A multi-faceted passion for reading
Jake Hope understands why they are important in children’s lives and has long advocated for better access to books that spark a love of reading. Here he talks to Rob Green about his latest collaboration with artist Yu Rong and his broad career as a children’s book specialist.
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F you have read the previous article in this issue of Pen&inc., you will already have an idea of what Ming the Panda: A True Story of Courage and Hope is about. And many regular readers will recognise the name Jake Hope for the contributions he has made to Pen&inc. over the years. But here we spend time with Jake to understand what drives him and why he is so passionate about encouraging young readers.
From writing his own books to helping run the Carnegies books awards, Jake has a multi-faceted career centred around books, reading and literacy.
He says: “One of my big interests is the philosophy of reading, how we record ideas, experiences and thoughts in words and pictures. This has fuelled a lot of my study and my work promoting books, stories and reading and has probably been the unifying factor in what’s been a bit of a diffuse career! I’ve held an intrigue for all aspects of children’s books and their creation and have been interested and lucky enough to find out more and to work across many different areas of the sector.” The latest phase of Jake’s work has seen him working with his close friend and illustrator Yu Rong on Ming the Panda. He explains how the pair came to work together on a book for the first time after Yu Rong was approached by a publisher in China.
From that initial conversation, the idea developed to encompass themes
around challenge and courage. “Yu Rong was approached by the Chinese publishing house, Lele Qu, about the possibility of telling the story of Ming, the first panda at London Zoo,” says Jake. “Pandas are incredible creatures, they are equipped to eat carnivorously, yet choose to eat a diet largely consisting of bamboo which barely provides them with the nutrients they need. Ming’s story too was an extraordinary one, she was poached from China and became world famous when she was looked after at London Zoo. She brought people a lot of hope through a time of global instability. “There’s lots in the story around facing change and challenge and trying to do so with courage. It felt very timely given some of the divisions and conflicts the world is currently experiencing.” Ming’s story is told through the eyes of a mother telling the story to their child, and Jake says the approach allowed for a personal take to be incorporated into the book. He says: “The author Jan Mark, who won the Carnegie Medal twice, used to say that she didn’t write about people she knew but rather about what she knew about people. Emotional honesty feels incredibly important as a means for creating resonance and connection with readers. The idea of connection and bonding through shared stories felt really important both for the book and as a reflection for how we hoped the book might be used.
“Parts of the story are based on Yu Rong’s childhood growing up in China and on the relationship she shares with her youngest son
Rob Green.
Julius. Just as the mother and child in the story bond over a shared story, Yu Rong and I bonded over sharing ideas and memories which went on to influence the book and we hope now that the story we have created will be one that can be shared.”
Energy from collaboration Jake also points to the energy Yu Rong brought to the project, saying: “Yu Rong has endless creative energy and it’s both inspiring and invigorating working with someone with such vision. One of the things I hugely admire about Yu Rong’s approach to work is that she constantly finds ways to develop and evolve her creative practice. She experiments with form and technique forging new and dynamic ways of creating pictures that both tell a story and involve and engage those looking at them. “One of the challenges she faced working on Ming was creating a textured feel to Ming’s fur, she’s
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