Small Steps

Award-winning illustrator James Jones very kindly found some time in his busy schedule to answer a few questions about his experience of illustrating Annemarie Cool's Small Steps, Big Change, published by Little Tiger - my thanks to them too for making this all possible. He was shortlisted for the Klaus Flugge Prize for his work in The Perfect Fit and when not illustrating he spends time with his family, loves to surf and practice Kung Fu!

Small Steps, Big Change is a book book on sustainable living, inspired by the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. It aims to be a one-stop-shop for the small, everyday goals kids can aim to achieve and which will bring about positive change in our world. Using upbeat language that children will relate to and with bold, quirky illustrations this book is both an inspiration and a breath of fresh air.

Will you try making puppets out of old socks, spreading kindness or protecting our oceans among the suggestions for kids the world over. Getting involved is so much fun and can make a difference. This is the perfect handbook for changing the world one small step at a time and James Jones shares his own insights here ~

What were your initial thoughts on being asked to illustrate this wonderful and important book? I was filled with excitement, knowing that I’d be able to have so much fun illustrating a project with such an important message.

What is it about the environment, about protecting it, that you feel most strongly about? The fact that we are nature, not separate from it. And the way we interact with the world and those in it has such an impact on not only our lives, but the lives of others.

How long did it take you to create the visual for each of the ‘characters’ (who are brilliant) and how many iterations did they have to go through? The characters themselves were so much fun to illustrate. They probably took about a month of going back and forth with the Designer Moni from Little Tiger.

As an illustrator what is it that you look for in a text to help you create? Upon receiving any text my mind is always full of ideas for the world I could create. The best texts allow my mind to run free with the best ideas, whilst also having an important and valuable message running throughout the text.

How do you work ~ do you create the characters and then the spreads they are situated in or is it one spread at a time or something different entirely? For this project, I created all of our hero characters first. Then I went about illustrating each spread in turn. Checking in on the project as a whole to make sure it all flowed as we wanted with enough variety throughout.

By the time you had finished your illustrations and had spent time with the characters, did you have a favourite? I had a soft spot for the nature hero. Not only through my love of nature, but also I saw him as quite zen character. Being at one with the world and his surroundings. His page is one of my favourites.

Which of the characters resonates the most strongly with you and why? I’m also a fan of the Kindness hero. I always try to go forth with love in all that I do.

I love the attention you give to even the smallest detail ~ the sheep on the side of the mountain is one of my favourites! Along with the rainbow. Is this part of your style or something you developed for this book? It’s something that’s always been a part of my style, but also something I love developing with each book I work on. Children’s books can be read so many times, I love to put in little details that may not get noticed first time round, and will reward the reader for coming back to the story.

What was the most challenging part of the book to make child friendly with illustration? I think the ‘Save Water!’ spread was a challenging one. It didn’t have an obvious scene from the start and required some thought and collaboration to get it just right. Now it’s one of my favourites and contains lots of little gems throughout.

Have you done other illustration for children’s books and if so do you have any favourites or any authors/stories you would love to illustrate? Yes I have 3 other children’s books already out there in the big wide world. All written by my amazing and talented wife Naomi. ‘The Perfect Fit’, ‘One More Try’ and ‘The Odd Fish’. They were all so much fun to work on. I’d love to illustrate a picture book about Christmas, so watch this space…