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Never judge a book by it’s cover, but what about its opening lines?

Some of my favourite first words include:-

“The monster showed up just after midnight. As they do.”

“All children, except one, grow up.”

“‘Where’s Papa going with that axe?’ said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast.”

“There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.”

“The Iron Man came to the top of the cliff. How far had he walked? Nobody knows. Where had he come from? Nobody knows. Taller than a house, the Iron Man stood at the top of the cliff, on the very brink, in the darkness.”

(prizes if you can name all the books in the comments!)

And now there’s this to add to the mix:

“Once upon a slime, there was a Slodge.”

This is how Jeanne Willis introduces her latest book, The First Slodge, joyously illustrated by Jenni Desmond. The first words are simply a delight to read, to roll around your tongue, to let slip and slide into a smile as you read this story about sharing and friendship.

Slodge delights in the sunset, the moon and the stars, believing they belong to her alone. It comes as a huge shock to discover that there’s a second Slodge with whom she must share her delights. Squabbling over something neither wishes to forgo, they tumble into terrible danger. Will they work together to save themselves or will pride and selfishness get in the way?

Funny, gentle, and full of life The First Slodge is a warmhearted parable about how things are better together when shared with generosity. The youngest of listeners will recognise the delighted squeals of “Mine, all mine!“, as well as the tussles over treasures. However, everyone ends up full of the feel good factor, quietly reassured that they see they do not have to face the dangers of the world alone.

Written like a spider’s web – delicate and strong – The First Slodge contains equally impressive illustrations, full of flowing movement and energy with a sumptuous palette of soothing and sophisticated greens and blues. Several spreads strongly echo Desmond’s Red Cat, Blue Cat (you can read my review here) in composition or concept (the slodges/cats fighting, the twist at the end), which I found slightly surprising but both books remain lovely reads I recommend seeking out.

Sharing The First Slodge as a family left us eager to make our own slime and Slodges. We set up a slime factory to test three different recipes:

Slime 1

Mix all the ingredients in a saucepan and stir over a low heat for about 10 minutes as the mixture thickens. The low heat is necessary in order that the condensed milk doesn’t burn to the bottom of the pan. Once suitably thick, leave to cool before creating your Slodges. This slime is actually perfectly edible, but as we were playing with other slimes too, I didn’t encourage taste testing.

Slime 2

Mix all the ingredients in a saucepan and whisk over a low heat for about 5 minutes until the mixture thickens. Leave to cool and then start Slodging. We’ve never used this slime recipe before and it was the most exciting; its texture and appearance is quite unlike any other slime we’ve made, with a rubbery, almost bouncy feel, with great stretchability!

Slime 3

Mix all the ingredients in a saucepan and stir over low heat until the mixture is no longer sticky to touch. Leave to cool and knead into fairly solid slime. Some of you may recognise this as a playdoh recipe.

Once we had our three slimes we delighted and disgusted ourselves with the sensory experience as we made our first Slodges.

We rated our slimes in terms of appearance and texture, the yuckier the better.

The winning slime was the one made from psyllium husks – definitely a sensory experience worth trying out!

Whilst making slime and slodges we listened to:

Other activities which would go well with reading The First Slodge include:

What are your favourite books about sharing and working together? Where have you come across really revolting slime? What are your favourite opening lines in picture books?

Disclosure: I received a free review copy of The First Slodge from the publisher.

My girls were away for a couple of days last week staying on their own at their grandparents and whilst I LOVED having a bit more time to myself, I couldn’t resist a special welcome home picture book party; a day spent reading, playing, eating and dancing.

On the evening they arrived home I gave them invites inspired by the artwork in The Zebra who Ran Too Fast by Jenni Desmond. Set on the African plains, this book explores rings of friendship, how they can break and make up again – a simple, kind and non-threatening exploration of a situation many children find themselves in at one time or another. Desmond’s use of muted stone and moss colours is stylish, and the illustrations feel loose and free with lots of “scribbles” and splashes.

I used Desmond’s sun motif to form the basis of the party invites; a round piece of watercolour paper with flamecolour centre, surrounded by drops of ink, blown outwards using a straw.

Whilst I made these invites, the process is definitely easy enough for kids to enjoy too (if you’re worried about kids drinking up the paint/ink accidentally you could use food colouring instead).

The following morning we started as we meant to go on. We made vanilla ice cream (without a freezer) and tested different vanilla flavoured icecreams to discover our favourite. This was inspired by Vanilla Ice Cream by Bob Graham. Graham is THE master of global perspective. He knows how to zoom in and out of scenes and stories like no other teller of tales I know, and once again he works wonders with this understated story, following a sparrow who hitches a lift on a cargo ship. Masterful picture books often include a clever “reveal” in their final pages, so I should have known something was coming. Still, I was taken by great (and joyous) surprise with the twist Graham pulls off in this colourful, delightful story endorsed by Amnesty International.

To make icecream without a freezer you need cream, sugar, icecubes and salt. The cream and sugar go in one bag – here’s the cream, sugar (and vanilla in our case):

And below you can see it having frozen; the cream-containing bag is put inside a larger bag full of ice and salt. Because salt lowers the freezing temperature of water, the icecubes melt, extracting heat from the cream as they do so. After about 5 minutes shaking the icecubes were mostly melted and the cream mixture was like soft icecream.

And here’s the final result – definitely the most luxurious vanilla icecream I’ve ever eaten!

For full details on how to make your own icecream without a freezer and in under 10 minutes, do take a look at these instructions from the National STEM centre.

I love a good book about books and storytelling and Herve Tullet has created a mischievous and inventive interactive piece of theatre exploring story characters, plot and the need for a title in his Help! We Need a Title!. A motley collection of characters are in need of a good storyline and a punchy title. They appeal directly to you the reader/listener for help. With plenty of surprises this book is lively and highly amusing.

If you like the sound of Tullet’s book do look for Do not open this book by Michaela Muntean, illustrated by Pascal Lemaitre, one of the funniest books in our home – an absolute must-have for families who like a bit of interaction with their books and harbour dreams of writing stories.

Taking our lead from characters who walked in and out of the pages of Help! We Need a Title! I set up a book “stage” with the help of the patio doors, a basket of dressing up costumes and a selection of liquid chalk markers (you could also use whiteboard markers).

My girls love drawing on photos in newspapers and magazines so it was a natural extension that we then drew “on” the characters who walked into our patio-door picture-book.

And finally the contents of our picture book were included too.

After lunch, for some chill-out time, we got out good old staples: lego and the wooden railway, this time brought to life by Bruno and Titch: A Tale of a boy and His Guinea Pig by Sheena Dempsey. Bruno has always wanted a guinea pig. Titch, a guinea pig, has always wanted to be taken home from the pet shop by a Big Person. One day their paths cross – but does it work out how they’ve each always imagined it would? Deadpan guinea pig humour (yes, really!) and fabulous illustrations full of new details upon each reading add something special to this tale about friendship, imagination and looking after pets. We especially loved Bruno’s passion for invention, right down to the poster of Einstein by his bed.

Our interpretation of Bruno and Titch’s lego/railway play:

No party is complete without dancing, so following a reading of Frances Dean who Loved to Dance and Dance by Birgitta Sif we cleared the kitchen to create space for a good old boogie, aided by a prop or two.

Put your cynical adult brain to one side and remember a time when the phrase “dance like no-one’s watching” felt like something utterly joyous and liberating. Sif’s book is all about holding on to that freedom and not being afraid of a little bit of exuberance mixed in with a good shot of rhythm. It’s an encouraging story about holding on to what you care about, even when others seem to doubt you, a message I think every child deserves to hear time and time again.

For a book bursting with so much heart and happiness, the colour scheme is particularly interesting; there are lots of natural greens and browns rather than the bright sparkly jewel tones often used by illustrators to convey intense happiness. For me this speaks of the impact being connected to the outdoors can have on feeling content and happy; indeed all of the scenes showing Frances Dean dancing take place in parks and forests surrounded by space, trees and wildlife.

We reused embroidery hoops and ribbons to create waves of colour we could dance with.

Jumping for joy? Yes, that pretty much sums up our 2014 Picture Book Party An all day festival of playing and reading – just what summer holidays are made for.

