Tracy Darnton is the author of two picture books, My Brother is an Avocado and My Sister is a Treasure, on new babies and sibling relationships, illustrated by Yasmeen Ismail and published by Simon & Schuster. She has very kindly written for us about all the things she considers when creating her stories what makes a picture book so much more than the sum of its parts…

~

My latest book My Sister is a Treasure is ‘just’ a picture book, roughly 300 words. But don’t be deceived, picture books are full of big issues tackled in a creative way. No one wants to read – or write – a dry, didactic text with a list of how to be a big sibling. Instead, I use metaphor and symbolism to make complex issues relatable.

In My Sister is a Treasure terms of endearment are taken at face value when a new baby comes home. How can she be a bundle of joy if she’s always crying? Similarly, in My Brother is an Avocado the stages of pregnancy from tiny poppy seed to enormous watermelon are taken literally to explore both the anxieties and the wonder of a new baby on the way.

By connecting to a familiar image, a child can more easily express an abstract feeling. A child’s world is different to ours: they move between the real and the imagined with ease. Put on a pirate hat like the girl in My Sister is a Treasure and the sofa becomes a ship, the carpet the sea. They can well imagine their sibling as a pumpkin or a starfish.

Of course, the baby isn’t ever an actual avocado or ray of sunshine but using metaphors gives an opportunity to express reservations about this new person joining the family and what their relationship will be like, as well as celebrate the joy of a new arrival. Can you cuddle an avocado? Can you have two dimply dumplings in one family?

I want the book to be as relatable as possible, ‘neutral’ you might call it, yet be imbued with character. It’s tricky! When selecting the terms of endearment, I wanted ones which work for many families and cultures but also provide something interesting for the illustrator to work with. I also didn’t want to use overtly gendered terms like ‘my little princess’. I plumped for brother and sister in the text as ‘sibling’ is not used by young kids, however neutral. Plus, even if you’re trying to be vague in whether this is a boy or girl sibling, pronouns can be tricky linguistically. Translation can be problematic too – ‘I’ is gender neutral in English but not necessarily in other languages, for instance.

Which brings me to another consideration when writing the text: overseas editions. When any picture book is translated, the pictures can’t change, only the words, so the text can’t be too focused on puns or very culturally British moments which would be lost in translation. Back to looking for that neutral or universal sweet spot again! Did you know that in Japan pregnancy is viewed as ten months? No? Neither did I, but I had fortuitously included ten fruits and vegetables for the stages of pregnancy which meant My Brother is an Avocado worked well in Japan.

Any book isn’t ever one book. Once it’s out of my hands, the magic interaction of reader and child takes place. By doing voices or pointing out something special in the illustrations, the book becomes unique to that family, never neutral. Sharing My Sister is a Treasure may prompt chats about feelings and family terms of endearment, drawing a wonky heart, cooking with Grandma, who knows!

For me, all this is what makes these books both challenging and rewarding to write. It’s never ‘just’ a picture book.