The Picture Book Buzz - Interview w/Bryher Mackenzie, Gillian Eilidh O'Mara and Review of Night Whale
Bryher Mackenzie likes books with big feelings. They are also rather fond of long walks on the beach, library trips and silliness. Bryher can usually be found where picture books are. If not, check behind a small guitar or a large slice of cake.
Bryher is a debut author.
Gillian Eilidh O’Mara is a multi-award-winning artist and writer of Scottish and Irish heritage, who grew up in Dundee and now makes her home in County Durham, where she wanders the countryside with two daughters and a boisterous dog. A daydreamer at heart, she is known for the light in her work and loves expansive skies, cold North Sea air, big unanswerable questions and all things storytelling.
Gillian is currently the executive director of ‘Hidden Story’, a creative arts social enterprise using storytelling as a vehicle for community development and place-making. There she devised ‘Bobble Hat Books’, a family literacy programme, and ‘Talking Tapestries’, a story-gathering project using textiles and oral history recording, supported by Historic England. She has opened three storytelling pop-up shops in Scotland and England, run a poetry festival and published three books co-created by primary school children.
An avid and curious wanderer and learner, she has worked extensively in China and India, taken trains from Beijing all the way to France and has visited almost all of the states in the USA as a researcher.
Gillian is a debut picture book illustrator and the illustrator of the covers for Lights Up by Lisette Auton (2024), The Stickleback Catchers by Lisette Auton (2023), and The Secret of Haven Point by Lisette Auton (2022).
Their debut picture book, The Night Whale, releases on October 1st.
Welcome Bryher and Gillian,
Thank you!
Tell us a little about yourselves. (Where/when do you write or illustrate? How long have you been writing or illustrating? What is your favorite type of book to write or illustrate? B
BRYHER - A little about me… I live in Shropshire with my husband and a cat that likes nothing more than sitting on my next project. When I am not dreaming of Night Whales that swim amongst stars or trying to work around said cat, I am supervising lunches at a local primary school. I like to write on my morning walk to work and I tend to get ideas for things just before bed when my mind is busier and louder than I would like it to be.
I have been writing bits of stories since primary school. I can remember the beginnings of a football (soccer) series and having so much fun coming up with all the names and positions of each character. When I was a little older, at secondary school, I wrote about those stories that captured my imagination during history class. The theatres of showman surgeons and the protests of the Suffragettes were just two examples. My English teachers encouraged me to keep writing and to share the things I was working on. Great teachers are treasures. Look after them.
I like to write stories with big feelings, whimsy and magic. Intergenerational relationships and our relationship to nature and art are things that really interest me, too.
GILLIAN - I’ve been illustrating for about ten years now, although I had a very slow start because I basically learned gradually how to draw at home while my children were babies, purely as something for myself to enjoy. I had always adored picture books and saw them as an art form not just for children- I had quite the collection of my own before kids- but it was only about six years ago that I considered truly going for a career in picture books. I love to illustrate books that have a lot of lyricism and magic and offer something new to the genre, which is why I was SO excited to illustrate Bryher’s text for The Night Whale!
It is wonderful to meet you both. What is one of the most fun or unusual places where you’ve written or illustrated a manuscript?
BRYHER – I do some of my best thinking around water – by the sea, in the shower – I once wrote the first draft of something entirely in the bath.
GILLIAN – Well actually, for the early drawings for The Night Whale, I took myself off to the Hebridean island of Mull in Scotland, because it felt like a good setting for the book. I spent a week alone in a tiny house pod, looking at the dark skies and sunrises over the Atlantic coast. I hope you can feel that in the illustrations!
Bryher, that's funny! And Gillian we can definitely feel this setting in the illustrations. So cool to know where they derived from. Bryher, what was your inspiration or spark of interest for creating the picture book The Night Whale? Where did the premise of a “night whale” come from?
BRYHER – The Night Whale came from a loss and conversations surrounding it. I thought a lot about our last moments with the people we love and the grief that follows. Big feelings, as they often do, find their way into the stories I am working on. I was introduced to the song Let The Mystery Be by Iris DeMent during this time and I really connected with it. I liked the openness of the lyrics, and I guess that was something I hoped to achieve with The Night Whale.
I’m not sure where The Night Whale as a character came from – I suppose from lots of places – those three words seemed to arrive, then an ethereal being, the night sky, and a tale of positively Nana proportions quickly followed. I guess I like the idea of seeing a fish (or mammal) out of water.
Interesting. I love the idea of "Nana proportions!" You've created such a touching picture book on loss, with a wonderful touch of magic. Gillian, what about The Night Whale manuscript appealed to you as an illustrator?
GILLIAN - My main criteria for saying yes to a book is if I get the tingles when I read it, and this delivered that instantly! I was immediately captivated by the magic, the poetry, the imagery and, strangely, I’d been drawing flying whales in my personal work in the year prior, so it felt like fate to me! Also, I feel the ending of this book is a very unusual and powerful one for a picture book and I felt it was new and exciting!
