blogs
Crumbs Papa!
There's that voice again.'Yes, Hiccup, I replied (and quietly too, it's a sunny day and I feel 'sunny'!).'I have just spied your new header for my Facebook page.' He was a smiling Hiccup this morning, ........
GALILEO
Good morning Hiccup.I haven’t woken you, have I?It seems so odd for me to be waking Hiccup from his slumbers, but I am recalling the times he would interrupt me at inopportune times.‘I am posting an i ........
OMNIBUS EDITION
‘I have just seen what you are drawing, Papa?’Hiccup caught his breath having raced in from the garden.‘I look very big.’ he added.I admit that he does but he is the STAR and I told him so.All the oth ........
EXTRAORDINARY EDWARD AND THE EASY ‘E’S.’
‘Do you know that it’s more than two weeks since you last wrote your blog, Papa?’Hiccup reminded me a few days ago and it’s only now that I have torn myself from writing about Galileo to begin writing ........
GALILEO THE GENIUS
Tap,tap,tap.A knocking on my door can mean only one thing.‘Come in Hiccup’, I called.Hiccup rushed in as I sat typing.‘Papa’, the little teddy-bear seemed breathless.‘I have something to say!’I’ll bet ........
Fabulous Fionora’s Magic Feather
Papa, what is the book you are writing now called?’Hiccup has had some time to think about things since I last added to my blog. It’s true that I am illustrating the penultimate book in the series of ........
Hiccup and the Alphabet bears
Having illustrated an alphabet of cats, Mark turned his attention to some of the growing collection of toy teddy bears in the grandchildren’s nursery.With so many from which to choose, Mark ultimately ........
OPHELIA THE OPERA SINGER
Another little adventure Hiccup enjoyed a lot was when he met Ophelia.I think it would be true to say that he enjoyed it – in hindsight!At the time he was with her, he did find himself in some uncomfo ........
SHARED NAMES
I think I will get this posted before Hiccup wakes up. He would be bound to have something to say about it.It is only recently that it dawned on me that four of the Alphabetabears share names with fou ........
NIMBUS AND HIS NUMBER PUZZLES
‘Do you think I am good at writing and sums, Papa?’Sunday morning is always a time when I can sit quietly and write about the amazing Alphabetabears; and Sunday is always the time that Hiccup chooses ........
MANUEL AND HIS MARVELLOUS MINIS
‘I like the same things you do Papa.’ said my little furry teddy-bear friend.‘What makes you say that Hiccup?’ I asked him in response.‘Well you like liquorice, don’t you? We had lots when we were wit ........
WHO BUYS THE BOOKS?
There is nothing like having a break from the routine, as Hiccup pointed out to me.‘Do you remember, Papa, how you wrote and drew pictures for that book of the ‘Ten Little Hiccups’?’I certainly do rem ........
LULWORTH AND HIS LIQUORICE LABORATORY
‘I love liquorice, Papa.’It’s that voice again.‘Oh good morning, Hiccup. ‘Now what is this about you loving liquorice?’ I was hoping to find out what was motivating the little teddy-bear to suddenly c ........
INTERLUDE
This isn’t a ‘I’ blog at all and this is probably the only time for an interruption to . . .. . . speaking of interruptions . . .!‘Good morning Hiccup. What is on your mind this morning?’‘I thought yo ........
KATY AT KEEPERS’ COTTAGE
Hiccup was delighted with the page we made for Jemima and him on the Jetty.I know that Hiccup has a soft spot for the lady teddy-bears, so it was no surprise when Jemima suggested they visit Katy, and ........
Jemima Juggling Jelly-beans on the Jetty
Having begun to lay out the format of all the books planned, I decided to continue with further introductions.I know that one of Hiccup’s favourite stories is the one with Jemima.Hiccup did manage to ........
Ivan and his Ice-Cream van
Hiccup and I have found this blog a great way to begin introducing his 26 teddy-bear friends.He is so anxious for me to tell of them all and for a long while I explained that I wanted to keep them ‘up ........
AN INTERRUPTION BY HICCUP
I think it is clear by now that Hiccup is nothing, if not intrusive.Is this due to him being so small and therefore constantly interrupting me?He seems to have picked up on the fact that there are so ........
ON A MISSION
Things have been quiet lately.Hiccup is with me indoors – in fact he is in the kitchen on a semi-permanent basis now.He is my inspiration as I conjure with the plot for Chomondley. It is one of the bo ........
ABOUT CHILDREN’S BOOKS
It was during my foundation course as Art College that it dawned on me that nothing is ever quite ‘new’. Claims can be made that artists (including the performing arts and music) are creating new appr ........
WINNER’S ANNOUNCEMENT
Hello everyone,Papa and I have loved reading the caption competitions you sent to us.Did you know it’s my birthday today? Papa said he would send a message on something calledFacebook; I don’t underst ........
THE ORIGINAL ‘HARRY AT HOBBERDY HALL’
The first title ‘Harry and Hiccup play Hide and seek’ was the first to get into print (as you well know) but it came from a book I had compiled from my initial A-Z called ‘The Alphabetabears’. ........
HICCUP AND THE PANGOLIN
By the time you have reached this page of the blog you will know about my passion for the creatures of the natural world.Hiccup knew it too.From the time I wrote about Chomondley and his circus, he kn ........
THE FORMAT MATERIALISES
With the first book now completed and a format becoming established, I felt that other titles would take care of themselves.To a certain extent that this did appear to be the solution, but I had begun ........
WHAT HAS INFLUENCED ME?
Harry had asked me why I had written the stories, and that made me analyse why I had put these ‘little people’ into print.I mention early in the blog that my introduction to reading was through Richma ........
A LITTLE MORE ABOUT THE BEARS
Harry really is the largest of the nursery teddy-bears.Hiccup really iss the smallest.However I did use some licence when putting them into an artistic form.Simply, Harry was just too large when I dre ........
HICCUP’S ROLE
Hiccup takes the Stage I decided at an early stage that continuity would be the key to a series of books and Hiccup pretty much stole the central role. No offence to Harry, but he w ........
HOW IT BEGAN
Reading began for me when I was around 9 or 10 years old.I was recovering from an annual dose of bronchitis, which laid me out every year.(In fact my mother always used it as an excuse for my lack of ........