Dr Charlotte Birkmanis' Little Shark Lulu is Sleeping - Q&A

Dr Charlotte Birkmanis is a marine biologist, shark scientist as well as an author! Exploring so much about the life of sharks and other marine animals, Charlotte has been the perfect person to work closely with co-author Josie Montano and illustrator Carla Hoffenberg to bring readers an inside look into their children's picture book Little Shark Lulu is Sleeping! It's the first of several planned books in the Little Shark Lulu Series, so keep your underwater camera poised for the next one! 

Q: What has been your favourite part of writing Little Shark Lulu is Sleeping? 

A: I’ve really enjoyed working with such a great team. Josie and I have been friends for a while, so I jumped at the chance to work with Josie and it was fantastic to meet Carla. Together with David as book designer, it’s truly the ‘dream team’. Even though the team was based on both sides of Australia, the Zoom chats were so much fun. My favourite part would be when I shared some facts for the book (such as the sperm whales sleeping vertically or the parrot fish sleeping in mucous cocoons) and the others would say ‘wow, that is so cool’. That was definitely a highlight.

Q: What inspired you to create a children’s book? 

A: I was bitten by the writing bug early and I’ve been writing fiction and non-fiction all my life; in fact, I won my first prize for writing in primary school with a poem that ended up being published. I love sharing fun ‘fin’ facts about our oceans, and so it was a natural progression from presenting and chatting about sharks and other marine critters to sharing what goes on at night time in the ocean through a kids' book. I was inspired by the questions that I would get from children (young and old) when chatting about marine animals. Often the reply was ‘that can’t be real’. But sometimes, fact is stranger than fiction!

I love it when shark lovers join citizen science projects and share in the fun of caring for our oceans. Get involved by sharing the fun facts behind Lulu’s adventures with your friends and family. You can find more details about these fascinating critters in the Teacher’s Notes that accompany Little Shark Lulu is Sleeping on the website.  

Q: What is your favourite shark, and have you had the privilege of swimming alongside them? 

A: I have swum with so many sharks in my career and no matter how many times I see them, it still gives me a thrill. The first shark I tagged was a lemon shark, so they hold a special place in my heart. I’ve done a lot of work on tiger sharks as well, and they are stunning creatures – especially the baby sharks with their stripes. I also love the open ocean sharks I study now, especially mako sharks, or as I call them ‘the Ferrari of the ocean’. The last shark I swam with was one of these open-ocean voyagers, a young silky shark. 

 

Click here to buy your copy of Little Shark Lulu is Sleeping now! 

Click here to watch the book launch of Little Shark Lulu is Sleeping! 

Josie Montano's Little Shark Lulu is Sleeping - Q&A

 

 

Come along with us to interview Josie Montano, award-winning author and advocate of giving voice to those who cannot, as we discuss her newest children's book Little Shark Lulu is Sleeping.

 

Q: How did you find the writing process collaborating with Dr Charlotte Birkmanis on this story? 

 

A: I have collaborated with other authors in the past, but this is the first time I've collaborated with a scientist. We respected each other's suggestions and contributions and created a wonderful result out of Art + Science.

Q: What is special about Little Shark Lulu is Sleeping when compared to your other projects? 

 

A: What made this project was the amazing enthusiastic collaboration that came from four people, myself, Charlotte, Carla the illustrator and David the publisher. We communicated and collaborated from the beginning to the end, we were involved in every aspect. Also, I learnt a lot about what goes on under the sea!

Q: How was the name ‘Lulu’ decided and is there any special meaning behind it? 

 

A: We named her Lulu because the name means “precious”, “peaceful”, “protected”, and “calm”.

 

Q: What is your favourite aspect about being an author of children’s books? 

 

A: I love the feeling of sparking a child's imagination, that my words and story bring them joy and how my gift can inspire new worlds to open up — to take them away on a journey even if it's only for a few minutes.

Q: What do you consider the most important achievement as a writer that you have made in your lifetime? 

 

A: My most important contribution to the world are my resources on Autism. I have over 30 resources published internationally on the topic and they have assisted people all over the world including Autistic persons, their families, and educators.

