A Q&A interview with Alex Milway
Alex Milway is the author/illustrator of over a dozen books for children, among them illustrated series for young readers such as Pigsticks and Harold, Big Sky Mountain and Hotel Flamingo.
Book one in his new series, Captain Sunshine, is out now. Alex answered our questions about his book.
How did the idea for Captain Sunshine come about – what’s your creative process when it comes to ideas?
We were looking at new ideas set in the world of Hotel Flamingo, and I looked at the map in the first book. Up in the top left corner was a cruise ship, and it immediately seemed the perfect setting for new stories.
I always find new ideas come along when I’m busiest, especially when I’m in the middle of another book! It can be infuriating, but that’s what notebooks are for. I really enjoy filling them with drawings of characters or places, or even just writing a few sentences, or simply a new title for a story. And once I’ve written down the idea, it exists, it won’t be forgotten! I think it’s really important when an idea hits, you try and work through it a little and get it to the point where it can be left ‘til you have time to fully work on it.
As an illustrator as well as author, when you are creating a character, do you start with words or images?
I really prefer to have a drawing of a character in place before I describe them in words. I always think it’s much harder the other way around, but that’s not to say a drawing always comes first. Sometimes you chance upon a brilliant name for a character, and then work with that.
Bella is a wonderfully positive character. Is there any of you in her?
I’m always the optimist and believe everything is achievable, so yes, absolutely! It’s fair to say I don’t always have the confidence to achieve everything though. I maybe don’t come across as anxious, but I definitely do get it sometimes. Strangely enough, I can do events for 250 children without any worries but put twenty adults in the room and I get very nervous!
You’ve written a number of illustrated books now for children just beginning to read on their own. What’s the best thing about writing for this age group and what gives you the most satisfaction?
It’s an amazing age to write for, and I feel one that deserves far more attention. These are the years that can really build readers, and I do find they are the most rewarding. Children at this age truly take the characters and world to heart, they roleplay the stories with their toys, listen to them endlessly on audiobook… What a privilege! And to hear parents say that your story was the first book their child ever read on their own, well, that’s incredibly special.
Your books are filled with animal characters too. Do you have a favourite animal to draw and is there one you’d always avoid?
I love drawing dogs! Especially dogs with beards. And realism often goes out the window with my drawings, so I rarely have to worry about creatures with complicated anatomies. I would definitely avoid horses if I had to draw real ones, though.
It’s the National Year of Reading, what was your path to becoming a reader and what do you think are the best ways to turn children into readers?
I was a reader of weekly comics, first and foremost. I would guzzle up titles like the Beano, Transformers or Whizzer and Chips. I love that comics and graphic novels are doing so well these days because they were definitely fundamental to me enjoying books. From those early days I moved onto The Secret Seven and Roald Dahl, but I remember it was hard to find books that felt like the cartoons and comics which I loved. All that has changed now though. It’s probably true to say I properly became a reader later on in secondary school, when I read more grown-up titles like Lord of the Rings or Nineteen Eighty-Four. I can still remember the actual moment of reading them, where I was sitting or which bed I was lying on, which is quite wonderful, and shows how important they were to me.
I always feel the best way to get kids into reading is for books to compete visually with the world that children see around them. Fill the pages with illustrations! Make them cooler, brighter and bolder. The comics boom couldn’t have come at a better time. Kids will get all the words they need at school, but books can be so much more, stuffed with illustrations and ideas. And of course, the characters and worlds inside need to represent the reader and their lives in some way, to make that connection. They need to be relevant to today.
Captain Sunshine by Alex Milway is published by Piccadilly Press, 978-1835871577, £7.99pbk.
