a preview clip of the talk:

A fascinating insight for aspiring authors and illustrators alike, the talk will be available to view at the Seven Stories collection, where the original material from the book is also open to public access. The full video will also soon be available via the Newcastle University, Children's Literature Unit website.


David Wright (Learning Co-ordinator: Picturebook in Progress Project)

The Gruffalo Travels to Chatham, Kent

This Saturday, A Squash and a Squeeze, Sharing Stories with Julia Donaldson will open at The Historic Dockyard Chatham, in Kent. 

View from just outside the exhibition space

The exhibition arriving in crates to the venue

The exhibition will open on 15th February 2014, and will be on display until 1st June 2014. Axel Scheffler, illustrator of the Gruffalo, among many other of Julia Donaldson's books, will be hosting an event on the 17th May.

Contained within the exhibition is some beautiful original illustration work from a mix of illustrators including Axel Scheffler, Nick Sharratt, Lydia Monks, Joel Stewart, Karen George, Emily Gravett and David Roberts. It is displayed alongside notebooks and early ideas from Julia Donaldson, including the notebook with the first idea for the Gruffalo!

The exhibition has plenty on offer for families including areas where you can share stories and explore sensory environments based on Julia's books; You can follow in Toddle Waddle's footsteps, climb into the cave with the Cave Baby and meet The Gruffalo. Sing-a-long to songs on Julia' Jukebox or perform a play on the stage.

This is the second venue for the exhibition, after being on show in Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery last summer, and attracting a whopping 33'000 visitors! The exhibition will travel to Bradford following its run in Kent, at Cartwright Hall from 28^th June – 9^th November 2014.  

The Historic Dockyard is easily accessible via train from London and the surrounding area, and is a fascinating day long visit, not just for the exhibition, but also to explore all of the different parts of the dock, including a fantastic submarine! 


Go to the Dockyard website.

Alison (Exhibition Curator)

Visitors to the Collection

Over the years, we have had quite a few fantastic and famous faces visiting our Collection store.

Here are a few images of some of comments from the lovely authors, illustrators and editors that have visited, and even a few illustrations too!

Above we have comments from a few illustrators, including Catherine Rayner and Emily Gravett, the little mouse is apt as we have some of the artwork for her book 'Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears' in the Collection. Also the author Gillian McClure, and Roger and Gill Wright, who donated the archive of Elinor Lyon.

Here we have some 'wonderful' comments from some more illustrators, including Ed Vere, Ian Beck and Anthony Browne, who has kindly provided us with a shape to transform! The comment below the cheeky monkey by Anthony Browne is from another ex-Children's Laureate, the poet Michael Rosen.

At the top of the page, we have a lovely little picture of the Incredible Book Eating Boy himself, drawn for us when Oliver Jeffers visited in 2009.

Some more fantastic comments, and a lovely little illustration from Lauren Child, whose exhibition we hosted in 2009/10. There is also a fantastic comment from John Burningham, beloved illustrator, who we also worked with for an exhibition in 2010.

One of our favourite comments from Colin McNaughton, although we won't be working any less any time soon!

A list of some of the names that visited in 2011, including Imogen and Sophie Smallwood, daughter and granddaughter of Enid Blyton, as well as a cheeky 'Lost Thing' from the very brilliant Shaun Tan.

And the final page, with our most recent comments from two very lovely new illustrators who have been filmed as part of our Picturebooks in Progress project - Yasmeen Ismail and Levi Pinfold.

Picturebook in Progress

Last weekend, the first exhibition in the newly renovated Storylab gallery opened at the Seven Stories visitor centre. The Picturebook in Progress exhibition is one of the outcomes of a collaborative project between the Collections and Learning and Participation teams which has been running since July 2013.

The project has the aim of using the Seven Stories collection to inspire and empower the picturebook illustrators of the future by working closely with students from illustration courses across Britain.

Over the course of the project, students from Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, Edinburgh College of Art, Sunderland University, as well as sixth form students from St. Cuthbert’s Catholic High School, Newcastle have been introduced to the Seven Stories collection and allowed to explore its rich illustration holdings.

Students from St Cuthbert's Catholic High School in the Seven Stories archive

Each group has investigated material relating to the creative process of illustrators, seeing how plots and characters develop and how these ideas become the finished books we see on the shelves. Using correspondence between authors, illustrators and publishers from the Seven Stories Collection, the students have also seen how ideas can be shaped by the pressures of the professional world of illustration, a vital understanding to have for anyone serious about pursuing a career in children’s books.

Illustration and Design Students from Sunderland University, investigating Seven Stories artwork collections

The exhibition allows visitors to Seven Stories to go on the same journey as the participating students, following a picturebook from from the very first ideas, be they rough scribbles or short notes, through every stage of development until reaching the fantastic finished artwork submitted to publishers.

As well as showcasing many of the collection items that the students viewed, the exhibition also features five artworks created by students from Sunderland and St. Cuthbert’s in response to their visit to the archive.

The Picturebook in Progress exhibition is open until April 2014.

(David Wright, Learning Co-ordinator: Picturebook in Progress project)