From George and Mildred to Cat and Dumpling

Animations, sitcoms and favourite films

It’s been an incredibly busy year, so I’m sorry there’s been such a long Substack silence! I’ve been meaning to write about my new chapter book series Cat and Dumpling for ages. I’m on a train home from a lovely school visit so it’s a perfect time to write this post. This week marks the cover reveal of the second book, The Talent Show, which is out in September!

Home Sweet Home

The first Cat and Dumpling book, Home Sweet Home, was published in March. The series is aimed at early readers who are just ready to dip their toe into the world of chapter books. It has full colour illustrations on every page, and short chapters with spaced out text that makes it accessible for newly confident readers who are ready to try out episodic story telling. One reviewer described Home Sweet Home as ‘fun and funny but also warm and loving’ which is exactly what I was hoping for!

I love making picture books and board books. But I’ve also been itching to write a longer story for a while, in which there can be deeper character development and more room for plot twists, conflict and comedy. I’m also highly aware of pressure on children to leave illustrated books behind as soon as possible – as if this is a mark of academic attainment. I think this is a shame, and I was keen to create something for that in-between market for early readers: a book with chapters and a more sophisticated story, but also lots of pictures!

An unlikely furry friendship

Cat and Dumpling are a classic odd couple duo. Cat, a keen knitter and guitarist, loves trying new things and having adventures. Dumpling, who loves gardening and reading, would much rather potter quietly at home.

Home Sweet Home tells the story of how they first meet. At the beginning of the book, they each live in tiny flats that they’ve outgrown, and they are both looking for bigger places to live. Cat visits a windmill, a treehouse and a houseboat, but nothing fits the bill. Dumpling visits a cave, an igloo and a caravan. But they’re not right either.

Then they both find the perfect home. The trouble is, it’s the same flat! After arguing about who should have it, they eventually decide to try flat sharing. What could possibly go wrong?

The answer is everything. Cat and Dumpling’s personality contradictions cause the conflict that drives the drama and humour in each Cat and Dumpling story, with slapstick mishaps and mayhem peppering each plot.

But then, always, reconciliation and a lesson about friendship learned. Because as well as flatmates, Cat and Dumpling have become the very best of friends. In fact, they find that they learn a lot from each other and that their personalities work in a yin and yang type way. They wouldn’t be apart.

The influence of sitcoms

The proof reader of Cat and Dumpling: Home Sweet Home fed back that the book reminded them of the 1990s sit com Spaced, which is funny as that series was filmed in the house next door to the flat where I grew up! The sitcom analogy really struck a chord with me, and I’m increasingly conscious that Cat and Dumpling is basically a children’s book version of a TV sit com, and that my life-long love of house-based sitcoms has been a definite influence on this series. I grew up on sitcoms from a very little girl. I loved George and Mildred, Terry and June and The Good Life and then The Young Ones and Spaced.

I love the way their humour is rooted in the familiar and the domestic. As well as being hugely entertaining, they explore human relationships and the eternal quest for balance between individualism and empathy, and they do this in the universal setting of a home. Similarly to sitcom structure, Cat and Dumpling live happily until one of them, usually Cat, comes up with a plan that threatens the status quo. A series of obstacles trip up their happy friendship until resolution is found and they are back at home together, reunited, safe and happy, and having had a brilliant adventure.

Many years ago, I had the opportunity to do some writing for The Cramp Twins, an award-winning animation for 9-12 year olds which again centres on difference and conflict between two main characters - a kind of middle ground between children’s books and sitcoms. If Cat and Dumpling were ever to be made into an animation series, that would be an absolute dream come true.

Visual influences

Visually, I think Cat and Dumpling is hugely influenced by the children’s animations I loved as a very young child, like Rhubarb and Custard and Crystal Tipps and Alaistair, and by my many years as a weekly reader of The Beano.

I illustrate Cat and Dumpling’s slapstick adventures using a dip pen to draw everything in black outline. I add a limited palette of colour, then a layer of textures and repeated patterns that I’ve created using homemade ink stamps and by stamping found objects. For example, the circles on Cat’s trousers are made by printing of the end of the cardboard tube at the centre of a roll of dog poo bags. Dumpling’s jumper pattern is made by stamping the end of a match and creating a repeating pattern. I’ve also made my own half tone pattern by stamping the rubber end of a pencil, which adds a retro comic feel.

Some of my favourite images in Cat and Dumpling are the pattern pages which mark the beginning of a new chapter, and the borders around chapter headings.

Talent Show

Cat and Dumpling: Home Sweet Home is their ‘origin story’, and this week marks the cover reveal for book two, The Talent Show, which follows their first adventure as a duo. It’s out on September 4^th . Meanwhile, I am half way through the artwork for book three, out next year, which I can’t wait to tell you about soon!

In The Talent Show, Cat are Dumpling are enjoying a quiet day in the garden.

When they spot a poster for a local talent show that night, Cat wants to enter as a double act, but Dumpling wants their quiet day to continue. An argument ensues. Can Cat and Dumpling overcome their differences and stay the very best of friends? Spoiler alert, Cat and Dumpling stories always end happily!

Cat and Dumpling school visit

As I mentioned at the beginning, I am writing this on the train back from a school visit where the children learned to draw Cat and Dumpling, and also drew friends who they thought would make great flatmates.

I was blown away by their lovely drawings and by how much they had already started to love Cat and Dumpling. Here are some examples of their wonderful work.

Two favourite films

And finally… my kids are now old enough that I can show them favourite films for grown ups and we’ve recently watched two of my favourites: Frances Ha, by Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig, and directed by Baumbach and starring Gerwig; and Together, the 2000 Lukas Moodysson film about a Swedish commune.

They are both brilliant (my kids agree) and, in keeping with the theme of this post, both centre on how who you live with and where creates conflict and challenge (and comedy!) but ultimately helps shape who you are in a positive way, helping you find your true values and be your best self. The take home from this post is to go and watch those films (again if you’ve seen them before!) and also to consider ordering copies of Cat and Dumpling for any 5-7 year olds you know who might like a warm and funny introduction to a sitcom-ish world!