top of page
author and illustrator
author and illustrator
author and illustrator
author and illustrator
winner of the Stratford Literary Festival & Salariya Publishing picture book prize
About The Book
Snow? is the magical story of two fox cubs who set out on an adventure to discover what snow is. Along the way they encounter a cast of charming woodland characters, including wise owls, hopping frogs, snuggly hedgehogs, and busy bees. The beautiful illustrations and mystery-drenched storyline, conjuring an atmospheric winter world, will mesmerize children. Snow? is the debut of a hugely talented new voice in children's literature
During her master's degree Jo had a project to create 3 double pages spreads of a children's story book. As a nature lover and particularly a lover of foxes and dogs it didn't take long for a basic story to begin to form in Jo's head about 2 little fox cubs searching for something - a classic tale of adventure and discovery. The story wasn't fully formed but it gave Jo the ingredients to sketch out and develop some initial scenes. Jo decided to blend the foxes into the shape of puppy dogs so as to give them a cuddly feel that maybe the children could relate to more. The sketches lead to finished pieces and at this stage they weren't quite the images that we see in the book today. I served Jo well though and helped to get her a distinction but the story and the images stayed in her head and didn't quite feel finished.
How The Book Came to be
What Next?
During her degree her tutor mentioned the Salarya Picture Book and Stratford Literary Festival Picture book competition and recommended that the students enter it but it was a couple of years after completing her course that decided to go for it. She had a few weeks to develop the pictures further and to flesh out the story and commit it to words. She managed to create 3 full page spreads, a cover design and the typed up essay and sent it in.
Time passed and covid struck! The world became quite a different place but the competition was always in the back of her mind and the day came for the winner to be announced. What a day! It almost seemed wrong to be so happy and to be celebrating at such a difficult time but it truly was a dream come true. After that she had three months to complete the whole book and after proofreading and print checking it all went off to the printers.
Cover
endpaper
Cover
1/16
bottom of page