Disclosure: All the books featured in this picture book party were sent to me a free review copies by the Walker Books, as part of the Picture Book Party blog tour. See how how more families have been partying at the following stops on the tour: 26 August: www.mummymishaps.co.uk, 27 August: www.culture-baby.net, 28 August: www.theboyandme.co.uk and 29 August: www.beingamummy.co.uk

Last week I reviewed a gorgeous debut picture book, Red Cat, Blue Cat by Jenni Desmond and I’m delighted to be able to bring you an interview with her today.

Jenni Desmond

Playing by the book: Hi Jenni, I was so delighted to discover your picture book Red Cat, Blue Cat – Can you tell my readers and me a little bit about your journey to becoming a published illustrator? Is it something you always dreamed of doing?

Jenni Desmond: As a child I would draw all day and it was always my dream job to be an illustrator. After doing an art foundation, I was very aware of how tough a career as an artist would be, and decided to take the ‘sensible’ route and study English Literature and History of Art, pursuing my passion for stories. After graduating, I taught English in France for a year, but the thought of illustration and drawing always followed me, and when I got back I enrolled on a week summer course in children’s book illustration in Putney, London.

Something in me switched on during that week, and I then spent the next year doing more short courses and obsessively drawing for up to 18 hours a day. I then started the MA in Children’s Book Illustration at the Cambridge School of Art (APU) where I studied part-time for 2.5 years. What I learnt on the course was invaluable, and it fuelled my passion for children’s books even more. It became normal to think about illustration every second of every day. After my graduate show, I joined Bright Agency who I’ve been with for just over a year now, and who have been wonderful in keeping me busy.

Playing by the book: What were some of the key points that helped shape your career so far?

Jenni Desmond: The short courses were great to learn about the format of children’s books. My first exhibition with my friend Amy Wiggin where we sold our work to friends and family was a huge learning curve and very exciting. Doing textbooks from quite early on (after sending a mail-out) meant I learnt about how the industry worked. The MA course and the Agency have both been great, but the most important thing has been the support and encouragement from family and friends.

Playing by the book: Who were your favourite authors and illustrators when you were a child? And now? (I wonder about Edward Lear, or Der Struwwelpeter given your penchant for the slightly ridiculous, occasionally macabre cautionary tale like aspects of your own work…)

Jenni Desmond: My mum was very passionate about children’s books so I think her tastes probably rubbed off on us when we were little. Our favourites included Dogger by Shirley Hughes, Burglar Bill by Janet and Alan Ahlburg, Father Christmas by Raymond Briggs, Granpa by John Burningham, The Bad Tempered Ladybird by Eric Carle, In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak, Not Now Bernard by David McKee, Babar by Jean de Brunhoff, Noisy Nora by Rosemary Wells, The Tiger Who came to Tea by Judith Kerr, Five Minutes Peace by Jill Murphy, anything by Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake, Anthony Browne, the list goes on forever. We would sit around finding the hidden details in the illustrations, making up our own versions of the stories. I still love these author/illustrators today and have also discovered so many new ones. My favourites at the moment include Elena Odriozola, Anne Herbauts, Wolf Erlbruch, Beatrice Alemagna, Oliver Jeffers, Laura Calin, and John Klassen.

Jenni’s studio

Jenni Desmond: I use music as a tool. I find that it transports me to my imagination. Upbeat music (with a lot of black coffee) makes me incredibly energized and excited to the point where I can barely sit still, but instead of moving physically I scribble the characters down onto the page, making them dance around. I work to 1920’s Jazz, pop, classical, rock, indie… everything really.

These days I try not to get too influenced by other illustrators. I get my inspiration from a lot of different places. Interior design, nature, people-watching, cycle rides, travel, textures, fabrics, films, literature, food, Japanese art and culture, French art and culture, photography, exhibitions…

Playing by the book: Tell me a bit about you and the use of colour; one of the aspects of Red cat, blue cat which I absolutely love is its colour, and yet I read that the colour came into the book only towards the final stages so I’m curious about what you think of colour, how you use it in your work…

Jenni Desmond: When I was younger I always found black and white line drawing most natural, and having to colour things in a bit of an inconvenience. There was one point though, when I showed a tutor some collage work I’d done, and they pointed out that I was using too many colours and it was a bit hectic. On the way home, I over-thought my use of colour so much that when I looked out of the train window suddenly everything clashed and looked so ugly. It was a really weird train journey. From that point I decided to create my own visual world only using colours that I really loved, that all went together harmoniously. I’ve always liked Matisse’s quote when he says that art should be ‘a soothing, calming influence on the mind, something like a good armchair’. My sense and understanding of colour developed during and after my MA, and although I’m not confident with it, I am learning how to use it through trial, error and experimentation.