It definitely feels like it was meant to be! What is the hardest or most challenging thing for each of you about writing and illustrating The Night Whale? What was the most fun?
BRYHER - The most fun was getting to know Gillian and working with the dreamy people at Walker Books and Candlewick Press. The hardest was knowing when to stop, to say The End. I must have fretted over the placement of a comma for weeks.
GILLIAN - The hardest thing for me is the initial sketches because I usually start with far too many ideas, and I also feel so keen to make sure the author is happy with how I represent their words. I’ve been known to take far too long over this stage! The most fun for me is when we move to full colour final art and I can get very expressive with it!
Thank you both so much for your candor. How many revisions did The Night Whale take for the text or illustrations - from first draft to publication?
BRYHER - Seven or so.
GILLIAN - It’s hard to count them because Julia, the Art Director at Walker Books I worked with, works very relationally and is a very wise mentor when it comes to revising and editing. So, it feels more like an organic evolution until it is finished. There were, of course, plenty of ideas, sketches and versions which didn’t make it into the final book, but I absolutely LOVE working with Julia, it has been a career highlight so far.
Sounds like it was a fun process for you both. Bryher, when you first saw Gillian’s illustrations in The Night Whale, did anything surprise, amaze, or delight you? Which is your favorite spread?
Text © Bryher Mackenzie, 2024. Image © Gillian Eilidh O’Mara, 2024.
BRYHER - Gillian is a wizard when it comes to color, her seas and her skies are made of magic. The way Gillian captures landscapes and a mood continues to surprise, amaze and delight me. My favorite spread is the one where the three of them take off into the night, together.
I agree with you that this illustration is so stunning! Gillian, is there a spread that you were especially excited about or proud of? Or perhaps one which is your favorite spread?
Text © Bryher Mackenzie, 2024. Image © Gillian Eilidh O’Mara, 2024.
GILLIAN - It’s hard to pick a favourite but I really loved painting the expansive skies and figuring out which colour palettes would work to suggest the journey from sunset into the depth of night and then back to sunrise again- that was really fun!
I adore your use of light and agree with Bryher - you do capture the magic in your images.Gillian, many illustrators leave treasures or weave their own story (or elements) throughout the illustrations. The Night Whale? If so, could you share one or more with us?
GILLIAN - You are right! The Nana character really looks like a combination of women I know and admire. Also, I put some of Bryher’s clothes on the child character. I also like to add the elements to my work in the literal sense, so I used some water from the sea in my paintings and also the whale’s skin texture includes lichen from the pavement outside my home! And, of course, I took a lot of setting inspiration from Scotland.
WOW! I love learning about how you created the textures in the illustrations. What's something you both want your readers to know about The Night Whale?
BRYHER - The Night Whale is magical and dreamlike and open to interpretation. Embrace the mystery or settle on something more definite. When talking to local readers, some children believed the Night Whale could be seen every night (if you knew where to look) while others believed only on special occasions, and one believed every four years like sporting events. What do you think?
GILLIAN - I would want readers to know that they can interpret this story in any way that is meaningful to them- I think that is what is so beautiful about Bryher’s writing!
I love that it is open to being what each reader needs and even adjustable as those needs change in their lives. Are there any new projects (or upcoming books) you are working on now that you can share a tidbit with us?
GILLIAN – Bryher and I are working on another book together with Walker Books, although that is as much as we are allowed to say at the moment!
I have two other books coming out soon. The Crane and The Keeper by Meeg Pincus and I will be published by Candlewick in January 2025 and Girls Belong in Space by Ashlee Hashman and I will be published by Harper Kids in March 2025.
Those books look amazing! And good luck with your collaboration! Last question, what is your favorite National Park or Forest, regional park, or city park (anywhere in the world)? Or the one you’re longing to visit. Why?
BRYHER – My husband and I chose to marry at Loch Maree in the North-West Highlands of Scotland and we cannot wait to return there. I would also like to visit the Wicklow Mountains National Park in Ireland and continue my search for dragons in the wilderness of Wales. My grandparents have told me tales of their childhoods and these places hold a magic and mystery for me.
I was in New York on an art trip during Hurricane Sandy and the green spaces within cities are places I’d like to explore and see more of.
Hebridean island © Walking Holiday Scotland
GILLIAN - My absolute happy place is the highlands of Scotland because it’s home, particularly anywhere that faces the North Sea. I also loved visiting the Grand Canyon in the past and have loved traveling in rural Vietnam, China and India- the Himalayas are another magical place that just feels like home somehow.
Thank you Bryher & Gillian for sharing with us a bit about yourselves and your new picture book.
To find out more about Bryher Mackenzie, or to contact them:
X/(Twitter): https://x.com/08macbry
To find out more about Gillian Eilidh O’Mara, or to contact her:
Website: https://www.lightonthesea.co.uk/
X/(Twitter): https://x.com/lightonthesea_?lang=en
Review of The Night Whale
Oh my gosh are you all in for a treat! This is one of those books that grabs your heart and stays with you long after you close the book. One that you'll be excited to return to again and again, because each time you find another gem in the lovely lyrical text or the stunning, captivating illustrations. A book that celebrates wonder and possibility, relationships, and the enduring bonds created by love.
