And what a fun book it is!
Drawing and painting twelve babies on nearly every page of the book was a challenge. Throw into the mix, a Tall Man looking after a houseful of babies and coping with the cacophony of domestic life.
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| Waiting for breakfast |
I've created the illustrations digitally, incorporating various patterns that are repeated throughout the book, on the babies' clothes and the backgrounds. However with all my digital work, I aim to have the finished illustrations look as 'hand-done' as possible.
The wonderful story for this new book was written by my talented nephew, Tom Champion, and his mum, Kilmeny, my late sister. Together they have produced a sweet and funny tale which will be well-loved by babies and children and many, many tall people.
Look out for it this November!
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| Still waiting for breakfast |
54 comments:
This book looks absolutely lovely! I cannot wait to read it to my kindergarten class :)
Thanks Nicole, the book was great fun to illustrate.
We thought the illustrations were super! We loved all the patterns you have created. We also liked your pictures in It's Bedtime, William! We hope you win in Book Week.
1/2T Blakehurst PS
We thought the illustrations were super. We loved all the patterns you created. We also loved the pictures in It's Bedtime William! We hope you win in Book Week, from class 1/2T
Blakehurst PS
I loved working on both books and I'm so glad you enjoyed them. It was a great thrill to be nominated. Fingers crossed!
I enjoyed the colourful illustrations. LM
Love the illustrations of the cuddly babies
Hello Deborah, We are Year 2 students at Our Lady of Lourdes. We just read your book and watched the trailer. we loved it and our favourite part was when the Tall Man was stuck in the door. We thought your illustrations were perfect! Thanks for such a great book and good luck with the CBCA awards!
Year 2P
Hello Deborah,
We are a Year 6 class. We have just read the book and we thought it was a humerous idea to name all girls Charlene and boys Alistair.
The book was colourful and well illistrated. Good luck and we hope you win!
Thanks to everyone for their positive comments!
1/2D from Thirroul P.S. thought your illustrations were awesome. Also your pictures were cool and colourful. We loved it. Thank you.
2M from Thirroul P.S. thought your pictures from 'The Tall Man and the Twelve Babies' were very artistic and funny. Our favourite part was when he got locked outside. It was fantastic! Thanks.
Dear Deborah, We are a year 1 class and we just read Tall Man and the Twelve Babies. We LOVED it. The pictures made us laugh and they were a good match with the words. The pictures were so colourful. Good luck in Book Week!
From 1L
Dear Deborah,
We are a Kindergarten class who just read The Tall Man and the Twelve Babies. We loved the whole book and laughed a lot. We thought the pictures were the superstars of the book! Thanks for drawing them.
From
KW
Dear Deborah,
We loved the book. We especially liked the expressions on the faces of the babies and the cat! They told the whole story. Our favourite part of the Tall Man was his CRAZY hair! The boys liked the part where everyone was angry!
From
2L
Hi Deborah
We really liked your pictures. What did you draw them with? How long did it take you to illustrate the book? Did you do it at the same time as It's Bedtime William?
From
1M
KS liked the page where the babies were pulling the Tall man in half because it was funny.
Hello Deborah
We loved the Tall Man. The flying cat made everyone laugh! What did you use to make the tall man's hair look so curly and crazy?
From
KM
Dear Ms. Niland,
We loved your story, The Tall Man and the Twelve Babies. We thought it was great fun. We thought you were very clever to use the computer to help make your illustrations. We think the funniest picture was of the tall man being pulled by the babies in opposite directions. We have got lots of your books in our library and we love them because they make us laugh.
Good luck for Book Week.
From 1/2 M and 2S
Glenorie Public School
1R at Croydon Park PS like the illustration when the cat flies through the flap because the cat is like a bird.
I am so pleased that so many people have enjoyed this book!
I used the drawing tools in Photoshop to draw the pictures. The Tall Man's hair was a result of experimenting with different colours in Photoshop. Always fun to experiment.
I drew the illustrations for It's Bedtime William! just before starting on the Tall Man.
Thanks to everyone.
K/1B love the picture where the Tall Man is looking through the cat flap. We think he looks scared and worried. Great job!
I am a teacher at a primary school and K/Yr 1 will be asked to comment on your blog in library class. I am sure they will love The Tall man and the Twelve Babies when we read it tomorrow. I think it is very funny.
Thanks for writing. I'm sure the children will like the way the babies
rescue the tall man!
Hi Deborah,
We are a Reception class in Adelaide. Our class is called Taminga. We think your book was funny. The best part was when the tall man lost a baby. We liked your illustrations. We hope you win.
From RT
Your book is fantastic!!!! We all love the patterns and rainbow colours. The pictures made us laugh because the people look like cartoons. The babies made us giggle because they are mischievous and cute. The backgrounds look like wallpaper. We think all your books are funny. We think you just might win! Good Luck!
Thanks to the children in the Reception class Taminga, and to 2B at St Pats. Your comments make me happy!
Hello Deborah,
2G have been reading your short-listed books and think they are outstanding. In 'The Tall Man and the Twelve Babies'we realised that the polkadot endpapers matched the tall man's scarf. We liked the tall man's bright, curly, colourful hair. We really enjoyed when the tall man got stuck in the narrow cat flap. We love your use of colourful patterns.
We think you are the best illustrator in the world!!!!
From 2G St Pats.
Hi Deborah,
We are a year 2 class at Pulteney Grammar School.
We have just read your book and it is fantastic!
We liked the part when the tall man got stuck in the cat flap! We hope you win!
From 2P
Hi Deborah,
We really liked reading your story! We are a Year 1 class from Pulteney Grammar in Adelaide. We think it is amazing how you can create the pictures on the computer.
