We are delighted to welcome author / illustrator Kate Leake to Story Snug. Her new picture book, Don’t Chew the Royal Shoe! has just been published and we have a copy to give away.
The Story: Chips, the royal dog, loves chewing the royal shoes. A crisis point is reached when nobody in the palace has a pair of matching shoes which leads to embarrassment for the Queen at the Royal Garden Party. The gardener finds Chip’s secret shoe stash and Chips is sent to bed in disgrace. During the night Chips hears a noise. The palace is being burgled and the burglar has left his smelly old boots outside the door of the Jewel room. Chip steals one of the burglar’s boots, the ensuing chase wakes up the whole palace and Chips is hailed a hero. But what happens to the burglar’s boots?
Author / Illustrator: Kate Leake
We asked Kate about writing and illustrating Don’t Chew the Royal Shoe!, her work in general and, of course, we wanted to know about her favourite picture books.
How did you become an illustrator?
Well, I always enjoyed writing stories when I was growing up. I was that child who would write 20 pages of A4 and present it to the teacher, who would then have the challenging task of squeezing it all onto the class display board!
I suppose I discovered my artistic side when I was about 11. Art was always my absolute favourite subject and I found that the best part about science and history lessons was being able to draw lots of pictures and diagrams. I later went on to study art at A-level, and then as a foundation course, where I discovered my passion for illustration. Children’s illustration particularly excited me, and in 2004, I graduated with a first class BA (Hons) in Illustration for Children’s Publishing from the North Wales School of Art & Design. I’ve been illustrating ever since!
You have illustrated picture books for other authors. How different is it to illustrate a story that you’ve written and to illustrate someone else’s writing?
Very different! Writing and illustrating a story is such an involved process, it’s almost as though you get sucked into the story yourself! There’s an advantage of being able to change text along the way if it’s not working with the idea you had for the illustrations. And a lot of the time, a picture can tell a story in itself, so doesn’t always need the text you may have written.
But, I’ve worked with some wonderful authors and I love illustrating their stories, too. Seeing a story for the first time and being given the opportunity to interpret it through pictures and bring characters to life is always a joy for me.
Which came first when you wrote and illustrated Don’t Chew the Royal Shoe!, the writing or the pictures?
I started with a character design for Chips the dog. He wasn’t a royal dog to begin with but I happened to draw him wearing a paper crown, which sparked the idea later. The text came next but I still changed the story a fair bit as I was going along and working on the pictures.
Is the character of Chip based on a dog you own or know?
I don’t have a dog at the moment, but I would very much like one! We had a family dog when I was growing up, called Barney. He was adorable, scruffy and was always getting up to mischief. He liked to help himself to whatever delicious treat may be lurking on the kitchen worktop. Like half a birthday cake or an entire vegetable flan, which my mum had made for a wedding! Barney’s mischievous and scruffy side was always at the heart of Chips’ character, I think. He had the same loveable doggy innocence, which meant that you could never stay cross with him for long.
The illustrations in Don’t Chew the Royal Shoe! made us laugh. We especially like the picture showing Chip burying the shoes and the mole’s face when he finds a shoe. Do you have a favourite illustration from the story?
That illustration is also one of my favourites! I enjoy drawing anything with lots of detail and a cross section of what is happening underground can allow you to have a lot of fun with that.
Is there a particular illustration that you enjoyed working on?
I’m rather pleased with the ‘Urgent Royal Investigation’ spread which shows a row of party guests’ feet at the top and a row of royal guards along the bottom. My husband, Alan and my brother-in-law, Jon, are both featured in the line of guards, wearing dinosaur and football socks! This was a spread that I struggled with at first and left towards the end – you could say it gave me ‘illustrator’s block’. But it all fell into place eventually and I feel that the final design is fun and original.
Do you have a favourite location / environment to work in?
My studio is where I can really settle into my work. I have lots of beautiful pictures covering the walls to inspire me and a lovely big window (sometimes there is sunshine shining through it!). It is always nice to go out to a gallery or the zoo and sketch some things in the great outdoors, though.
We’re always interested to know what authors and illustrators like to read. Do you have a favourite picture book from your childhood?
Yes! ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’, by Eric Carle. You can tell it was my favourite because the spine is falling apart and the pages have had to be stuck together with sellotape. My mum and dad read this to me every night when I was little and they could probably both quote the text without the book in front of them now, if I asked them! I loved hearing about the caterpillar’s journey, seeing all the delicious colourful things he munched through and his transition into a beautiful butterfly. My husband recently bought me a Norwegian edition of the book on a trip to the Arctic.
Do you have a current favourite picture book?
There are so many that I love, this is a tough question! I’m very fond of the latest books by Anna Kemp and Sara Ogilvie, particularly ‘Rhinos Don’t Eat Pancakes’. It’s such a funny story with hilarious and beautiful illustrations, and a great twist at the end!
About Kate Leake
Kate has also illustrated the following picture books.
Thank you to Scholastic for sending us a review copy of ‘Don’t Chew the Royal Shoe!’.
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