Like most freelancers, my writing and illustrating has had many desk spaces. I worked from a desk in my bedroom for a long time, on the back of napkins when waitressing, in an unused space above a London Library and then in an old Victorian Printhouse! I had my little girl in 2017 so my desk now resides in the corner of her bedroom with a side view of her cot and a brilliant selection of children's books at my fingertips.
The Golden Acorn
When starting to write The Golden Acorn, I knew I wanted a female lead and, with the book being set in Autumn, it felt appropriate to focus on Squirrel. We have a lot of squirrels in our back garden…my daughter loves to watch them digging up our lawn looking for nuts and racing off over the fence and through the trees. My maternity leave was spent walking through parks with all the beautiful trees turning red and orange and I think that all fed into the book.
I loved the idea that Squirrel would be the competitive one of the group and that she would be the fastest and so The Golden Acorn tells the tale of how squirrel loves to win. However, when The Golden Acorn Hunt gets turned into a team event it means squirrel must work with her friends in order to win. I really wanted to explore how these competitive traits can clash with a friendship and highlight the importance of teamwork throughout.
When children learn to be part of a team, they learn more about different ways of thinking, and improve their ability to communicate with others. Teamwork also helps children feel like a part of a community and can help in all areas of learning. Communication, social, and emotional skills are all strengthened when children learn to work as a team, which can help improve self-esteem and confidence in kids. Having a daughter of my own, I wanted to write a story that incorporates the qualities and life lessons that I am trying to teach her, and teamwork is one of them.
A takeaway I want people to take from this book is that sometimes losing with friends can be more rewarding than winning on your own. Working with other people can be a tough lesson to learn but finding the value in doing things co-operatively is a skill that will take children through life. As soon as children start nursery or school, they are thrust from their world at home into an environment where they are forced to play, work and socialize with other children and I believe that The Golden Acorn can help with this transition. I chose to give The Golden Acorn autumnal themes, and have it published in September so that it can be a companion for young children who are just starting school and set a good example of how to act with other pupils regarding teamwork.
Being part of a team means learning to respect other people’s opinions and abilities and learning when to ask for help and that you don’t always have to do things alone. These are things that take time but can be made enjoyable to learn through whimsical woodland characters. Overall, I like to put important underlying messages into my stories and I hope that The Golden Acorn teaches children that teamwork is more important than winning and that the friendships gained are more valuable than any success or glory. Some activities are better performed as a group and doing things together makes the process more enjoyable, and overall more rewarding than a solo achievement.
Katy Hudson is the author of bestselling picture books Too Many Carrots and A Loud Winter’s Nap which have sold over 600,000 copies worldwide and have been translated into 17+ languages. Katy won the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Best Book Award Gold in 2014 for her illustrations in the book Animal Teachers. Her debut picture book, Bear and Duck, received strong reviews, including a starred review from Kirkus. Katy lives in London.
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