'Gerald Needs a Friend' by Robin Boyden

Robin talks to us about working on his début picture book, Gerald Needs A Friend, which published in April with Frances Lincoln Children's Books.  

‘Gerald Needs A Friend’, is a story about Gerald the guinea pig, who lives alone tending to his garden every day. He loves his small world but feels that something is missing; something beyond the homely bubble that he’s created. When Gerald meets two mysterious mice, Marcy and Marcel, his life begins to change!

The idea for the story actually began with the mice, Marcy and Marcel, and originally I wrote it from their perspective. However Frances Lincoln really liked Gerald’s character and we realised there was potential to make it his story instead. After a redraft, the story felt richer and more fulfilling. 

This is the first time you’ve authored and illustrated a picture book, were there any aspects you found challenging and can you tell us how you worked through them?

The hardest part for me was the initial process of making the story flow smoothly. The limitations of space in a picture book to tell a story is a blessing and a curse and there were two or three rounds of text edits before any artworks were made. I found it much easier to tell Gerald’s story when I associated it with my own experiences. When Gerald faced anxiety being outside of his comfort zone, I recalled how I feel in those situations. 

Your art is so warm and richly detailed, how do you create it?

It’s a bit of an odd back and forth process between digital and pencil. I begin by sketching up a rough layout in photoshop. I might do a couple of passes with the rough until I have something I’m confident with pencilling over.
Next, I’ll print out the digital rough and pencil over it on the light box. Once the pencil drawing is done, I scan it at 600dpi and colour it up in photoshop. This is a fairly simple process where I only have a flat colour layer and a layer each for shadows and highlights.

My favourite spread is where Gerald rushes home after he realises his routine is compromised. I was pleased with this one as night scenes feel like a challenge to me and I was happy with how the colour turned out. I also really like drawing clouds and I got to fill the sky with them here! 

When you wrote the story the pandemic wasn’t a part of our lives and yet now the themes of GERALD feel very relevant for young children as we emerge out of lockdown. What picture books resonated with you as a child?  Did you have a favourite?

I can’t recall any picture books feeling particularly poignant to the time I lived in - I was reading for the escapism! I loved gentle, warm books like ‘The Jolly Postman’ and books about animals or toys. Jane Hissey’s ‘Old Bear’ or the ‘Brambly Hedge’ series by Jill Barklem were repeatedly read. I also remember spending a lot of my time reading Rupert annuals, Asterix or Peanuts!

GERALD was published during a lockdown, when bookshops were closed for browsing.  Were there any marketing tools you and your publishers used to reach customers in other ways?

So far we’ve promoted Gerald with a signed giveaway featuring Gerald’s own jam jar label bookplates!  I've also provided extra resources for children to download for free from my website, such as colouring sheets  robinboyden.com   And I've used social media as much as possible!