I wrote this for Children’s Books Ireland recently to promote their Books Make Things Better campaign. I truly believe books do make things better. They changed my life!
My mother has always been a squirrel, hoarding my childhood bits and bobs, from picture books to baby clothes, squiggly ‘paintings’ I did as a toddler, and my earliest attempts at writing.
Recently she handed me a large brown padded envelope full of memories. Ephemera, long forgotten notebooks, greetings cards, drawings, school reports, postcards - things I never dreamed I’d ever see again and one item threw me back in time so strongly I was almost floored.
It was the letter I’d written my parents at age twenty-four when I first found out I was pregnant, a letter so full of emotion I’m welling up now even thinking about it. I was too afraid to talk to them in person, so I took to pen and paper to tell them the news. The news that burned inside me and threatened to ignite me.
But as anyone who loves children’s books (The Phoenix and the Carpet) or Greek mythology will know, out of the fire rises the phoenix. And it was because of my baby son and the bravery and hope and at times audacity it took to raise him a young single mum that I became a published writer. And because of three book angels.
I’ll explain. Since the age of around ten I’d written stories and poems, and as a teenager I’d kept daily diaries. I’d published pieces in the school magazine but by the time I’d left school and entered college (History of Art and English at Trinity College Dublin) I became less confident about my writing.
I’d sent what I thought was a chatty, newsy letter to a friend in America who I respected deeply and she’d replied ‘Is this a joke? You sound about eleven. What’s with all the weird kiddo stuff?’ I have never, ever forgotten it. Now when I talk to young writers and to adults about their work I always remember that words matter, that kindness matters, and that everyone’s writing voice should be respected.
So, back to getting published. At twenty-five I found myself the single but very proud mother of a new born baby, Sam. I was running the children’s department in Waterstones at the time and to cut a long story short, I needed money to buy a car to get Sam to and from his minders. I was barely coping on the bookselling wage so I needed a second job I could do in the evenings and weekends, while Sam slept to be able to afford a car. Out of desperation, I rang Southside News and asked if I could write for them. The kind editor, Ken Finlay (the first book angel in this story) said yes. It gave me the confidence to try writing a children’s book, which taken on after many other rejections by the second book angel in this story, Reena Dardis of The Children’s Press. The third book angel was the remarkable Robert Dunbar who introduced me to Children’s Books Ireland and the wider world of the Irish children’s book community, where I have made life-long friends.
Over twenty years later I have published close to forty children’s books, from rhyme and poetry collections for young children such as The One with the Waggly Tail, illustrated by Steve McCarthy, which is out this October, to animal fact books like Animal Crackers (with Alan Nolan), teen novels (the Ask Amy Green series), middle grade books like The Songbird Cafe series. I’m currently writing a novel for children set in Ireland in the 1900s. It’s been quite the journey.
I am very lucky to have an agent (Philippa Milnes- Smith of The Soho Agency in London) and publishers who are happy for me to write up and down the age groups and to tackle any theme or subject that interests me. For me, a book (for any age) starts with a thought or an idea, followed closely by knowing I have something I want to say to children about that subject. I’ve found if I’m passionate about a subject, the book will work.
I let my books make their own way in the world and I don’t put pressure on them to pay the bills. That way I can write the books that are in my heart, the ones that mean the most to me, not the ones that might pay the most. As well as writing I programme books festivals, work with MoLI (Museum of Literature Ireland) on their Bright Sparks family programme, teach creative writing to both children and adults, and visit schools and libraries, talking about writing and my books and hosting creative writing workshops. Monday and Tuesday are my writing days, Wednesday to Saturday are for other work.
Each book has its own genesis. I wrote Blazing a Trail: Irish Women who Changed the World (illustrated by Lauren O’Neill) to tell children about President Mary Robinson and all the other remarkable Irish women whose shoulders we stand on. It came out in 1918, the year we celebrated the centenary of votes for women.
My latest book, The One with the Waggly Tail, illustrated by Steve McCarthy, is a collection of rhymes, poems and songs, both Irish and international. My first collection of such rhymes, Sally Go Round the Stars (with Claire Ranson and Steve McCarthy) was put together to make sure Irish children had access to rhymes and poems from Ireland at a young age.
Rhymes and songs are part of every family’s history. They help create the story of who we are and where we come from. Sharing them with young children introduces babies and toddlers to a rich tapestry of sounds, words and rhythms.
And to me that’s what children’s books are all about: exploring and sharing the story of who we are and where we came from. My books are part of me and I am part of them. It’s there laid bare for all to see – what I care about most is in my books: family, friends, remarkable Irish women, whales, dogs, history, dreams, creativity, bravery, courage. Read them and you read me.
Sarah Webb’s latest books are Animal Crackers with Alan Nolan and The One with the Waggly Tail, illustrated by Steve McCarthy, both published by The O’Brien Press.