Good luck with the award!
From 1K
Hi Deborah,
We are from 1N. We would like to know, how did you have the idea of making the book? We especially like the curly hair on the tall man, how did you make it?
We are wondering if you used the kidpix computer program. We hope you win the competition.
Love from 1N
Hi everyone,
I enjoy reading all the good comments coming through! I used Photoshop to draw and colour the pics. Sometimes I scanned fabric and used it for the Alistairs pants. The tall man's hair was the result of experimenting with a few techniques in Photoshop. He needs something wild and arty, don't you think?
Thanks for writing to me!
To Deborah,
We liked the illustrations in your book. We like all the colours you used in the Tall man's hair, it looked realistic. We liked how you finished the story with the baby laying in the cat bed! We are 2k from Pulteney Grammar School, Adelaide.
From 2K
Thanks for writing to me, 2K.
I like the Tall Man's hair too.
Maybe I'd like to have hair like that!
Dear Deborah
1M at Waniora Public School liked your book because it was funny and the pictures were creative. We thought it was funny to have all the girls called Charlene and all the boys Alistair. Lars' favourite part was when the tall man nearly got pulled apart.
1/2R at Waniora Public School liked the patterns you used in the illustrations. We liked the funny ending.
Thank you, 1M and 1/2R.
Tom, my nephew, wrote a very funny story and I loved illustrating it!
Hi Deborah, We are 2B2 from Whitford Catholic Primary School in Perth WA. We realley liked your book The Tall Man and the Twelve Babies. Well done for getting second prize in Book Week. We really liked the bit when Alistair fell asleep on the cat's bed and when the babies nearly pulled the tall man apart. Your illustrations are amazing. We enjoyed reading the book. Thank you for making this fantastic book. Best wishes from all the girls and boys in 2B2 at WCPS.
Hi Deborah, We are 2S1 from Whitford Catholic Primary School in Perth WA. Your book was very interesting and funny. We liked it when the boys pulled one way and the girls pulled the other way. We were wondering why Tom and Kilmeny called all the girls Charlene and all the boys Alistair? It was interesting how one man had twelve babies. Was the mum out? Congratulations Deborah for coming second in the Book Week contest. We thought you should have came first. :) Good luck for the next Book Week from 2S1 at WCPS
We really loved all of the patterns and pictures you created in your book.Noah liked the tall man's hair!
The Smartsers in 1/2R at Waniora PS
Thank you 2B2 and 2S1 from Whitford School for writing to me. I think it's funny that all the girls are called Charlene and all the boys Alistair. It saves the Tall Man from remembering 12 different names!
Hello to 1/2R at Waniora PS!
Thank you all for your comments.
Dear Deborah,
We loved your pictures and how did you make them? How many colour pencils do you have? We enjoyed reading your books.
From KC
Thank you KC. I did these pictures on the computer. Other books I've done I've ued watercolour, ink, and coloured pencils. I have tin of pencils that has lasted for a long time. I have about eighty pencils.
I love using them!
1/2W at Toongabbie West Public School really liked the pictures in the book. We especialy like the rainbow hair on the tall man. We also like the cat flying through the air.
I like the Tall Man's hair too. It suits him very well. Thank you for writing, class 1/2W from Toongabbie!
The story was very funny and interesting. We liked the tall man's multi-coloured hair and the part of the story where the babies were pulling the tall man both ways. The illustrations were great and very colourful. The ending where Alistair was in the cat's basket was cute. We enjoyed reading this excellent book.
Hi Deborah,
We really liked the book.
We liked the part where the Alistairs were pulling the tall man's arms and the Charlenes were pulling his legs. We also liked how the girls surfed on his legs and the boys played with his hair. It was funny when one of the babies was missing and cute when he was asleep in the cat's bed.
Hi Deborah,
We liked your book. We liked when the babies pulled both ways and the cat flew through the catflap. We also liked it when Alistair was in the cat basket. The tall man's curly hair was great. We had fun listening to the story and looking at your pictures.
Hi Deborah,
We enjoyed the part of the story where the tall man was stuck, especially where the Charlenes were surfing on his legs and the Alistairs were playing with his curly hair. The part where the Alistairs were busy playing with the keys was hilarious. The ending where Alistair was in the cat basket was funny. Your illustrations were interesting and fantastic.It was clever that the scarf and shoes had the same pattern as the endpapers.
Hi Deborah,
Your books are fabulous.We thought it was interesting to have 12 babies but it would be good to number them as well. It was funny when all the Alistairs were stuck inside and all the Charlenes were stuck outisde. We liked the tall, tall man's curly hair. Also the cat was very funny.We enjoyed your book.
Hi Deborah,
Your books are fabulous.We thought it was interesting to have 12 babies but it would be good to number them as well. It was funny when all the Alistairs were stuck inside and all the Charlenes were stuck outisde. We liked the tall, tall man's curly hair. Also the cat was very funny.We enjoyed your book.
Hi Deborah,
The story is very funny. We liked the part where the babies were pulling the tall man. It was funny that the girls all had the same name and the boys all had the same name and we thought that might cause some problems. The tall man's multi-coloured hair was hilarious. The book is awesome and crazy. We loved it.
Hi Deborah,
We really liked the part where the babies were pushing and pulling the tall, tall man. A girl in our class has a name similar to the Charlene's so she liked the girls' names. We enjoyed listening to the adjectives in the story as we have been adding them to our writing this morning. The sleepy Alistair looked cosy in the soft cat's basket.
Thank you so much for your great comments, everyone. It's always a treat to hear from enthusiastic readers!
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