Babette Cole July 20, 2014

Babette Cole: How I made James Rabbit and the Giggleberries – in pictures

The author of Dr Dog and Mummy Laid An Egg gives us a fascinating insight into her she created her latest comedy masterpiece: The Wildest West Country Tale of James Rabbit and the Giggleberries – plus a Babette Cole competition

Babette Cole: James — This is a pic of the real James who inspired my new book James Rabbit and the Giggleberries. He is a young man who came to live with us four years ago. He works on a local farm for very little money. He asked if he could rent a room and some land to grow his amazing organic vegetables. It is his dream to have his own market garden one day. This gave me the idea of writing a picture book taking a Beatrix Potter type sideways look at how modern day bunny would do this.

You can win a limited edition print by Babette Cole from James Rabbit and the Giggleberries by emailing childrens.books@theguardian.com by 6pm on 27 July 2014 with one sentence telling us why your child or family should win it. Also see babette-cole.com for more info and the chance to buy originals plus prints and cards! Photograph: Babette Cole

Babette Cole: Prelim sketch 1 — This is a sketch I did of James watering his garden late at night, looking very tired after being at work all day on the farm. Photograph: Babette Cole

Babette Cole: James as rabbit — This is a sketch of how I thought James would look like if he was a rabbit. Photograph: Babette Cole

Babette gallery: Beatrix Potter — James Rabbit and the Giggleberries is deeply inspired by Beatrix Potter. I looked at Beatrix Potter over and over again to absorb her colour and line. Here is a pic of Peter Rabbit's mum down her burrow. Photograph: Babette Cole

Babette Cole: Page 2 — Here is James Rabbit with his family down their burrow. You can see how the Potter illustration in the slide that came before has influenced the colour and line. Photograph: Babette Cole

Babette Cole: Title page sketch — Here is a preliminary sketch book idea of how the characters would look set out in a title page similar to Beatrix Potter. Of course the actual title page in the book turned out quite different but this is to show you the Potter influence. Photograph: Babette Cole

Babette: stage 2 — I will scribble and scribble tons of these sketches to get the story to fit into 15 double page spreads. I do not write the text first. I let the words and pictures come into my head and then onto the paper at the same time. It's a bit like running a film that I stop 15 times at a strategic place. Photograph: Babette Cole

Babette Cole: storyboard — The next stage is to use my preliminary scribbles to make a more detailed storyboard. Here is an example one of the double page spreads. I email these to my editor, Ron Johns. This is as rough as it gets! I do not do finished roughs. I go straight to doing the artwork from these sketches. That is because the stuff I do is funny. If you tell a joke once it works, draw or tell it over and over again and it loses its spontaneity! Photograph: Babette Cole

Babette Cole: Page 1 — Here on the left is a picture of James Rabbit with his watering can. This was inspired from the sketch I made of James with his watering can on one of his night time gardening sessions after work looking very tired – the one I showed you in the second slide of this gallery. The three weasels on the right were inspired by his bosses at the time who do look like weasels I am afraid. They pass my house constantly in noisy tractors. When James first came to live here his main job with them was spreading slurry. You can see him as James Rabbit in the tractor spreading slurry on the right. Photograph: Babette Cole

Babette: Pearl — Here you can see Pearl, James Rabbit's clever little wife. You can see she is wearing the same sort of clothes Beatrix Potter dresses her animals in. Although my story is a modern day tale, I thought it would be fun to dress the animals in the same period dress as she did. Photograph: Babette Cole

Babette: Pearl vignette — Here is one of my black and white drop-in vignettes. Beatrix did this as well. I have done it to echo the period of her books in my modern day version. I like Ruby. She is a black rabbit from Bunnybados. In the book she is referred to as cousin Ruby. I have a huge West Indian family. My cousin Rosie is from St Kitts. Her husband, Jim, is a Kittian and she had three sons and numerous grand children! Photograph: Babette Cole

