Title: Daddy and the World’s Longest Poo
Author: Brydie Wright
Illustrator: In-house Illustrating team
Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
Genre: children’s picture book
Age Group: preschool and early primary
Please tell us a bit of what your book is about.
It’s about a little boy who worships his daddy but can’t work out where he disappears to for hours on end. He makes it his mission to find out the answer to this great mystery and what his mummy thinks of it all.
What kinds of themes / issues are raised in this story?
The book can be read on two levels:- from the child’s perspective, the theme is a fascination with toilets and poo and from an adult’s perspective, it raises the issue of domestic behaviours and the gender stereotypes around these behaviours. It is all meant in extremely good fun though. Nothing too serious!
How are these important to you in raising awareness to your readers?
Rather than having any particular moral to the story, I’m more concerned with observational humour and juxtaposing the way a child views the world with the more cynical behaviours of adults.
Who or what inspired you to write this story?
My family inspired this story. I love the way my three-year-old son takes everything so literally and hero-worships his daddy. He forms impressions of domestic situations that are so comical in their innocence. Oh, and my husband does enjoy the peace and quiet of the toilet! He has a good sense of humour about the book.
What is your favourite part of the book?
Probably the ‘money shot’ illustration that I can’t say too much about without spoiling the story for readers. Let’s just say it’s quite graphic!
How would you describe the publishing process? Were they supportive? How long did it take?
This was the first manuscript I ever wrote and when a few months had elapsed and I had not been picked up by a trade publisher, I decided to invest in the project and self-publish via Lulu.com. I remained in creative control of the publication from pre to post production and the technical teams at Lulu were very professional and responded extremely well to my briefs and requests for revisions. I enjoyed the self-publishing process and from start to finish it took seven months.
What was the collaboration like between author and illustrator? Juicy gossip, please!
The in-house illustration team at the publisher worked on my illustrations and all my briefings were done through a coordinator who was top notch. Again, I had complete control over the vision and direction for the images so it forced me to sit down and story board how on earth I would bring the story to life without just repeating the same toilet image on every page. I have no juicy gossip, I’m afraid. I was delighted with the way the illustrator interpreted my briefs and I just wish I knew who he/she was!
What has the feedback / audience response been like so far?
My book has only been published since the end of August so I am still building its profile and my author platform. Friends, family and colleagues have all been positive in their reactions as you would expect but I think the most encouraging feedback has been from the children I have read the book to at daycare, and early primary readers whose mums and dads have said they have giggled their heads off as they’ve read the book to themselves! This is the biggest compliment for me.
Any details on your book launch you’d like to tell us about?
The traditional media and social media publicity campaign for the book will be launched soon so I’m hoping to have more reviews and press interviews to share on my website for my readers.
Thank you for these fascinating insights into your story, Brydie! 😜
Brydie Wright is a first-time author from Sydney. Three years ago motherhood turned her life on its head and sparked her imagination. Brydie now finds creativity through writing about the quirks of family life. Through her tongue-in-cheek tales, she writes as much for the parents of little readers as for the little readers themselves.
Find more on Brydie Wright at her website and the Daddy and the World’s Longest Poo Facebook Page.
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