Christmas came around and there were big celebrations in our house. I was even given a present; a rag doll which, as it happened, didn’t have very sturdy legs because they came off with only a couple of tugs. The Doggett, my dad, was given a big, red tin full of dog biscuits. The best thing though, was all this lovely food called leftovers. I particularly liked the duck, very nice. We had lots of roast potatoes with gravy and the little bits of burnt pumpkin were wonderful, great for the teeth I believe.

As soon as Christmas Day was over, the four-wheel drive was brought out and packed to the brim. We bounded onto the back seat along with the small person, and off we went. It took a long time but we slept most of the way and The Doggett and I had lots of energy when we arrived at the camping spot on the Murray River. We were met by our best friend Ozzie and had a rowdy greeting of chewing each other’s legs. Ozzie belongs to the relatives of our people, so we spend loads of time with him. His man person calls him a Big Sissy. I’m not sure what a Big Sissy is, but I wouldn’t mind being one because whenever his man person calls him one, it generates lots of pats for Ozzie from his lady person.

After everyone had settled down, we went over to explore the water. I had never seen water before, not like this anyway, it was huge and moved along very quickly but on the sides it just sloshed along gently so I played in there a lot. I started to suspect that The Doggett couldn’t swim because he just lazed around in the shallows and pretended to be fascinated with crickets and things.

Ozzie, on the other hand has turned swimming into an art form. He loves it. As he swims, he puts his face into the water and blows bubbles, then chases the bubbles, popping them with his front paws. I love hanging out with Ozzie. All the small people love him too. I was at his house one day and some small people knocked on the door and asked if he could go out and play. They throw sticks and balls for him to retrieve. They threw a ball to me once but I tried to eat it and everyone yelled at me. The Doggett doesn’t do balls or sticks, he just ignores them as they sail past. The Doggett is very cool.

One day, I overheard our people talking to Ozzie’s people about snakes. It turns out that while we, The Doggett, Ozzie and myself are around, the snakes won’t come near the campsite. I wasn’t sure what a snake was, but it felt good to know that it was scared of me already. I strutted around feeling pretty important, knowing I had a fierce reputation among the snakes. I searched through the long grass, hoping to find some sitting around that I could scare by sneaking up and barking. I even invented a game called ‘Snake Ninjas’, where I pretended that the Golden Ninja, me, would pounce on a group of snakes and they would all run off through the bush crying and terrified of the barking, Golden Ninja. It was a great game and I couldn’t wait to actually find some snakes.

A couple of days later, the Ranger came into our campsite to warn us of a snake that had been spotted in the nearby bush, (‘bush’ is Australian for lots of trees and bushes and grass and stuff). The Ranger actually had a photo of the snake, which he passed around. He told our people to be careful until he had caught it and removed it to a spot where there were no campers. I had my chest all puffed up and ready to run through the bush looking once more to scare the snake, until I glimpsed the photo. I froze!

My head swam and my little legs felt weak at the sight of this horrible long, scaly, slithering thing. It had horrible yellow eyes and teeth called fangs. Apparently, one bite from this snake thing would do us all in. I felt dizzy as I looked out into the Great Australian Bush, my reverie and the Golden Ninja gone in one simple flick of a photo. I felt sick. I dragged myself into one of the tents and lay on a blow up mattress and wondered if the snake knew how to unzip the tents in the night.

It wasn’t until we were on our way home that I mentioned the snake to The Doggett. He said that the snake wouldn’t bother us unless we stepped on it because they don’t like that. Eww! I had no intention of touching it! The Doggett also said that snakes could swim. He then put his head on his biscuit tin and went to sleep. I looked at the snoring Doggett and remembered how he only ever played around on the banks of the river and never went in for a swim. I love The Doggett; he’s very cool.

Love Wilson.

Omar Aranda, Illustrator Of The JackoWhisp Series Of Picture Books for Children

In my last post I wrote about the different stages of publishing a book. I would like to tell you a little more about Omar, the illustrator. Omar lives in Argentina and runs his own illustrator’s agency. He is very successful and also very busy. I am lucky that he likes my books and is happy to illustrate the pictures. Omar draws pictures or illustrations as they are called, for people all over the world. He does book covers as well as books and he also draws for some of the big comic studios like Looney Tunes. You can read more about Omar on The Illustrator’s Agency website.

Who decides what the characters will look like?

When I first wrote these books I didn’t know what the characters would look like. In fact, I thought they would be a bit like long, sausage people. I really had no idea. After Omar agreed to take on the job of illustrating Jimba Jackobean and the Bouncer-Bangerrings, I asked him to draw some of the characters for me. Three days later he sent through the pictures you see on the website of Mayor Whitterkins and his wife Hilda, Bobber Bangerring and Jimba. I was so thrilled. It was wonderful to see my stories with the added dimension of illustrations.

How long does it take to illustrate a picture book for children?

All illustrators, including Omar need a time frame to work with and I asked him if he could have the illustrations ready in six months. That isn’t a long time but he did it. I have included some of his drawings below because he would send them over to see if I liked them. Naturally, I liked everything he sent. Can you see which picture they are by looking in your book of Jimba Jackobean and the Bouncer-Bangerrings?

Some of Omar’s Illustrations For You To Colour

The Meeting. (Click the image to download, print and colour.)

Bobber Bangerring. (Click the image to download, print and colour.)

To Your Wonderful Adventures In the Land Of JackoWhisp,
Alexis Tapp

PS

Did you get your own copy of Jimba Jackobean and The Bouncer Bangerrings yet?
When you do, remember to tell me what you enjoyed most by writing a comment in the comments box below.

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How many steps in making a story and picture book for kids?

My next book for children, Jimba Jackobean and the Octodillioes, will be coming out next year and I am really excited about it. Why does it take so long? After a story is written, it needs to go through a lot of stages before it can be called a book:

1. When the author first writes the story it is called a manuscript.
2. The manuscript then goes to an editor who looks at any spelling errors or incorrect punctuation.
3. The editor will also look at the story to decide if parts of it are not needed or something is missing in the story. This is normal and most writers listen to what the editor says because they usually know best. My editor’s name is Wendy and she lives in France.
4. After the writer and the editor are both happy with the story, it then goes to the illustrator.
5. The illustrator for the Jackowhisp series is Omar Aranda and he draws the pictures. I don’t tell Omar what to draw; I leave it up to him. Just as well, because if you look at the pictures in Jimba Jackobean and the Bouncer-Bangerrings you will agree that they are amazing!

6. When the pictures come back to me I then send them and the manuscript off to a story boarder whose job it is to put them all  together into a book on the computer. My storyboard lady is Monique and without her, the book wouldn’t look very good. She is responsible for the layout of the pages and makes them look nice with proper margins and a nice font that is easy to read.

7. Eventually the book is ready for the printer. When Jimba Jackobean and the Bouncer-Bangerrings was printed, I flew to the  printer’s in Adelaide to watch the printing process. You can see me in these images.

I won’t be flying to Adelaide this time for the print of Jimba Jackobean and the Octodillioes because I will be busy here in Melbourne. Make sure you get your copy in next year before they sell out.

Here’s To Your Wonderful Adventures In The Land Of JackoWhisp,
Alexis Tapp

PS

If you have any questions about making a picture book for children, just type them in the comments box below and I will do my best to answer them

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