I Wish I’d Written: Elys Dolan

Elys Dolan is inspired by a masterwork of detail.

This is a tricky question, because there are many books I wish I’d written. Just a few include Nadia Shireen’s hilarious Grimwood, Pam Smy’s terrifying Thornhill, and the pure joy that is Foges and Murphy’s Kitchen Disco. Why have I been spending my time writing my own books when I could have written these?

But you’re going to make me pick just one, aren’t’ you? If I must, I’ll choose one that speaks to both the writer and the illustrator in me, Martin Handford’s Where’s Wally? The Wonder Book.

One thing I crave in my work is detail. I love a book where you can go back and spot something new each read, and the Wally books are king of this. The Wonder Book though, is a law unto itself. The Wally books started modestly, showing places like busy train stations and beaches, but here Handford is off the hook. Instead, he gives us places to explore like a sea of lighthouses in the dead of night where a mighty battle is occurring between sea monsters and dragons and lasers and lots and lots of sailors. Who cares about the beach after you’ve experienced that tableau? If you look closely, you can even spot Father Christmas, because, well, why not?

This book is freedom, anarchy, and, when you to that spread with ALL the Wallys, it’s actually quite philosophical. It’s a masterwork of detail with a sprinkling of madness.

Mayor Bunny’s Chocolate Town, the sequel to Elys Dolan’s LOLLIES prize-winning Mr Bunny’s Chocolate Factory, publishes on 3  February 2022, 978-0192782700, £12.99 hbk

Where’s Wally? The Wonder Book is published by Walker Books, 978-1406305906, £7.99 pbk