Meet Davina Bell and Allison Colpoys
Dear friends,
To celebrate the Australian launch of Tomorrow is a Brand-New Day, we thought it would be fun to share an interview with Davina Bell and Allison Colpoys for you to read with your kids. Building the story surrounding a book can add a whole new dimension of love and appreciation for it — and we all know how much kids love facts and explanations! We hope this child-centred chat with the creators brings an extra level of joy to your family’s reading of Tomorrow is a Brand-New Day!
Meet the Author
Davina Bell is an award-winning author of books for young readers of many ages. She writes picture books (including Under the Love Umbrella and All the Ways To Be Smart), as well as junior fiction, middle-grade fiction, and YA. Davina lives in Melbourne, where she works as a children’s book publisher. She talks to kids and adults around the country about the enchanting world of books and ideas.
Davina, Tomorrow is a Brand-New Day is so funny, helpful, and heart-warming! What was your inspiration for writing this book?
Thank you! I wrote this book because sometimes it's really challenging to be a good person, even when you try really hard. At some point, every single one of us will be selfish and mean, greedy and jealous — sometimes even on the same day! But what is important is what happens afterwards. It's how you are able to forgive yourself, admit you're not perfect, and make it up to the people you hurt. We are not our mistakes — they're just things we do — but if we can learn from them and grow, our mistakes make us who we are our whole lives through. Perhaps I wrote this book as a way to say to myself, 'I forgive you' for all the times I haven't been the best version of myself. There are still so many things I wish I had done differently, from the time I sat on my dog to ride her like a horse when I was seven (she's a really small dog!) to last week, when I forgot to get my godson a birthday present.
“Perhaps I wrote this book as a way to say to myself, ‘I forgive you’ for all the times I haven’t been the best version of myself.”
You've written lots of rhyming picture books, including this one. What do you enjoy about storytelling that uses rhyme?
I think I love the energy of rhyme — when I read it, it feels full of fizzy energy. I like how it helps kids be able to predict where the words of the book will go, giving them a chance to join in and feel a part of it. When you write in rhyme, there are only so many words you can choose from, so finding the exact right one is like solving a tricky puzzle. When I finally get it to work, sometimes I do a little happy dance.
Can you tell us about a few picture books you've loved recently?
At the moment, I am obsessed with a picture book called Green on Green by Dianne White, illustrated by Felicita Sala. It is the most simple, beautiful rhyming ode to the seasons. I wish I could live inside the illustrations, they are so beautiful! I wonder if there is a picture book that YOU wish you could live inside.
I recently re-read Sophie Blackall's Hello Lighthouse for a work project. Every time I open it I am filled with wonder at how she captures the ocean in all its moods and from so many breathtaking angles. What a masterpiece.
And recently I read I Am the Subway by Kim Hyo-eun for the first time. Wow. It is a book written from the point of view of a subway train, introducing the reader to some of the people who ride along. What an incredible idea! The words read like poetry and each illustration is like a precious piece of art. It made me realise that there are picture books all around us, all the time.
Do you have some tips for young writers?
I am sure you will have heard this many times, but my number one tip is: READ! As much as you can, whatever you can, whenever you can. Your imagination is like a garden in your mind and every time you read, it is like you are growing that garden. Who knows what marvellous ideas will bloom there your whole life if you are dedicated to growing it when you are young.
Meet the Illustrator
Allison Colpoys is an award-winning designer and illustrator based in Melbourne, Australia.
Allison, we love your bright, hilarious, and uplifting illustrations in Tomorrow is a Brand-New Day so much! Can you share with us what sort of atmosphere or mood you were hoping to create with your illustrations in this book?
“ I think I was also hoping that some of the illustrations might make readers smile or laugh a little, and that some others might make readers feel a bit sad or cross.”
Thank you, that’s very nice of you to say! I think Davina and I wanted to highlight just how much can happen on any given day. The highs and lows, the small things, the big things, and all the emotions that go along with them. I think I was also hoping that some of the illustrations might make readers smile or laugh a little, and that some others might make readers feel a bit sad or cross. But, ultimately, Davina and I hope the feeling that the reader is left with is an uplifting and happy one.
How did you first become an illustrator?
I have always loved and appreciated illustration but I didn’t have any real experience until I started working in publishing as a book cover designer (which I have been doing for many years now). It was there that I was able to experiment and gain confidence over time. I started just doing a bit of hand-lettering for book covers here and there, until eventually I got the courage to try illustrating whole covers. It was around that time that Davina and I started dreaming about making a picture book together. I honestly didn’t know if I could illustrate so many pages, but I was keen to see if it was possible, and so we got to work — and that is how we made our very first book together, The Underwater Fancy-dress Parade.
What are some of your favourite picture books?
I love so many picture books it’s hard to list just a few, so maybe I’ll focus on books that are mostly just pictures to narrow it down! One that springs to mind instantly is Du Iz Tak? by Carson Ellis. It is exquisitely illustrated, with very few words, and the words that are in the book are a made-up language that the characters (who are all different kinds of insects) speak to each other. The stunning illustrations guide you along as you watch a year in the life of these excellent characters unfurl.
Pool by JiHyeon Lee is another favourite, wordless picture book of mine. JiHyeon Lee’s illustrations are incredibly beautiful and highly detailed, using a limited number of coloured pencils (mostly red, blue, and black) to illustrate a story about a young boy who goes to his local pool and dives deep under all of the other swimmers. Down there he comes across a friend, and together they discover a wild, imaginary underwater world, full of strange fish and an enormous white fluffy whale.
Another book that relies solely on illustrations to tell the story is … Another! By Christian Robinson. This book has the reader following a young girl who wakes up to discover a portal into another dimension! Christian is one of my favourite illustrators because of the clever way he is able to create so much joy and energy with just a minimal amount of cutout shapes, or painted lines.
Do you have some tips for young artists?
If you love making pictures, then my number one tip is something that I am sure you are already doing – keep making pictures! There are so many ways you can make a picture. For example, you might like to draw with pencils, or crayons, or you might prefer to paint with ink or acrylic, or make stamps out of potatoes, or you might like to use cut-up bits of paper or leaves or fabric. You might even like to use all of these techniques in the one image! The more you experiment the more you will discover and the great thing is you will only keep getting better and better!
