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STORYWRITING U
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Gi l l
Gillian McClure is a much-loved British author and illustrator. Her
books have been translated into many different languages and
Selkie won an award for Outstanding Achievement in Children's
Books. Some of Gillian's picture books, like Tom Finger, have been
inspired by classic themes or fairy tales. Others were created
completely by her own imagination.
As mentioned in our Librophilia! page, “Zoe's Boat is illustrated in
watercolour using an interesting frame format. The way the text,
drawings and frames flow together gives a really fun, graphic novel
effect.” This is typical of Gillian's rich and unusual style.
Keen to visit schools and work with students, Gillian uses her stories
and artwork to inspire children and young people to write and
illustrate their own books. She says she tries to make her stories
timeless and placeless yet relevant to children today.
How do I combine the Images and Words?
Gillian shared with us how she makes
sure her paintings and writings fall
into place, using as an example her
recent book, Flood.
"When I’m asked which comes first in
my picture books, the images or the
words, I say the words come first.
I like to do a first written draft and
then, when I’m thinking about page
layouts and the integration of image
with text, I do the second draft. This
is when I remove all unnecessary
words where images can do the work
instead. However, I do hold an image
in my head right from the start. -An
image forms the essence of the book.
In my book, Flood, (July 2014), that first image was full of opposites. Paradoxical.
There was a hen in a flood, safe in what looks like a red furry nest...but really it's
a fox’s tail! It was from this image that the story started to emerge; a hen trying
to