 

Click to buy your own copy of Little Shark Lulu is Sleeping 

Click here to watch the book launch of Little Shark Lulu is Sleeping now! 

Carla Hoffenberg's Little Shark Lulu is Sleeping - Q&A

We wanted to dive in deep with children’s picture book illustrator Carla Hoffenberg and learn more about her behind the scenes journey with Little Shark Lulu is Sleeping… here is what she shared. 

Q: Since this was your debut children’s book how did you find this experience and were there any new or surprising challenges to overcome? 

A: I loved the experience of making on Little Shark Lulu is Sleeping. It was great working with David, Josie, and Charlotte. It was a real collaborative process, which made it all so enjoyable. We had regular catch ups and I loved hearing their feedback and suggestions. I also really loved drawing sea creatures and doing research — watching clips of sea animals, looking at images of remarkable marine life and snorkelling.  

 

The illustrations took a few months and it really felt like a test of endurance!  I had to be disciplined with my time and make sure that I progressed within the schedule to meet my deadline. In addition, there were so many scenes and characters and I had to be consistent with my style and quality. 

Q: Which page or spread in Little Shark Lulu is Sleeping are you most proud of and why? 

A: I am most proud of the ‘Octopus Spread’. I feel like it demonstrates the most storytelling and I came up with a side story for this spread. (Crab thinks that Octopus has invited him for a romantic dinner. He doesn’t realise that he is dinner.) I also particularly love drawing sunsets and this spread gave me the opportunity to do that. I introduced a shimmering, sparkling, sequenced dress, which was really fun to draw. 

Q: As animals have been an occurring theme in your body of work; for this project, what was your favourite animal to illustrate? 

A: Firstly, I loved drawing Lulu and her parents. I was excited to not portray a shark stereotype, but rather portray them as a friendly, endearing species. There is so much to love about sharks, and I wanted that to shine through in my illustrations.  

 

The ‘Mini Mantis Shrimp’ was a close second. I don’t normally think of crustaceans as attractive, but this spread changed my mind.  This animal is colourful and charismatic, and I learnt the lesson that, if you really look, you can find beauty in anything.     

Q: Can you elaborate on your design process for this story and the tools that you used? 

A: The most important part of the process was the initial, sketching phase. This really helped me to get to know the animals and get a sense for how to represent them. I did countless sketches of each creature that appears in the book to get familiar with their anatomy and how they move. This allowed me to consider how to show them doing different actions, with varied expressions.  

 

After this phase, I was able to place my characters in thumbnails and think about the storytelling aspects as well as composition. The next step was formalising the illustrations and creating line drawings.  This is generally the most painstaking for me as it requires a lot of concentration and “precision”. 

 

Once everyone was happy with the line drawings, I moved on to what I consider the most fun part – adding colour to the spreads. This is the stage where I add life, details, elements of joy storytelling and some Easter eggs.  

I used the app procreate for the illustrations. I find it easy to use and it allows me to maximise my drawing time. I stole every free minute that I could to illustrate this book – sometimes even the 10 minutes that I had in the car while waiting to pick up my kids. Also, there’s no set up or clean up time! 

 

Q: How did the artistic decision to have the sea creatures dressed in colourful outfits develop and is there meaning behind it? 

A: The first spread I did was the Sperm Whales wearing PJs (even before the thumbnails). The suggestion to have them wearing PJs came from the authors. I fell in love with the idea of the animals wearing clothes, and it immediately conjured up images in my head. It was so much fun putting clothes on the whales that I just had to do it for all of them. I find that putting clothes on animals really helps them become more relatable to kids, and it was fun for me to add clothes and accessories to enhance their personalities. Also, it would’ve been a little bit inconsistent, if only the Sperm Whales were clothed.   

 

At one of my recent school visits, one of the kids said, “They have to be wearing clothes, because you wouldn’t want them to be naked in a kid’s book.” 

Sketches of Shark Lulu

Click here to get your copy of Little Shark Lulu is Sleeping
 
Click here to watch the book launch of Little Shark Lulu is Sleeping now!