[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":11},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-post-oliver-et-les-iles-vagabondes-prix-enfantaisie":3},{"_type":4,"body":5,"bodyHtml":6,"excerpt":5,"featuredImage":5,"publishedAt":7,"slug":8,"tags":9,"title":10},"blogPost",null,"My co-author \u003Ca href=\"http://philipreeve.blogspot.co.uk/\">Philip Reeve\u003C/a> and I were so excited to get a message from our International Rights Manager \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/Stellagtr\">Stella Giatrakou\u003C/a>, saying she'd heard from French publisher \u003Ca href=\"http://www.seuil.com/livre-9791023501223.htm\">Seuil\u003C/a> that \u003Ci>Oliver and the Seawigs\u003C/i> had won an award in Switzerland! It's the \u003Ca href=\"https://www.payot.ch/fr/selections/prix-enfantaisie\">Prix Enfantaisie\u003C/a>, organised by \u003Cb>Payot bookshops\u003C/b> and the \u003Cb>Swiss Institute for Youth\u003C/b>, and they've been doing it for 20 years; 3,000 children voted for \u003Ci>Oliver et les îles vagabondes\u003C/i> from a selection of five books. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/sarah_islesvagabondes_zpspgztxkrr-42c47609b8.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nWe weren't able to go to the Geneva International Bookfair to accept the award because we had already agreed to go to the Stratford-upon-Avon lit fest. But I knew the perfect person in Geneva to collect the award! She's \u003Cb>Marie-Pierre Preece\u003C/b>, the amazing librarian at the International School of Geneva, that I \u003Ca href=\"http://jabberworks.livejournal.com/478064.html\">visited in 2012\u003C/a>. (All the kids call her 'MP'.) Here she is on the left, with the picture I drew for her library during my visit:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"http://jabberworks.livejournal.com/478064.html\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/geneva_intlschool_frame-eec82baa65.jpg\">\u003C/a>\\r\n\\r\nAnd MP asked Philip and me if we could make a video for the ceremony, which we did. (Note the excellent sound effect halfway through, that was Philip's doing.)\\r\n\\r\n\u003Clj-embed id=\"3059\"/>\\r\n\\r\n\u003C!--more Click here for more under the cut, including interview questions-->\\r\nYes, thank you, Payot, Seuil, our excellent French translator \u003Cb>Raphaële Eschenbrenner\u003C/b>, Stella at Oxford University Press, and MP! Here's MP collecting the award at the book fair, next to the winner in the other category, \u003Cb>Max Ducos\u003C/b>, for \u003Ci>Le Mystère de la grande dune\u003C/i>. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/swissaward2_zpsmlvkgwfw-cc7241e72e.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd MP signing our books! She wrote in an e-mail:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Ci>The second picture is me signing your book. The kids asked for a signature and I said, 'Well how, if the illustrator is not here?' and then one of them said, 'But you, Miss, can't you sign our books?' and I couldn't resist! But I signed '\u003Ci>de la part de\u003C/i>', so all is honest and good.\u003C/i> \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/swissaward_zpsnhfpq1bc-beee541356.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nSome of the kids spoke English and were able to understand the video, and MP translated for the rest. They also had some questions. So I rang up Philip on Skype this morning and we've answered them together. A big thanks to everyone who voted for our book!\\r\n\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"http://www.sikjm.ch/fr/prixjurys/prix-enfantaisie/prix-enfantaisie-2015/\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/prix_enfantaisie_zpskngy0pgc-5901baf4cf.jpg\">\u003C/a>\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cfont size=\"4\">Questions from Swiss readers:\u003C/font>\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cb>* Did you use a computer to create the illustrations?\u003C/b>\\r\n\\r\nPartly, yes! I started out by using old-fashioned dip pen and ink, and scanned those black-and-white drawings into the computer. In Adobe Photoshop, I added the blue colour (which is gray in some of the paperback versions). \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seawigs_iris-c898b26d0a.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cb>* Where did the idea of vagabond islands come from? \u003C/b>\\r\n\\r\nSarah: Philip had the idea to write a sea story, and we originally thought it might be about a dog that washed up on a beach. But I was telling Philip about how I'd been to a meeting of the Children's Writers & Illustrators Group (part of the Society of Authors), and the acronym for that is 'CWIG'. I pronounced it 'Seawig', and joked that I'd love to draw a picture of islands with stuff piled up on their heads. (I'd just been drawing a lot of monster wigs for an exhibition.) Philip said, 'AHA! That's just what we need for this story!' and it all started from there.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cb>* Why did you choose the sea and not another type of environment?\u003C/b>\\r\n\\r\nSarah: Philip and I both grew up near the sea and love it. The sea is also the closest thing on earth that we have to an alien planet; scientists are still discovering strange alien creatures in its depths. So it's natural to think that any kind of creature could come out of it. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/childhood_sea_zpsaf4331bf-62a56e530e.jpg\">\\r\n\u003Ci>\u003Cfont size=\"1\">Little Sarah with her sister, Mary\u003C/i>\u003C/font>\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cb>* Where did you get the idea of the characters in the book?\u003C/b>\\r\n\\r\nPhilip: We wanted a character who could go off and have adventures so we made his family explorers. Sarah really likes mermaids, so we decided we'd have him meet a mermaid. And the other characters just popped in when they felt like it.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cb>* Why is the boy called Oliver? is there a link with somebody you know?\u003C/b>\\r\n\\r\nPhilip: We were walking along the banks of the Thames while we talked about this story and we came to a place called Oliver's Wharf... \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cb>* Where did the idea of Sea Monkeys come from?