An Interview with Author Lauren Child

Q: How did you first create the characters of Charlie and Lola?

A: Charlie, in part, is based on my older sister - she had many of his good qualities and was always a very thoughtful and responsible child. Lola was inspired by a little Danish girl I saw when I was travelling from Copenhagen, she was like a tiny bird hopping about and full of chatter.

Q: The upcoming Christmas-themed Charlie and Lola book is such an exciting addition to the series. Can you tell us what inspired this festive story?

A: It was partly waking up and realising that it had been almost twenty-five years since I’d written the very first Charlie and Lola, I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato and so I thought this would be a lovely moment to revisit their world. I already had the beginnings of a Christmas book, it had been started two decades ago but somehow never finished - there’s nothing like a deadline to focus the mind.

Q: Without giving too much away, what can readers expect from Lola’s take on Christmas this time around?

A: It’s about how you manage the waiting when you are beside yourself with excitement. Lola is probably three and a half years old, so time is a very abstract concept, and so it doesn’t mean much to her when she is told that it is still only September and there are more than twelve weeks to go. Charlie, her ever kind older brother comes up with a plan to occupy the days until Christmas finally arrives.

Q: Why do you think storytime is such an important part of childhood?

 A: Because reading a book together is about more than the story, it’s a time when you can bond with a child. Often you find there will be a lot of discussion, pointing things out in the pictures, interesting questions and thoughts. So I always think it’s so much more than reading a book; you’re having a conversation, and you’re learning about each other. 

Q: Do you have any favourite childhood stories or authors that inspired your own love of storytelling?

A: I have many. One of my favourites is the writer and illustrator, John Burningham because you sense he is always on the side of the child. His books are sometimes incredibly funny but he also often tackles difficult subjects like grief – Grandpa – and loneliness – Aldo – managing to do so with a beautifully light touch. Florence Parry Heide, an American writer I loved when I was growing up, is the author of The Shrinking of Treehorn and Tales For The Perfect Child. She has this same talent for putting the child at the centre of her books – she is also very funny. Later, when I had my own daughter, we read Goodnight Moon over and over again because she was totally mesmerised by it. I’d always appreciated this book but it was seeing it through my daughter’s eyes that led me to wake up to the brilliance of it.

Q: What’s your top tip for grown-ups who want to make reading with children extra special?

A: If you can find a book you’re both really interested in, it makes the experience much more enjoyable. If it’s a book you find tedious to read over and over, it can feel like hard work. That said, when I read with my daughter, I discovered so many books I hadn’t properly appreciated until I began to understand what it was she so loved about them. It’s a very special thing when you both find you are getting drawn into the story and sharing your thoughts and feelings about it. Think of the bedtime story as a conversation, not just a task to complete before you say goodnight.

Q: Charlie and Lola always seem to discover the magic in everyday things. What do you think adults can learn from seeing the world through a child’s eyes?

A: It’s about allowing time, sort of giving yourself over to something. When you’re walking along with a toddler or a very young child you are usually moving at a slow pace, they want to stop, look, and point things out, and you realise there’s an awful lot to look at. Children are very good at spotting things adults often neglect to notice. When I was a child I remember a family friend who while walking spent a lot of time looking at the ground; he always came home with a pocketful of interesting finds and he loved going for walks for this reason.

Q. How do you nurture creativity in your own life - and what advice would you give to children (or their parents) who love drawing and making up stories?

A: You don’t need huge amounts of time or expensive materials. Growing up in a home with parents who were both teachers meant we had bits and pieces of craft things around the house but I wouldn’t say they were particularly sophisticated things, but that was enough. The key is showing interest in what your child is interested in. Sometimes a tiny little 20-minute project together can be incredibly meaningful. I also think doing something with a child, rather than just setting them a task, creates such a bond between you. 

I’ve been inspired by simple things: my daughter and her friend setting objects on a table and drawing them together, or reusing little scraps of fabric to make a bunting decoration. It doesn’t take much, I remember my daughter and I would sometimes draw little expressions on the eggs sitting in their egg box - it’s about finding things you can readily do in a few minutes that make you laugh.

Q: What does a perfect Christmas look like for you?

A: I don’t think there is such a thing as a perfect Christmas, and the idea of perfection is often the problem. People often get unravelled by Christmas because it is set up to be a day that has to go right.  As a child, I remember relatives ending up in tears because things didn’t go as planned. One thing I learned as I got into adulthood is that it’s wise not to be ridged about how things unfold. Traditions are lovely, but they shouldn’t dictate your fun. And, just as Lola discovers in I am Wishing Every Minute for Christmas, Christmas is far more enjoyable if you can enjoy some of the moments before.

Q: Do you have any special memories from your own childhood Christmases that inspired the book?

A: My mum was wonderful at Christmas, even though she was very busy. I remember her buying a candle-making kit which was very successful, and another time allowing me to try my hand at making fudge – which turned into toffee, but quite nice. Her brilliance was in showing us what was possible if you just gave it a go, and that’s definitely something that has fed into this book.

Q: Sustainability and caring for the world around us are big parts of our ethos. Is this something you think about when creating your books and characters?

A: I think about it all the time. We’ve become such consumers, it’s so easy to buy things quickly and cheaply rather than make or reuse. Learning how to do something is such a boost to your confidence. Making decorations, reusing them every year, or creating something together, brings so much more meaning to those things. 

I began creating my illustrations in collage because I found it helped me work things out as I went along. I could move pieces and add to them and there is an element of happenstance to the work. I use cut-paper, photos, fabric, magazine-cuttings and ephemera - basically, layers of paper combined with drawings.

Q: After 25 years, how do you feel and think about the characters of Charlie and Lola?

A: I was surprised to discover how much I still love writing about these characters. I’d always intended to create more stories beyond the first six picture books but I hadn’t realised how much I’d actually missed the world of Charlie and Lola, particularly illustrating it. The Charlie and Lola stories are essentially about the power of the imagination - how vital it is in helping us problem solve, empathise, invent and create.  Children arrive with this extraordinary ability to travel in their imagination and it liberates them from the confines of the everyday, releasing them from boredom and bringing them a new understanding of the things they have to face.