Picture book creative process

And now here’s a look into the process behind making for the picture book that won the Librarians prize.
-editors note

The creative process

Interview by Hilary and Esther

The year 8s of 2024 have been hard at work creating their own Picture books. Each coming up with their own plot and translating it into illustrations. Coveted picture book and winner of “Librarians Prize” Lucy Fogarty of 8J1 shared the creative process that went into the creation of their picture book "Going On. 

Statement from Lucy:

"Going On" is based on the story of a real family, being my aunt, uncle and cousins, as well as their real cat that did die, leaving the family to grapple with his death. The story centred around the cat, whom I named Jam, slowly discovering the truth of his fate with the help of his old friend, Milo (Which, fun fact, was the original name of the cat Jam is based on.) My story had one of the hardest hitting topics for children to grapple with, that being death. Not many other books and cartoons had tackled this subject, and I didn't want to make a statement that had already been made. So now my next challenge was to make the subject appropriate, since death isn't necessarily all cupcakes and rainbows, but I didn't want to dumb the topic down, as it would make the topic less serious or entirely miss the point of the message I wanted to convey. And what a better way to make the book for kids than making a talking animal the protagonist. A set of watercolour paint, paper, a bit of driving spirit and hope the book wouldn't be an atrocity and some binding help from my mum later, "Going On" was finally complete. Looking back on my work and how it turned out, I now realise how proud I should be and how proud anyone should be of their creations. Though I didn't think I could do it, I conquered the hard topic of death in a satisfying way, showing that what I chose, while seeming hard, was just what I needed.

• Lucy Fogarty 8J1