Q: How old were you when you made your first drawing? Do you remember what you drew?

A: I began drawing when I was VERY young. I still have boxes and boxes of sketch pads from the 1960s and '70s, and they are entirely full of monsters and aliens and peculiar beasts. (I have an old pocket diary from 1968 with a monster dragon on every page. A monster a day!)

Q: Who is your favorite Doodlebug & Dandelion character?

A: My favorite character is Rudyard. He seems a gentle soul. He always looks rather worried by everything. (I think I was a bit like that when I was little.)

Q: What kind of materials do you use to draw Doodlebug & Dandelion?

A: I use pencils and fibre-tip pens and Rotring pens and watercolour paints and luminous inks. My desk looks like a yard sale.

Q: Where else can kids see your work?

A: I have illustrated 17 children's books, mainly for Walker Books and David Bennett books. I also do a lot of work for the R.S.P.C.A. (The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals).

Q: What do you like to do on rainy days?

A: I like to sit by the fire with a good pot of coffee and some dark chocolate and watch old black and white films. My favourites are: the original King Kong, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, and The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Q: What is your favorite picture book?

A: Without hesitation, Maurice Sendak's Where The Wild Things Are--the greatest picture book of all time. (Second place, for me, is William Steig's wonderful Sylvester and the Magic Pebble.

Q: Please tell us something Americans might not know about life in England.

A: There are still dinosaurs in South Yorkshire.*

Q: Do you have any advice for kids who would like to become illustrators?

A: Yes. Draw and draw. Read and read. Anybody can draw-it just takes practice to get better. Draw the flowers in your garden. Draw the bugs on the flowers. Draw your pets. Draw your shoes. Draw your Aunty Ethel. Draw yourself in the mirror. Draw monsters. Draw aliens. Draw spaceships . . . JUST DRAW!!

*A terrible lie