rather than ‘designing and then illustrating’. This way I could use characters, buildings and landscapes to create areas and space for other illustrations and text. This is one of the hardest parts of creating the book but it is also one of the most rewarding.


I loved books by Richard Scarry as a child. There was always so much to look at that you would stay on a page for ages looking around and immersing yourself in his world. I really wanted to offer this immersive quality to the readers of this book. I wanted to break up the pages in Atomic Adventure so some spreads were big and simple and other spreads were more detailed and full. This is to give the book rhythm.


Drawing for me is like writing so I try to use my bright, simple visual language to get readers engaged immediately. The aim is to make the reader feel happy so that they enjoy their experience of learning. Many feel physics is a subject we study at school but it’s actually a huge part of everything around us, all the time. I really hope others will agree after reading Atomic Adventure and that we help plant some seeds in young, budding minds.


Professor Astro Cat’s Atomic Adventure is published by Flying Eye Books, 978-1- 9092-6360-4, £15.99 hbk


Books for Keeps No.217 March 2016 7


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