Interview with Ellie Royce!
It’s such a joyful delight to connect with talented author, Ellie Royce, to discuss her latest picture book, Me and You. Inspired by her own experiences, hopes and dreams as a loving grandmother, Ellie has penned this beautifully heartwarming story about fun and precious bonding moments between child and grandparent; taking the time to stop and appreciate all the wonders and joys of everyday events. Narrative and illustrations dance together like a musical rhythm with Ellie’s turn-taking dialogue and Penelope Pratley‘s life- and love-filled watercolour illustrations.
Thank you for this special gift! 🙂
About the Author
Ellie Royce was born in Adelaide, South Australia and she’s been telling stories ever since.
Although she spent over ten years crafting nonfiction articles for magazines, she finally realised her real love was writing the stories for young people that blossom in her imagination.
Ellie is the author of eight books, seven of which are for children, and a number of stories that have appeared in the iconic Australian “School Magazine.” Two middle grade novels “the Letterbooks” were published in 2008 with ABC Books. Her first picture book “Lucas and Jack” was published in 2014. “Auntie Uncle: Drag Queen Hero” Ellie’s second picture book came out in April 2020. “Frizzle and Me” was published in June 2021. Book One in a fun new Junior Fiction series hit the shelves in June 2022 “Avery’s Hat- Tastic Adventures- How Does a Hat Save The Day?”
In 2025 a brand new picture book has arrived – ME and YOU about the timeless connection between grandparents and grandchildren.
Ellie truly believes in the magic and power of stories to change the world for the better, so she writes and reads them all the time (quite often when she should be doing other things!).
Please find Ellie Royce at her website: www.weareallmadeofstories.com/ and on Instagram and Facebook.
About the Illustrator
Penelope Pratley is an illustrator, emerging author and an educator. Her first job was a fairy after which she packed up her wings to be an Art Teacher. Penelope’s BIG dream has always been to write and illustrate quality books that will inspire children to read. She loves to use watercolour, ink, pencil and mixed media.
Penelope adores stories for children, owns far too many pencil cases and only emerges from her garden studio (really a shed) to hunt for chocolate freckles, seek sunshine and care for her beautiful family.
Please find Penelope Pratley at her website: www.penelopesnest.com/ and on Instagram and Facebook.
Me and You is available for purchase through Ford Street Publishing.
Congratulations on the upcoming release of your precious new picture book, Me and You.
Thank you so much!
This is a beautiful story of a special intergenerational relationship between child and grandmother. Why were you inspired to write this book, and what does it mean to you?
The inspiration for this story came from, surprisingly enough, becoming a grandmother!
I like to think that it’s woven equally from the best memories and most hopeful wishes; happy memories from time spent with my own grandparents growing up and wishes for the times I hope to share with my grandchildren in the future. It’s about connection, and, as many of my books seem to be, about how we are more alike than we are different.
It has become clearer to me personally, now that the book is published, that it’s also a means of connection with my grandchild. As I currently live quite far away from both my daughters, I am always looking for ways I can connect long distance with him, which I do through sending funny things in the post (kids love the postie) and online. This book was intended to be read WITH someone, it’s a conversation, a call and response, an opportunity to engage and connect through the characters. I can’t wait to read it with him soon!
Please tell us a bit about some of the adventures that your characters take themselves on. Have you shared any similar experiences with your own grandchild/ren?
Well, I guess the whole day in the book is really reflecting on experiences with my own grandchild. He wakes up with a bang! Like a little firecracker, it’s funny, I remember his mother was the same. Now that I’m older, and I think of my Mum who’s nearly 80, it takes a bit longer for us to fully be awake and engaged! Spending a day together is a joy, and all the things in the book, like crunching on sand at the beach, dancing to music, eating ice cream, sharing stories, blowing bubbles, all of them are just very joyful when you do them together. I think as a grandparent, you really understand the fleeting nature of this time, and, at least in my case, fortunately, you have the time to devote to fully embracing it in a way that’s probably not possible as a busy young mum.
What is the significance of the repetitive refrain, ‘Me too!’? In this regard, how will this book benefit or empower its readers?
I tried to think about how a child responds to hearing something that would resonate with them, and ‘me too’ came to mind. It’s a simple phrase that nonetheless supports the concept of empathy, and understanding that another person may feel the same way as you do, creating connection with another person. For me personally, I love the idea of a teacher reading out a line in class and all the kids shouting ‘ME TOO!’ together, or taking it in turns to be either character. It just lends itself to that kind of group connection and engagement, I feel.
Your narrative is highly engaging with plenty of sensory and emotive language, including luscious onomatopoeia! Was it a conscious decision to include these aspects or did the writing occur organically?
A bit of column A and a bit of column B! I was really trying to put myself in my grandchild’s place and visualise how he would see and hear and experience the world. So, in that sense, all the crunchy, juicy, sloppy, fun words came organically, then in a later draft I loved how it sounded and went for more!
Your illustrator, Penelope Pratley, has brilliantly depicted this fun-loving and caring relationship between the characters. Her soft lines, colour palette and watercolours beautifully melt together with love. What do you love most about her work, and were you able to collaborate much during the process?
I was so fortunate to be part of the conversations between Penelope and the wonderful Nan Mc Nab, our editor. We discussed characters and locations, but then really, Penelope went with her fabulous vision, and it has, as you see turned out beautifully. I love that the illustrations have so much movement and life. I think the fact that we both have really positive memories about time spent with grandparents made the initial process very easeful.
What do you love most about Me and You?
I love that it exists, to share with my grandkids, I love the language in it and the fact that it’s a conversation, which just makes it feel very alive to me, the dialogue is very immediate. I love the line about “hair growing in places it didn’t used to”, which always makes me laugh and laugh! It’s a direct reference to my experience as an older woman, and I hope it gives other grandmas a giggle!
Anything else you’d like to share about yourself or this book?
My vision for this book is that it be a means of connection and love and joy between people. As a long-distance grandma, I can’t wait for the time when I’ll be reading it with my grandchild(ren) online and we can each do our part and laugh, and say “Remember when we went to the beach/spilled the ice cream/danced to music/did the gardening/held hands while went to sleep?”
And of course, that last line for all the grownups and particularly for all the grandparents is particularly poignant, since we know that one day those little people will be bigger people, but hopefully they will still be holding our hands, for as long as possible.
Thanks so much for the opportunity to find out more about your heartwarming story, Ellie!
Thank you so much for these wonderful questions, Romi!
Please find Ellie Royce at her website: www.weareallmadeofstories.com/ and on Instagram and Facebook.
Please find Penelope Pratley at her website: www.penelopesnest.com/ and on Instagram and Facebook.
Me and You is available for purchase through Ford Street Publishing.
Join in to share in the beautiful moments with Me and You and Ellie Royce, connecting readers across the blogosphere!
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