THE BAD EASTER BUNNY
A children’s picture
book you will not want to miss.
Written by Isabel Atherton
and illustrated by Stéphanie Röhr
We give it *****
Welcome readers. This week we are pleased to bring you news
about a terrific children’s picture book. This is going to be a fabulous gift
to give alongside the Easter eggs. Indeed, it may not be a bad idea to get a
copy ahead of Easter and let the youngsters appreciate a good message, for
life, not just for Easter.
This is a superbly well-written book by Isabel Atherton, who
is none other than Keith’s own literary agent. (Actually, that isn’t quite
true, since she is not my very own agent, since she runs the highly successful Creative Authors
literary agency, which has oodles of other writers, artists and generally
creative types on their books.)
Going on from the success of her adult picture book Zombie Cat, which she did with Bethany
Straker, and which we reviewed earlier on the West Uist Chronicle, she has this
time teamed up with another very talented artist Stéphanie Röhr.
As a taster, have a
look at THE BAD EASTER BUNNY – the movie!
And so I am pleased
to welcome both Isabel and Stephanie into the office for a chat to tell you all
about it.
Isabel, welcome back.
For those of our readers who are visiting for the first time, tell us a little
about yourself and your background.
Thanks for having me back! I’m a literary agent at Creative
Authors Ltd. You can see more about my company and the wonderful authors I
represent at www.creativeauthors.co.uk.
I also love collaborating with talented artists and this has led me to work on
illustrated books. The Bad Easter Bunny aka BEB is my first children’s picture
book. It’s been such a treat to team up with Steph and I am over the moon with
how the book looks. I hope readers will enjoy it too!
Stephanie, give us
the lowdown on yourself, please.
Allo. I’m an illustrator of children’s books and an Art
director for Creature London. I moved to England from France four years ago, to
immerse myself in London’s vibrant creative energy. Finding Isabel has been
fantastic, and I’m looking forward to working with her on future projects. I
prefer to let my work speak for me and you can hear it chattering away at:
stephanierohr-illustration.com
Isabel, tell us about
the book. I know that you are a very polite lady yourself and I suspect that
you had a reason for writing this story.
My wonderful publisher, Julie Matysik at Sky Pony Press in
New York, dropped me a line enquiring if I had any suitable scripts, as she was
looking for a title for the Easter market and she also wanted to use Steph as
the illustrator. This got me thinking and I decided to have a go at writing the
story myself. Whenever I think of Easter I think of the Easter Rabbit and so I
decided to develop a story around the bunny. I pondered the character for a few
days and suddenly bingo! I thought of how in my life there have been occasions
where I haven’t felt necessarily appreciated and how the Easter Bunny hands out
gifts, but how does he feel? Is he appreciated for his efforts? The key message
is the importance of gratitude. Something, I believe should never be
underrated.
Stephanie, I love
these pictures. How did you choose to draw the Easter Bunny this way? Did you
decide between you?
Our publisher wanted to get me on
board again after ‘Count the Sheep to Sleep’ by Phillippa Rae was released. She
thought that a colourful Easter story would fit perfectly with the bright
colours I love using, and the quirky ideas I punctuate my work with. The first
time I read BEB, it was clear to me BEB had to be both cute and a little bit
scary for kids to love the character. I always send early sketches to the authors
I work with, believing it’s important they are happy with my interpretation of
their work. My initial drawings were well received by Isabel and throughout the
process I kept her involved with how the spreads were developing.
Isabel, I know that
you have other books in the pipeline. Can you share these with us?
Yes of course! I have one more book scheduled to be
published in Fall 2013. It’s called ‘Smelly Ghost.’ It’s about a ghost who
gives off a bad smell due to all the junk food he eats and how he eventually
learns that eating good foods will lead to feeling healthier and happier. It’s
illustrated by Bethany Straker. We’re also currently working on two more
children’s books together to be published in 2014. These are ‘Springy Chicken’
about Martha a chicken, who has springs for legs, which initially ostracizes
her from her fellow hens until she leaps into action to save a young chick from
the mean Mr. Fox and finally ‘Mr Cow’s Deep Sea Adventure.’ Mr. Cow doesn't
like to make cheese or yogurt like his cow friends - he'd rather be exploring
and in his first adventure, he takes a trip to the bottom of the
deep blue sea, where he finds all kinds of creatures and makes a friend along the way.
deep blue sea, where he finds all kinds of creatures and makes a friend along the way.
Stephanie, what are
you working on next? Have you got other books coming out? Will you be
collaborating with Isy again?
Currently I’ve been commissioned
by creative agency Serious Comedy to illustrate a scooter safety booklet for
six year olds, and I’m developing a series of funny, edgy, educational books
for teenagers with award winning comedian and comedy writer Darren Ruddell. I always
ways hope to collaborate with Isabel. It’s been a fantastic experience, and I
adore her writing. Her stories are full of charm and allow me to play with
bright colours and funny visuals jokes, which I love.
Ladies, it has been a
pleasure. We wish you well with your future projects.
Thanks so much, Keith!
Merci beaucoup, Keith!
We really love this book
and if you would like to hop over to the Amazon opposite, you can order your
copy!
Keith Souter
Associate Editor
Calum Steele
Editor
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