The Night Whale
Author: Bryher Mackenzie
Illustrator: Gillian Eilidh O’Mara
Publisher: Candlewick Press (2024)
Ages: 3-7
Themes:
Loss, intergenerational, astronomy, famly, and love.
Synopsis:
For daydreamers and the young at heart, this stunningly illustrated journey through a star-encrusted sky captures the beauty of our world—and of bonds that cannot be broken by any kind of distance.
Nana speaks of astronomy often, telling fantastical tales from many moons ago, tales her granddaughter wonders at. Tonight, with hot chocolate and constellations for company, they wait. Moonbeams bounce off the crashing waves, and, at last, Nana’s old friend appears in the sky: the Night Whale, swimming among the stars. Nana and the child climb onto the Night Whale’s back, and she whisks them off—over twinkling cities, through the shimmering colors of the northern lights, and back again. But this is only the beginning of the journey for Nana. As she embraces her grandchild, she promises she will always be out there. Even when Nana and the Night Whale soar back toward the ether, leaving the child behind, she can still feel her grandmother’s love and hear the Night Whale whispering, “Anything is possible.” Debut author Bryher Mackenzie and illustrator Gillan Eilidh O’Mara craft a magical voyage through the heavens that reassures young readers that goodbye is not the end.
Opening Lines:
Nana wafts our blanket toward the sky,
swatting stars way up high. This is our hill,
where Nana speaks of astronomy and holds
lessons fueled by hot chocolate, cookies,
and tales of many
moons ago.
I've often wondered if those
tales are true.
What I LOVED about this book: This beautifully lyrical and tantalizing opening is accompanied by a stunning sunset illustration. Such a sweet image of a granddaughter and Nana on the top of hill, shaking out a blanket and getting ready to gaze at the stars with the nearby telescope. While the sun skims the horizon and the sea sparkles. It draws the reader in immediately.
Text © Bryher Mackenzie, 2024. Image © Gillian Eilidh O’Mara, 2024.
I love that when it's time to focus on Nana and her granddaughter, and their intimate time together waiting for . . . her. The illustrations zoom in closer and leave white space around their precious moment. Bryher Mackenzie does a great job of capturing a child's sense of a long time (how they feel as if they've waited their whole lives) and deftly sets it against Nana's actual wait to the see the night whale again. And with a wonderfully lyrical touch describes what we come to know is the night whale as "a constellation of crumbs
scattered on the wind." Such a sweet tender, shared moment.
Text © Bryher Mackenzie, 2024. Image © Gillian Eilidh O’Mara, 2024.
It feels as if I've been waiting forever
for this night. Nana has been waiting longer.
So we study the sky hoping to catch
a glimpse of her, a constellation of crumbs
scattered on the wind.
I love how the next spread shows the Night Whale in all her enormous, sparkling glory swooping across a full double page spread. Wait until you see her face! Gillian Eilidh O’Mara's imbued such soul, understanding, wisdom, and affection in the tilt of the Night Whale's head and her eye. She looks into straight into the soul of the reader. Then, arching and diving through a moonbeam, "she looks at home, swimming among the stars."
Coming back to white framed images, we get a lovely image of Nana and the Night Whale dancing together and a haunting, curious line - "a magical song connects them . . . as they twirl with the friend they never forgot." It's never explained how Nana knows the Night Whale. Though, as Bryher mentioned above, kids have many theories. Mine is that someone important to Nana introduced her to the whale years and years ago, just as she is doing now with her own granddaughter.
And if a constellation coming to life before you isn't magical enough, Nana and the child are taken for a ride across the sky - soaring through cities, circling around the globe, and painting with the northern lights, as Nana sings "an ancient song." Unfamiliar, yet felt by the child. This is such a magical, imaginative premise and a gorgeous image of the three of them.
Text © Bryher Mackenzie, 2024. Image © Gillian Eilidh O’Mara, 2024.
When it's time - to go "Home - the long way around," the child sits in front of Nana as they explore the constellations, and the sky lightens with swirls of pinks and yellows. And . . . you definitely do not want to miss the poignant, heartfelt, and stunning ending. I have to say, I'd prefer this ending myself. It's a stunning, lyrical book celebrating the relationship and love shared by a granddaughter and grandmother, exploring the magic of possibilities, and though working through memories and loss, it ends with a sense of hope.
Resources:
try some whale activities - a whale word search, coloring your own Night Whale, or make an origami whale.
if you have lost someone, or they live very far away, what special memories do you have of them? Things you've done together or special things about them. Write a description of this person or pet or draw a picture showing what makes them special to you.
do you have a favorite constellation? Using this example, and these star/constellation charts, make your own flashlight constellations. (Note: Cetus is the whale constellation) Now, design your own. What would your cool constellation be?
コメント