Richard Jones is the author and illustrator of the children's picture book Where Have You Been, Little Cat?. His many other books include Perdu. He is based in the UK.
Q: What inspired you to create Where Have You Been, Little Cat?
A: I’d had the story of an inquisitive feline floating around ever since we adopted our own cat, Moppet, in 2016.
Having had a dog companion for many years who rarely left my side, I’ve never quite got used to opening the door and letting Moppet go wandering off on adventures of her own.
Most of the time, she seems happy enough to lie in the sun, but she sometimes disappears through the hedge at the bottom of our garden and is often gone for an hour or two. Where to or with whom, I have no idea. The next thing we hear from her is a gentle tap at the front door as she waits to be let in.
Every time she comes home we go through the same performance; she rolls around on the carpet and I always ask, “Where have you been, little cat? What did you do? What did you see? Were you kind?” Questions that adults ask children every day. It took me a year or two of this routine before I realised there might be the bones of a story here!
Q: Did you work on the text first or the illustrations first--or both simultaneously?
A: The text and the artwork came along at the same time for this one. I usually aim to get the story in a good shape before I start scribbling and then make any adjustments to story as the pictures develop. However, with this one the words and pictures grew together.
Q: The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books called the book a “feline-focused look at the treasures of both new experiences and familiar places.” What do you think of that description?
A: I think it’s a lovely way of describing the book, thanks for sharing it! It seems to me that the writing around the subject of children’s books both in the US and in the UK is of such a high standard at the moment. It’s really inspiring to see how seriously reviewers take children’s books and with what care they talk about them.
Q: What do you hope children (and adults!) take away from the story?
A: Above all, I hope people see that being generous and kind need not get in the way of a cracking adventure!
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I’ve just finished working on another story with the same wonderful team that created Where Have You Been, Little Cat? It’s about a child who meets a little bird and feeds it some breakfast.
The next day, the little bird comes back with two pink-tailed mice, and the next day they are joined by four squirrels and then eight kind-eyed wolves and then 16 elephants until eventually, one day, there are 247 animals for breakfast! It will be published around the world in the spring.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: I also have a story publishing soon with Walker Books in the UK and Candlewick Press in the US. It’s about a little boy and a storm and how being brave can have unexpected and brilliant consequences!
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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