TEY 13.2

SAM USHER IS AN AWARD-WINNING ILLUSTRATOR AND WRITER TEY speaks to Sam Usher about childhood reading, the inspiration for Boy and Grandad, and his latest story, Clang! … “Picture books should fill children with wonder” TEY: How important were picture books in your own reading journey? Were there any that have stuck in your memory? SU: My favourite picture books as a child were How Tom Beat Captain Najork and his Hired Sportsmen by Russell Hoban and Quentin Blake – I still have my old copy we picked up for 50p from the library in Hungerford, where I grew up – and the Little Bear series by Jane Hissey, with its incredible drawings! I also remember sitting with my older brother reading the Rupert the Bear annuals; I would read the rhyming couplets and look then tell them some obscure fact about pencils in the 18th century or something. How early was it that you realised how important art is to you? How was your talent nurtured? I loved drawing, like most children, and my parents encouraged it. My teacher Mrs Wilson in years 3 and 4 put one of my drawings – of a swan – on the front of the parish newsletter. That was my first illustration job! I used to love designing trainers. I would go on a Saturday to the local sports shop and look at the Nike Airs, then go at the pictures, and my brother would read the grown-up text. Did your parents read with you? Were there books in your house? Our parents would read with us all the time. I shared a bedroom with my brother, and we had a wall full of books. I loved books of facts, like the DK eyewitness guides – our great-aunt gave us a selection of them, and the pictures are still etched in my memory: swords, American football outfits, castles. I loved The Way Things Work by David Macaulay – I would walk up to grown-ups and say, “Did you know...” 48 Teachearlyyears.com