Children’s Bookshop in Retford, UK.
It’s the end of 2023 and time for the final KidLit Connection interview of the year! I’m so thrilled to share this conversation with author and illustrator Emma Reynolds. Emma is a talented creator who advocates for environmental conservation through art and stories. Her debut author-illustrated picture book AMARA AND THE BATS (Atheneum) is an award-winning story that shows children how they can make a difference to creatures big and small through peaceful protest. And her latest book DRAWN TO CHANGE THE WORLD (HarperAlley) is a collaboration with other artists who illustrate powerful stories of climate justice from around the world. Emma also founded #KidLit4Climate, bringing authors and illustrators from around the globe together in solidarity with youth climate strikes.
Outside of her work as an author and illustrator, Emma volunteers for her local bat conservation group and loves spending time outdoors. She lives and works in Manchester, UK. Emma can sometimes be seen running interactive workshops for kids and families, speaking at events, and sharing her work at conventions and conferences. In this interview, Emma shares more about her books, her process and inspiration, and what it takes to be a creator in the KidLit industry. I hope you enjoy hearing from Emma as much as I did!
An Interview with Children’s Book Creator, Emma Reynolds
First, we’d love to hear more about you as an illustrator and author. Can you tell us more about you and your work as a creator of books for kids?
Hello! I’m a children’s illustrator-author from Manchester, UK. I make books about nature, activism, and hope through action—showing readers the powerful tangible things we can all do to make a difference in our communities.
I love creating characters and imagining their worlds, how they think and feel, and showing empathy as they navigate the challenges and emotions they experience throughout their journeys. I’ve always loved books with pictures in them most, and after thinking ‘Oh no I should be reading long adult books but I don’t enjoy them’ in my teens and stopping reading for a little while, I discovered graphic novels in my school library and this re-invigorated my love of reading. Now I’m a huge advocate for visual literacy and that picture books and illustrated books are for all ages, not just for children. I even wrote my University dissertation on the power of visual literacy in increasing student’s confidence and abilities, and how this should be taught from primary age all the way to adulthood.
How did you get your start creating children’s books? Was there anything in particular that lead you to pursue it?
I’ve always loved drawing and making art my whole life—in school my favourite subjects I loved were English, Media Studies and Film Studies. I found art classes too prescriptive and uninspiring in secondary school but I still continued to draw in my free time, and I pursued Illustration with Animation at university—and while there I learnt about the picture book process, and this re-invigorated my childhood dream of being a picture book illustrator and author!
Your work is very focused on advocating for the Earth and shedding light on climate change through the eyes of children. I love this! Can you tell us more about what inspired you down this path?
Yes! This wasn’t an intentional path I set for myself but it has happened naturally relating to my interests and the stories that were inside me ready to be told. When I was in primary school I was really interested in science (but felt I wasn’t good enough at maths to pursue it, and the lessons in secondary school were so dry), and I love that I’ve managed to honour that interest in my dream job as an author-illustrator by making accessible science communication books.
I have other stories inside me waiting, and I’ll know when they’re ready to be told.
Your most recent book, DRAWN TO CHANGE THE WORLD, is an amazing collaborative project with other illustrators, bringing to light the stories of young climate activists from around the world. Can you tell us more about this really important book?
We worked on Drawn for three years, after I pitched it in 2020. Drawn to Change The World: 16 Youth Climate Activists, 16 Artists is a middle grade graphic novel with each activist biography illustrated by a different acclaimed artist from around the world. It has extensive backmatter including activist interviews on the power of community, and illustrations to explain the science. Drawn focuses on the need to centre Indigenous solutions and intersectional climate justice, and also speaks on how we need more artists to transform society and tell new stories about our future—allowing us to manifest them into reality. Drawn features Indigenous, Black, Latina, Asian, LGBTQ+, disabled and neurodivergent climate activists, illustrated by incredible artists from all over the world, it was such an honour to work with them.
Creating DRAWN TO CHANGE THE WORLD obviously involved working with lots of other people. Can you tell us more about that process and what it was like compared to other books you’ve done?
Yes so it was very different from how I would create a book normally, as I plan everything visually and work on the illustrations and text in tandem when I’m the author-illustrator. But as I was writing the script for other artists to illustrate, I had to prepare the script in advance. As each artist only had 4 pages (2 double page spreads) per activist, I actually thumbnailed them out to scale to check everything would physically fit, and then reverse engineered this into a script for the artists. I didn’t share my rough thumbnails with them though, as I wanted them to be able to freely express themselves in the panels and lay it out as they see fit.
The process as a whole involved a lot A LOT of admin and emails and back and forth haha. I absolutely could not have done it without my editor Megan Ilnitzki and publishing team taking on the lion’s share of that labour as my advance only goes so far, and I still spent an enormous amount of time checking everything and going through PDFs to check every line, speech bubble and word was right.
