AUTHOR and ILLUSTRATOR INTERVIEW: Jacqui Halpin and Sandra Severgnini

This month on on my blog I’m thrilled to be chatting with two wonderful Queensland children’s book authors and illustrators who are also friends of mine, Brisbane children’s author Jacqui Halpin and illustrator and author on the Sunshine Coast, Sandra Severgnini. The two ladies created the gorgeous picture book Where’s Lucky, published this year by Australian publishers Little Pink Dog Books. The book was shortlisted for the Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year, 2019.

Where’s Lucky? was inspired by a real orphaned swamp wallaby named Lucky. Taken care of by wildlife carers Theresa and Tony at Our Haven Wildlife Shelter in Victoria, Lucky was a cheeky little joey who kept getting into places he shouldn’t! In the fictionalised picture book, we not only get insight into some of Lucky’s escapades, but also the joys and challenges involved in the important job of caring for orphaned animals.

Where’s Lucky is an interesting, fun, yet touching and educational picture book that will appeal to animal lovers as well as those who have never had much contact with native creatures. Kids will have fun trying to answer the question of “Where’s Lucky?” throughout the book, and no doubt giggle at all the mischief the energetic joey gets up to.

Sandra’s gentle, gorgeous illustrations bring Lucky’s story to life beautifully. Her artwork demonstrates the humour of many of the situations as well as the love and care and hectic nature of life in the animal shelter. The colours are mostly pastel, with plenty of white space on each spread to really let the imagery pop. I think the illustrations will have every child begging to go and see a wallaby or other native animal straight away!

The book helpfully opens up conversations about wildlife, death, grief, family, caring for others, appropriate behavior, letting go, and more. Readers will be able to pick up on more layers through each new read of the book, too, meaning that this is one that will regularly be on rotation in a child’s library.

The book concludes with some information about the shelter, plus some wildlife safety tips and ideas on how to help animals in need. Furthermore, a percentage of profits from the book are being donated to Our Haven Wildlife Shelter. This all leads to a picture book that entertains, informs, and gives back. The story is perfect for families, schools, and libraries, and children of many ages.

To get some insights into the making of this lovely book, I chatted with author Jacqui and illustrator Sandra to learn more. Let’s find out some of the ins and outs…

Jacqui, what was the inspiration for writing this story? 

I saw a video post on Facebook from Our Haven Wildlife Shelter showing them bottle feeding all these little joeys in what looked like their kitchen, with a row of fabric pouches hanging on the walls behind them, and I thought, there has to be a picture book here.

When I saw that Kathy Creamer, from Little Pink Dog Books, had also commented on another of Our Haven Wildlife’s posts saying it would make a great picture book, I emailed them right away.

Jacqui, since this story is based on real people and animals, and a real situation, how did this affect the way you wrote the book?

I had to make sure what I wrote was an accurate description of what Theresa and Scruff (Tony) from Our Haven actually do, so I watched lots of their video posts and consulted with Theresa frequently. When Sandra and I visited Our Haven a few months later, I read my manuscript out to Theresa and Scruff to make sure it met with their approval. They were delighted with it!

Jacqui, did you have any particular challenges in writing this book or in getting it published?

Peter and Kathy from Little Pink Dog Books were totally in support of this story right from the start, which was great! But when I first pitched the idea to them, that’s all I had … a rough idea! So the pressure was on to find how I was actually going to tell the story, and get it written.

The first few drafts were mainly facts about what Theresa and Scruff do. And it wasn’t working, as my family and my SCBWI online critique group will attest to. My youngest daughter said, ‘It needs to be something like Sebastian Lives in a Hat, a beautiful picture book from her childhood. I knew she was right but I couldn’t find the right angle to go about it. I was starting to despair when I saw a new video Theresa had put on Facebook about a mischievous little swamp wallaby they had called Lucky. And I thought, there’s my story!!

Jacqui, what's something you'd like readers to come away from the book understanding, or thinking about?

I wanted Where’s Lucky? to bring awareness of the hard work wildlife carers do, and how important it is. I also wanted to educate children and adults about ways they can help protect our wildlife. At the back of the book there’s a double page spread with tips on how they can do this.

I also want to help Our Haven Wildlife Shelter with the amazing work they do by donating 10% of the income from the sales of Where’s Lucky? to them so they can one day realise their dream of owning more land where they’ll be able to care for their joeys in a much more suitable and safer environment than a suburban backyard, and also be able to release them onto their own property.

Sandra, can you please tell us the medium you used for the illustrations, and your process for this project?
The illustrations in Where’s Lucky are sketched traditionally with a pencil. Once approved I coloured with watercolour and highlighted with coloured pencil.

I then scanned them into the computer to tweak and laid them out in their format - suggesting type placement etc. - before sending them off to the publisher for approval.

Sandra, were there any parts of the story that were particularly challenging to illustrate?

So many kangaroos. Trying to keep them looking like kangaroos and not rabbits!

Sandra, how did things work with regards to you and Jacqui communicating about the book? Did you discuss ideas back and forth at all?

Jacqui and I were brought together early on in the book process. She had only a rough draft at that time, so we had the opportunity to visit the sanctuary and Lucky and do some research together.

Jacqui and I did discuss ideas, which were usually met with enthusiasm from all parties.

I found it very rewarding working with the author and being able to communicate directly. It gave me a better perspective of the story and was exciting to share the journey with her.

Thanks, Jacqui and Sandra, for stopping by my blog, and congrats on your beautiful book!