By STEVE GRAY
PROLIFIC artist and writer Lynne Pickering is a rare breed of children’s author, both writing and illustrating her books.
Ms Pickering’s publisher has just released her new children’s book Is It You?
Young readers get to visit a farm, and when hero Jane hears a strange noise, she wants to know which animal is responsible, and asks Is It you? To learn “who done it,” she studies the different sounds that the animals make.
The book is illustrated in an imaginative way, with toys and dolls populating the pages
“When I obtained the little sheep toys and the calico cows and the calico pigs, I thought they would be gorgeous in a book. So I painted backgrounds of countryside and obtained porcelain dolls, creating farm scenes for the characters.”
Local photographer Brian Dillman then photographed the scenes.
“In every picture there’s an owl and a frog, and at the end of the book the children have to go back and find them,” Ms Pickering said.
This is the Warwick author’s second children’s book to be published, but another four are on the way – James and the Naughty Seagull, James and the Greedy Naughty Seagull, James and the Jealous Naughty Seagull, and The Magic Doorway, a fairy story.
For Ms Pickering a round of international book fairs is a real possibility in 2014, with considerable overseas interest in her work.
“My publisher is hoping to get the James series into the American school system,” she said.
“James and the Naughty Seagull is on sale in Korea.”
Ms Pickering has also written adult fiction, including an erotic spy novel and the romance Melting Love Moments. She has also sold more than 5000 paintings in 30 countries.
She said Hollywood has expressed interest in turning some of her adult works into movies.
IS IT YOU? (ISBN: 978-1-62857-334-3) is now available for $13.50 and can be ordered through the publisher’s website: sbpra.com/LynnePickering or at www.amazon.com or www.barnesandnoble.com.