Babette Cole: PAge 7 — On the left you can see how everyone helps James because he is so poor, hardworking and charming. This is what happens to the real James so he is lucky! On the right you can see how the whole family help with the project. Popular children's books do include this activity these days and I really wanted to do a family book here. James is poor, he struggles to feed his baby bunnies, as many young families do these days. Everybody in the family pulls together. I wanted to stress this here and in the next picture. Photograph: Babette Cole

Babette Cole: Page 8 — Again all the family pull together to help with the project. Photograph: Babette Cole

Babette Cole: Page 9 — On the left are two very nice black and white drop-ins showing James Rabbit working very hard and the Brockenhursts rewarding him. On the right you will see the very fluffy but twisted squirrel sisters selling James Rabbit the seeds. They are very naughty and should have known better. They know they are playing a trick on him. You would not think butter would melt in their little mouths would you? This is to show children that appearances can be deceptive! People cannot always be trusted even if they look harmlessly fluffy!!! Look at that naughty Squirrel Nutkin in Beatrix Potter. Photograph: Babette Cole

Babette Cole: Page 12 — On the left is a quick cartoon like sequence to show how Pearl reacted to the Giggleberrries. I have used this to quicken the pace of the story which is actually quite a long one for a 16 double page spread picture book. I originally wrote it as a graphic novel for older children in cartoon form but my editor wanted it in picture book mode so I had to alter it a lot. I still used this device using Potter like vignettes. On the right you can see what Pearl's suggestion worked out as and her presence up front depicts her having another idea for the Giggleberries, which I will show you in the next slide. Photograph: Babette Cole

Babette Cole: Page 14 — Here is what Pearl had planned all along to get her own back on Walter Croaker. On the left I have used the device of having her enter the picture in preliminary pencil. This is again is to quicken the pace. The pram is transforming into black and white ink as it travels into the picture. On the right you can see the result. Photograph: Babette Cole

Babette gallery: page 15 — This is probably the most important message in the whole story. On the left you can see James Rabbit laughing his head off. He is saying he does not need a loan anymore for if he can make folk as happy as this, he is rich anyway. This is what I wanted to say in this book. Money does not always make us happy but if you can make people laugh and forget their worries for a moment that is worth more tan anything money can buy! I try to do this in all my books because I like to make people laugh! On the right you can see even mean old Walter Croaker has become a much nicer toad now he has a sense of humor. Photograph: Babette Cole

Babette: Beach — I think this is the funniest pic in the book. Ron John my editor at Mabecron Books likes to sell his books to tourists who visit the West Country. He knows his market. So I thought I would include them all here at Bunny Salterton (which of course is Budleigh Salterton). After all The Wildest West Country Tales are for them and here they are having fun on the beach being tickled into Giggledom! I especially like the pink poodle on the left. Even their pets are crazy about the Giggleberries! Photograph: Babette Cole

Babette gallery: Last illustration — This is the last illustration in the book, another black and white drop in. James Rabbit is looking at us as if to say "Well that worked out alright in the end even though it was all a crazy accident". Photograph: Babette Cole

Babette Cole: cover 02 — Everyone is invited to The Giggleberry Party on 23 July from 2 pm until 7 pm at The Illustration Cupboard, 22 Bury St, London SWI 6AL. There will be carrot cake and elderflower champagne. Bunny ears will be available There is an exhibition and sale of the original artwork from James Rabbit and the Giggleberries, published by Mabecron Books. Books, Prints and Cards are also available for sale and Babette will be signing books for you! So please come along if you can for a giggle. Photograph: Babette Cole

Babette Cole: Page 13 — This print of the Giggleberries Party is going to be sent to one lucky reader who wins our Babette Cole competition, along with a copy of James Rabbit and the Giggleberries. It's a limited edition of 10 so very special indeed. To win send an email to childrens.books@theguardian.com by Sunday 27 July at 6pm with the title "Babette Cole competition' and one line on why you or your family should win this print. Photograph: Babette Cole

Babette gallery: James on beach — Ha ha! We'll end with the real James Rabbit wanting nothing to do with this mad story at all on the beach at Bunny Salterton!!! Photograph: Babette Cole

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