05 May Of wishing wells and magic words
Today’s the day when ‘Once Upon A Wish’ hits the shelves!
A picture book is very much a team effort, so, as always, big thanks to everyone who has helped make this book: Sara Ogilvie, for the magical illustrations; Joe Marriott for some fabulous editing; all the art team at Penguin Random House; and of course my lovely agent, Julia Churchill, for arranging the deal.
I am intrigued by the idea of making wishes. It’s something which weaves its magic all throughout childhood…I remember visiting old wishing wells when I was a child. I was a bit sneaky and would always make two wishes: one for me, and one for the world.
Upwey Wishing Well – I made wishes here as a child. I wonder if any of those coins are mine?!
You can make wishes when you blow away dandelion seeds, or when you see a shooting star or when your eyelashes fall out (apparently – this is a new one to me!). We are so happy to wish, to pour out our deepest desire to nature or wells…But who makes all these wishes come true? Enter the Wishgiver Boy!
The other thing which underpins this story is my lovely, lovely Grandad. When I was a little girl, he taught me that there were five magic words (not one of which was abracadabra or alohomora). No, the five magic words were: Please, Thank You, Excuse Me, Pardon and Sorry. How does this come into the story? You’ll have to read it and find out!