I wanted to write a childrens’ book for my son that encompassed all the good experiences in life. Community, connection, earth/nature awareness, love, food, celebration, treasure, anticipation, ultimately how all these things create the next steps in the journey for all of us.
The whole process of creating Splendid Fellow Pumpkin was and still is a fascinating ride of meeting the right people at the right time and being inspired by everyone that comes into contact with the energy that provides the magical enchantment behind the concept of my book.
All over the world folklore tells us of the Forest Folk that dwell unseen among the trees far away from our current consciousness.
I grew up watching the childrens TV programme The Wombles. We even had a single vinyl record of The Wombling Song that we would get to play at Christmas….or any other time my dad would get the record player going to listen to his classical LP’s. The Wombles were shy creatures that always remained unseen while they lived on Wimbledon Common, a parklike area on the edge of London. They were extremely environmentally aware and would pick up litter and make use of the everyday things folks (humans) left behind….a 1970’s version of upcycling!
I realised the Wombles had had a huge impact on me as a child as I was writing Splendid Fellow Pumpkin….However, I wanted my characters to be human but with a keen sense of their own inner magic and how that sustainability connects them to the natural world and its magic.
My illustrator, Lyn Kriegler understood the characters straight away and drew exactly what I had in my mind when I shared where and how they might live and what adventures and joy they would experience.
Growing up away from the busy city….I always felt safe playing in and exploring the woods and fields and even now, while NZ beaches are beautiful, it is in a grassy field, or a garden full of trees that my soul is nourished and refreshed, so it is these types of environs that I chose for where Splendid Fellow Pumpkin and his community dwell.