\u003C/b>\\r\n\\r\nSarah: From comics! In the American \u003Ci>Archie\u003C/i> comics I read growing up, there was always an advert for Sea Monkeys, and I never believed that, for only a dollar, they would look like the ones in the picture. But I did wonder about them.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seamonkeys2_lg-f0341535c4.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cb>* Did you go around the world like Oliver's parents?\u003C/b>\\r\n\\r\nPhilip: When I was little, my parents took me around England, Scotland and Wales in a campervan, a bit like Oliver's Explorermobile.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seawigs_reeve_campervan1_zpsz1wovv2v-3afff1179a.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nSarah: I grew up in Seattle and did travel quite a bit with my parents, to places in the USA and to Scotland, England and France. Recently we all went to China together, and I made a travel comic about it \u003Ca href=\"http://www.jabberworks.co.uk/my-comics/\">that you can read here\u003C/a>. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"http://www.jabberworks.co.uk/my-comics/\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/mcintyre_chinacomic1-109ee9220e.gif\">\u003C/a>\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cb>* Did other books inspire you?\u003C/b>\\r\n\\r\nPhilip: Yes, but too many to name. \\r\n\\r\nSarah: In the beginning of creating our story, I thought a little bit about \u003Ci>The Voyage of the Dawn Treader\u003C/i> in the Narnia books, and the seagull in \u003Ci>Watership Down\u003C/i>, but by the time we'd finished creating our story, it was something completely different. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cb>* How long did it take to write the book?\u003C/b>\\r\n\\r\nPhilip: Including all the illustrations, about a year? We came up with the ideas together and I went away and wrote it, which took about a month. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cb>* What books did you like as a kid?\u003C/b>\\r\n\\r\nPhilip: Tolkien, Asterix, Tintin, Rosemary Sutcliffe.\\r\n\\r\nSarah: \u003Ci>The Twenty-one Balloons\u003C/i> by William Pené du Bois, \u003Ci>In the Night Kitchen\u003C/i> by Maurice Sendak, collections of \u003Ci>Calvin & Hobbes\u003C/i> comics.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cb>* What are your favourite books?\u003C/b>\\r\n\\r\nPhilip & Sarah: We both love \u003Ca href=\"http://www.geraldinemccaughrean.co.uk/\">Geraldine McCaughrean\u003C/a>'s \u003Ci>The White Darkness\u003C/i>.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cb>* Why did you become writers and illustrators?\u003C/b>\\r\n\\r\nPhilip: Because there's nothing else I can do!\\r\n\\r\nSarah: I've always loved drawing and writing gives me the chance to decide what I'm going to draw. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cb>* Since when have you been a writer?\u003C/b>\\r\n\\r\nPhilip: Since I was five. But my first published book was in 2001, \u003Ci>Mortal Engines\u003C/i>. \\r\n\\r\nSarah: Me, too, since about five. I made a book called \u003Ci>My Fish\u003C/i>. (You can read it all \u003Ca href=\"http://jabberworks.livejournal.com/577288.html\">here\u003C/a>.)\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/myfish_1_zpsbb9cbf79-79f6e5a5a5.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cb>* Did you go to a special school to become writers and illustrators?\u003C/b>\\r\n\\r\nPhilip: I went to art college but mostly I learned to write by just writing.\\r\n\\r\nSarah: I studied Russian at university, with a focus on Russian language and literature. But then I lived in Moscow for two years and discovered amazing Russian art and got very inspired. Over the next six years, I illustrated quite a few books and then went to art college for two years to study illustration. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/blast_seawigs_bookseller_zps8edce1cf-3ecea734ad.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cb>* How is it to live an author's life, how do you organise your days?\u003C/b>\\r\n\\r\nPhilip: I don't organise my days, they just happen. \\r\n\\r\nSarah: Days can be so different! One day I might be working at my desk, then the next day I might be traveling to talk about my books in front of hundreds of people on stage. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/camilla_seamonkey_song_zpsf7074e1d-3932fbea48.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cb>* Do you have another job?\u003C/b>\\r\n\\r\nPhilip: I do illustrate sometimes for other writers.\\r\n\\r\nSarah: Sometime publicising the books feels like a whole second job! I once \u003Ca href=\"http://jabberworks.livejournal.com/552918.html\">wrote an article\u003C/a> about how I have a fleet of clones helping me with all the work involved in being an illustrator.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"http://jabberworks.livejournal.com/552918.html\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/mcintyre_quadruplets1_zps6ef5fd1b-32772972e3.gif\">\u003C/a>\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cb>* Will there be a follow up?\u003C/b>\\r\n\\r\nSarah: Yes! The characters won't be the same - Philip and I wanted to come up with whole new worlds for each book - but they'll all be adventure stories. We've published one called \u003Cb>\u003Ci>Cakes in Space\u003C/i>\u003C/b> (or \u003Ca href=\"http://www.seuil.com/livre-9791023501230.htm\">\u003Ci>Astra et les gâteaux de l'espace\u003C/i>\u003C/a> in French, published by Seuil). You can learn how to draw some of the characters \u003Ca href=\"http://www.jabberworks.co.uk/cakes-in-space/\">here on my website\u003C/a>. And our next book is coming out in English, \u003Cb>\u003Ci>Pugs of the Frozen North\u003C/i>\u003C/b>, and hopefully in French, too! \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/cakes_bonehillrocks_zpsvv4exo3z-b3fba168eb.jpg\">\\r\n\u003Ci>\u003Cfont size=\"1\">Photo by Sarah Reeve\u003C/i>\u003C/font>\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seawigscakespugs_covers_zpsmv4bxrcg-9c5679419b.jpg\">","2015-05-05T10:09:00.000Z","oliver-et-les-iles-vagabondes-prix-enfantaisie",[],"oliver et les îles vagabondes: prix enfantaisie!",1776628727584]