narrator is quiet but you see that he is waiting for his own father to come home from work, That is what really gave me shivers; realising that with images you can create a separate narrative; a counterpoint, like a dance.’
Town is by the Sea is set in a small mining village on the edge of the ocean. What was Sydney’s background? Well very much that of the book. Though now living in Toronto and many miles from the sea, his home was a small town on the southern side of Nova Scotia. When he first saw the text by Schwartz he realised this was a special book. He had just moved to the city away from world in which he had grown up. Though he himself was not from a mining family, there is very strong sense of locality within the illustrations; an affectionate reality. As he says “If you want to get the best out of someone, get them to write about their family”. Indeed, Town by the Sea has resonated across the world, Sydney’s illustrations sparking recognition among many readers not just in the UK, but as far afield as Vietnam. He recounts with feeling the message that his Canadian publishers had received from the Vietnamese publishers expressing their appreciation and gratitude since in Vietnam they also had such mining communities; this is indeed a tribute to the power of Sydney’s illustrations.
So what were his influences? Moving to Toronto, he quickly discovered the Osborne Collection – a world renowned historical collection of early children’s books housed in Toronto Public Library. Here he found librarians eager to show him the treasures there. At first ‘I felt it should be a secret’ he confesses, but he realised that it was a place to be shared and often invites friends and fellow illustrators to join him. He mentions artists and illustrators whose work he particularly admires – the Provensens, Duvoisin, Felix Hoffman especially – Quentin Blake and Burningham also. These are illustrators whom he
feels have encouraged him to become looser in his style. Growing up he had plenty of access to books, both at home and through the local Bookmobile; The Shrinking of Treehorn with illustrations by Edward Gorey was a particular favourite. And from the beginning he was attracted to the visual, moving from picture books to graphic novels and back to picture books.
Where next? Up until this moment he has always worked with other authors. He is particularly drawn to poetry or a lyric texts ‘I find these kind of texts leave space open for illustration to happen – space for illustration to elevate the story – these are the projects I like best’. He feels both Sidewalk Flowers and Town is by the Sea arrived at apposite moments in his life ‘beginning a new phase of my career and launching me into a more global scene’. In Town is by the Sea he knew he had given it his best. Indeed when he was sent the first copy ‘I sat with it – then when I came back into the room, I would pretend I had never seen it before because I had no insecurities about it. I knew I had done everything I could’. Now he wants to move on turning author as well as illustrator ‘I am really focussed now on working on my own book’. This will I know be something to look forward to.
Ferelith Hordon is active member of CILIP YLG and has served as Chair of both YLG London and of the National Committee. She is editor of Books for Keeps and of IBBYLink, the online journal of IBBY UK.
WALKER BOOKS congratulates and
SYDNEY SMITH
Winner of the 2018 CILIP
Kate Greenaway Medal 9781406378863 • Paperback • £7.99
ANGIE THOMAS
Winner of the 2018 Amnesty CILIP Honour 9781406372151 • Paperback • £7.99
For publicity information:
rosi.crawley@
walker.co.uk • @BIGPictureBooks
WALKER BOOKS
www.walker.co.uk
020 7396 2468 All orders to: GBS (Grantham Book Service) •
sales@tbs-ltd.co.uk • 01206 255678 @WalkerBooksYA
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