1. Photo of Emma Reynolds in 2021 working on thumbnails and research for ‘Drawn to Change The World’.
2. Melati and Isabel Wijsen comic biography, written by Emma Reynolds and illustrated by Ann Maulina.
3. Ou Hóngyì comic biography, written by Emma Reynolds and illustrated by Jade Zhang.
4. Dara McAnulty comic biography, written by Emma Reynolds and illustrated by Victoria Maderna and Federico Piatti.
5. Science front-matter from ‘Drawn to Change The World’.
6. Greta Thunberg comic biography – Global Week for Future spread, written and illustrated by Emma Reynolds.
Your debut author/illustrator picture book, AMARA AND THE BATS, which came out in 2021 is another great story about a child activist who speaks out for bats in her community. Can you tell us more about what inspired this story?
by Emma Reynolds
Yes! So I’ve always loved bats, and I drew this character Amara back in 2016, and I knew I wanted to tell her story! I thought she looked like she was looking up curiously at something, and I decided it would be a bat. And through researching more about bats throughout the book, I became even more fascinated with these amazing creatures. I joined my local bat group, and my bat group leader Steve Parker kindly fact checked my book for me, and I’ve been involved with the group and with Bat Conservation Trust and other bat charities and organisations around the world ever since. Amara and the Bats holds a special place in my heart, and I’m so, so happy I was able to make my dream come true and it wouldn’t have been possible without my agent Thao Le and my wonderful editor Julia McCarthy. Amara’s character is inspired by me and my best friend as kids, we were passionate about saving and advocating for overlooked and misunderstood animals.
On the shop-talk end of things, we’d love to hear more about your process when you create illustrations for your books. Can you tell us more about your tools and the steps you take to go from an idea to a finished book?
That’s a great question, I’d love to tell you more about it.
So I usually start by sketching, whether that be in an actual sketchbook (I go for non fancy covered ones as the pressure it too great! But the paper is good) or around my puzzle books while I’m relaxing and unwinding. I like sketching with polychromos colouring pencils in my sketchbook, and in my puzzle book it’s whatever I happen to be filling in the puzzle with – sometimes a ballpoint pen, sometimes a biro.
For final art, I do my outlines in Procreate on the iPad, using the 4B brush that comes with Procreate, and then I use Photoshop to colour my books as I need a large canvas and high layer count, plus muscle memory makes this a quicker process for me at this stage.
If there is one wish you could have for your work as a KidLit author/illustrator, what would it be?
Stable money (preferably universal basic income! *stares at governments who know it would cost them less than the benefits system in place now*), so I have more time to spend thinking, dreaming and creating books, rather than worrying about money all the time.
What is something you would like to share with aspiring illustrators and author/illustrators who have hopes to be published someday?
The biggest thing is not giving up, and I don’t say this lightly. Publishing is extreeeemley slow, because of the nature of the business. This was really odd to me at first as I came from a very fast-paced animation job, and this takes getting used to. And this advice of not giving up applies to all stages of the process—from submitting to agents, having your book out on sub when your agent is pitching, to waiting for feedback from your editor once you have a book deal. Patience is key—fill your time with either rest, re-filling your creative well, or cracking on with your next project. And of course, part-time work if you need to, as this industry is very hard to make a living—but it is possible. It just takes time and planting the seeds to build up.
If you write and illustrate, I recommend getting a literary agent, rather than an illustration agent. Literary agents take around 15% instead of 30% like an illustration agent, and they are experts on the book industry and pitching your work to editors. They more than pay for their cut in their expertise, access, support and negotiation in getting you a good and fair book deal.
Most of all—create work that you enjoy! I am guilty of this sometimes, but sometimes I forget that art is supposed to be fun, and that we create our best work when we are enjoying it, and that always, always shines through to others. I wish you all the very best on your journey! It’s a marathon not a race.
Check Out All of Emma Reynolds’ Books
Emma has three published books that she’s illustrated, two of which she also wrote. Check them all out on her website and follow the links to purchase your own copies!
See More from Emma Reynolds:
To learn more about Emma Reynolds, her books, art, and latest projects, be sure to visit her website, social media pages, and join her newsletter. Plus, more fun information below:
- Visit Emma’s website
- Purchase Emma’s books or gifts
- Follow Emma on Instagram
- Follow Emma on Twitter/X
- Join Emma’s newsletter
Learn more about Drawn to Change the World:
- Check out our artist panel discussion about Drawn to Change the World Here on YouTube
- And Emma’s podcast episode of ‘Comic Boom – Comics in Education’
Emma is represented by Thao Le at Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.
Are you a published or soon-to-be published illustrator or author/illustrator who loves creating books about nature, animals, the environment, or mindfulness? I’d love to chat with you for a KidLit Connection interview! Send me a message.