Kylie Howarth is an award-winning, internationally published children’s author-illustrator from Western Australia. Kylie has swum with whale sharks, manta rays and humpback whales in Ningaloo, piranha and pink dolphins in the Amazon, braved scuba diving with lionfish in Egypt, marine iguanas and hammerhead sharks in the Galapagos Islands and encountered great white sharks in South Africa. Today Kylie is visiting to talk about her latest book, the third in her graphic novel series, Kev and Trev: Snot Cool Snow Stories!
The publisher provided Alphabet Soup with a copy of Snot Cool Snow Stories.
From the publisher:
Join Kev and Trev’s epic mountaintop adventure — full of chilly thrills and high-flying fun! Watch out for penguin paps, soak in steamy hot springs with snow monkeys and dodge the dreaded Abominable, all while searching for the rare and elusive snow pugons. And this time, the clock is ticking. Book Three is due one week earlier! Jump on board Kev and Trev’s popcorn-powered houseboat-balloon and brace yourself for their coolest adventure yet!
This is Book 3 in the Kev & Trev series. Book 1 was a deep sea adventure, Book 2 took us to the jungle and this latest book is set in the snow. How do you decide where to set each instalment?
I like to set my books in places I’ve adventured to and experienced firsthand. I recently took my kids snowboarding in Japan which was the first time they’d ever been in the snow. Seeing them experience snow and snowy mountains helped me see how Kev and Trev might feel in a new snowy landscape.
Given that a page is white … and snow is white … Do you have any tips for young artists wanting to set a scene in the snow?
Drawing a snowy setting was much less time consuming than drawing the thick jungle scenes that were in Book #2, so that was great! I took lots of photos of snowy trees when I was in Japan to help me see how the branches droop under the weight of snow which helped me to draw them when I got back to my studio. My tip would be to research and observe interesting details like that. How do footprints look in snow and how far do people’s feet sink into it depending on the depth of the snow?
Have you been to the snow like Kev and Trev? (Did you ever see anything like the Abominable?)
Yes, I have spent time in many different snowy countries including Australia, Japan, Austria, Italy and France. I’ve seen huge snowmen and snowballs, but thankfully none of those chased me. In Japan, a bear had been seen the week before we arrived! So, I was constantly on the lookout for bear tracks from the ski lifts, but luckily only saw snow bunny prints.
A graphic novel involves months of work. After creating three graphic novels in a series, have you changed the way you’re doing anything in the process of creating each graphic novel?
They certainly do take a lot of work to create which means many, many hours hunched over my iPad. After tweaking my neck too many times, I have now learnt to stretch and take breaks from drawing.
Can you tell us a bit about what you’re working on next?
I am very excited to be working on a picture book at the moment, as it’s been a few years since I’ve created one. This new character is not at all patient and has been bugging me to stop ignoring him and get cracking on his book. So far he has been fun to work with.
Snot Cool Snow Stories is out now! Ask for it at your favourite bookshop or local library.
AWESOME EXTRAS
Take a peek at pages inside the book (click on the Look button on the publisher’s website)
Create a pug hybrid (Kylie’s activity sheet)
Visit Kylie Howarth’s website for more about her and her books
