Ashleigh Barton writes picture books and junior fiction series for children. Before writing full time, she pursued her love of books (children’s books especially) by working in some of Australia’s biggest publishing houses. Today we’re chatting to Ashleigh about the first two books in her new Freddie Spector, Fact Collector series, illustrated by Peter Cheong.
From the publisher:
Fast-paced and humorous, this series is all about an everyday eight-year-old boy whose love of facts and extraordinary imagination come together with unexpected and hilarious results.
Go for Gold: Freddie is obsessed with facts about sport. It’s all he talks about: weird sports, Olympic sports, extreme sports, athletes and sporting history. And, when the medals for the school sports carnival go missing and the carnival is about to be cancelled, Freddie realises it’s up to him to solve the mystery and save the day.
Space Cadet: Freddie is obsessed with facts about space. It’s all he talks about: stars, planets, galaxies, astronauts, space travel – and, of course UFOs and extraterrestrials. And, after noticing some very suspicious goings-on, Freddie realises it’s up to him to discover the answer to a burning question: could aliens have landed in his neighbourhood?
You must have a large collection of facts to keep Freddie going in the series! What’s the most startling fact you’ve unearthed so far?
Yes, I did so much research to collect Freddie’s facts! I actually spent more time researching than writing. My goal was to find facts that were as interesting, fun or as unusual as possible – things you probably wouldn’t be learning at school. The most startling facts for me would probably the effects space has on the human body. For example, you grow taller since there’s no gravity compressing your spine, you experience muscle and bone mass loss, and your vision can change. It did not make me want to go to space!
The first two books in the series are sports-themed (Go for Gold) and space-themed (Space Cadet). Do you have a favourite sport you like to take part in … or to watch at a sports carnival or the Olympics?
Well, funnily enough I’m not much of a sporty person at all. I did play a lot of different sports growing up – netball, basketball, software, tennis, touch football, soccer and swimming – but was pretty average at all of them. I based Freddie’s dread of the sports carnival on my own experience as a child.
Peter Cheong illustrates the Freddie Spector series and we love his humorous black-and-white illustrations. Did you discuss your characters with Peter during the book’s production?
I love Peter’s work too! And no – we didn’t work together at all. Peter completely did his own thing and brought the characters to life based on reading the story. I think he did an incredible job and I really love the way he’s portrayed Freddie and the other characters.
Do you have a tip for kids who’d like to write their own mystery?
My tip for kids who’d like to write their own mystery would be to think about ways to keep the reader guessing. If the reader is trying to figure out what happened, they’re going to want to keep reading the story. Think about clues and twists and red herrings (clues that are intentionally misleading), you can include along the way.
What’s next for you and your writing?
At the moment, I’m working on some books that I haven’t shown anyone yet, but next year I’ve got a new middle grade novel and a picture book I’m super excited about. The novel, which will be published in May, is called How to Sail to Somewhere and the official tagline is: “A story of lost and found, of friendship, family, hope and the power of the ocean, for middle-grade readers who love a mystery.” The picture book will be out a bit later in the year and is called Hedgehog Echidna. Another very talented illustrator is currently working on the illustrations, but I’m not sure how much more I can say about that one yet!
The first two books in the Freddie Spector, Fact Collector series are out now! Ask for them at your favourite bookshop or local library.
Awesome extras:
Take a sneak peek inside Go for Gold
Take a sneak peek inside Space Cadet
Download the Teachers’ Notes for this series
Visit author Ashleigh Barton’s website for more about her and her books
Visit illustrator Peter Cheong’s website for more about him and his books
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