Playing by the book: Printing, particularly etching, is something you enjoy. It’s not a technique often seen in children’s books – do you have any ideas/hopes/plans for using it in a picture book? Or is it something you see more for your other creative outlets (your design work, the greetings cards and wedding invites you create for example)

Jenni Desmond: I discovered etching by doing a short course a couple of years ago. It was fun working in a print studio and I loved the smell, the mess, the process, the big printing press. A slightly boring line suddenly takes on a new quality when it is a print. Through beginners luck, I entered one of those first etchings into the Royal Academy of Art Summer Exhibition and got in, which gave me confidence to produce more to sell at other exhibitions as another source of income. I would love to do a book using etchings so much. I don’t know why printing isn’t used in books more. I have actually been plotting a book using etching for the last few months, and I hope it will happen one day.

One of Jenni’s etchings

Playing by the book: Cats are a theme in many of your illustrations – not only is there Red Cat, Blue Cat, but your next book (I believe), also features a Cat (Backstage Cat, written by Harriet Ziefert to be published in 2013). Are you a Cat Person? What are your favourite cats in illustration?

Jenni Desmond: I am more of a dog-person believe it or not. However, my family cat Kinga was a massive source of inspiration as she was very loud, demanding and a bit bonkers. The second book Backstage Cat wasn’t written by me so it wasn’t my choice to have a cat as the protagonist. I’ve loved drawing cats, but I think I’ve had enough now. However, it is always very tempting to add pointy ears, whiskers and a tail to things.

Playing by the book: Can you tell us a little about the work you have in the pipeline? The Emperors new clothes – or is this already published in South Korea?

An illustration for Jenni’s The Emporer’s New Clothes

Playing by the book: Thank you so much Jenni, it’s been a delight to talk to you. I’m really looking forward to your next book!

You can find Jenni on twitter @JenEDesmondArt
You can read Jenni’s blog here.

It’s been a while since I fell in love at first sight, but that’s precisely what happened when I saw the front cover of Red Cat, Blue Cat by debut author/illustrator Jenni Desmond.

The cats’ gorgeously grumpy expressions, the boldness of the image as a whole, the delicate detailing of the birds in flight – it made me catch my breath, nod and smile.

And on turning the pages my sense of excitement and delight only grew. Red Cat, Blue Cat (published later this month in the UK) turns out not only to be beautiful but also witty, original, and jam-packed with joie de vivre; a gentle and humorous exploration of identity, envy and friendship.

Red Cat is fast and bouncy whilst Blue Cat is clever and creative. They share a house but the only other thing they have in common is a secret wish: to be more like the other. Try as they might, all they end up doing is fighting and getting in a big mess. Finally it dawns on them that not only is imitation really the sincerest form of flattery, but happiness also comes more easily if your comfortable with the skin you’re in. A friendship is born based on acceptance and appreciation of difference.

Desmond tells a great story, full of giggles (regular readers of my blog should be delighted to know there are more pants on heads!) as well as having a more thoughtful side. Her illustrations are clean, fresh and eyecatching. Definitely a talent I hope to see much more of in the future.

Inspired by the terraced housing on the title page of Red Cat, Blue Cat we set about creating our own street scene with cats.

We each had a bunch of plain white postcards onto which we drew house fronts. We use origami paper for the roof tiles and added telegraph poles and wires made from barbecue skewers and yarn, and chimney smoke made from toy stuffing fibre.

M added TV aerials made from paper clips and passport photo booth images of us looking out of windows.

I particularly like the bird nesting in the chimney of the house below, and the bicycle in front on the road.

Whilst making our street collage we listened to:

Other activities which would work well alongside Red Cat, Blue Cat include:

So what’s the last book you judged by its cover? Was it one you didn’t read because of the way it looked, or one you bought straight off because the front cover spoke to you?