Jessica Spanyol

As a child

I really liked stories and pictures but found reading and spelling difficult at school. In order to give me confidence, when I was six and a half, my mum encouraged me to make some picture books. In a couple of afternoons, I wrote: Carlo the Giraffe Who Could Not Read, Crackers the Mad Cat and Prayers for Cats. Thirty years later when I returned to the profession, I based my first characters, Carlo and Crackers, directly on my childhood books. I remember that lovely feeling of concentration and total belief in the drawings I had as a child and it is that feeling that I like to try to retain as an adult.

As an adult

I have spent seven years studying fine art and illustration at three different art colleges. I have done lots of different jobs as an artist including being an artist in residence at a boys’ public school, an artist in residence for the Royal Shakespeare Company, a set designer, a fine art photographer and a university lecturer. Making picture books for children is by far the best fun. I really like waking up each day knowing I can spend time making drawings. My seven year-old son Milo is a great help with ideas and editing my books. I live with my son Milo, my two year-old twins Lorcan and Augusta and my partner Richard, who is an artist, in the east end of London.

As an artist

I draw influence from my childhood memories and from people and things around me. My first series of books about a giraffe called Carlo was based on a book I made at six years old. Carlo was my favourite blow-up toy and named after my brother’s best friend. The names of the characters in my books often come from people I know. In Little Neighbours on Sunnyside Street, there is a dog called Ian, a bug called Keith and a pig called Kelly. I know lots of Keiths and my next door neighbour is called Connor Kelly. Since I was a child, I have made little books for my friends and family to try to make them laugh. Now as an author and illustrator, I make books for the people around me, my partner, my children and my friends at Walker Books. I hope if this small audience enjoys the books then a wider audience will do too.

Things you didn't know about Jessica Spanyol

1. The first word I read was “knee”.
2. I haven’t eaten meat or fish since I was six years old.
3. I live next door to a lollipop lady.
4. The name Spanyol means Spanish in Hungarian.
5. I have two older brothers and one older sister.
6. My favourite picture book is Cannonball Simp by John Burningham.
7. My mum used to call me “Sausage Pots” when I was little.
8. As a child I wanted to write picture books.
9. My first boyfriend (at the age of five!) was called Wilfred Wilcox.
10. My favourite colour is orange.