Five years ago I recorded Becky Smith reading my picture book Waiting for Chicken Smith, then I started work on another book. Then I moved house, then there was Covid, – and now it’s 2023.
I remember how pleased I had been when I heard Becky make the original reading, so when I listened to the recording again recently, I wanted to be sure to publish it in a video alongside the pictures.
It’s not easy to get a good reading of a picture book. In my picture books, the text is wholly dependent on the illustrations and vice versa. My illustrations extend the meaning of the words, and weave and dodge around them with their own message, making the book a sum of the parts. Introducing a human voice to the mix is like a distraction, but not if it feels right. I think it works well here.
I wrote this book with my childhood summers in Australia in mind and although that’s not apparent in the text, the illustrations make some direct references which probably only have meaning to the author. However, Becky’s voice captures the youthful spirit of the characters and it transcends any sense of place.
I think we recorded it twice, and used the first one. Thanks Becky.
Becky Smith. No relation to Chicken.
