A guest post by Nicola O’Byrne, illustrator for Open Very Carefully.
On Saturday I had my first ever book launch, for Open Very Carefully, hosted by the lovely Heffers bookstore in Cambridge. I had been well briefed on what to expect by Dom, and had also chatted with the staff at Heffers, but even so I was fairly nervous about how it was all going to turn out.
Luckily, some families turned up with children who were more than happy to help me out of any awkwardness I might have felt. When I asked, “What could be hiding?” I was told, “A CROCODILE!” (excellent start). Someone added, “SMACK IT ON THE HEAD WITH A HAMMER!” (such bravery!), and then I was helpfully told, “There’s another story about a crocodile over there, can we read that one?” (No). After the story they all assured me they were not at all scared (really? But he could be ANYWHERE! No? Fine, then), and then we went over to a table that had been set up by the Heffers staff, and started on the activity sheets. I thoroughly enjoyed this bit and especially loved Morgan’s drawing of Arnie the crocodile wearing an 80’s style pink vest, striped, skin tight pink trousers and an afro wig. William told me, “this croc’s got style!” and also asked me if I was 75 years old. When asked if he enjoyed himself, one boy said, “It was fantastic!”.
I couldn’t have hoped for a better reception – thank you to everyone who came, and to the Heffer’s staff who looked after us so wonderfully.
Getting busy with some crocodile activity sheets:
Open Very Carefully is out now. You can find the crocodile activity sheets on our website here, and take a look inside the book below:
