All in all, a fun book I would recommend to all. About writing, about inspiration, about friendship. The art was just amazingly fun, but then again, I had high hopes given that this is Sarah McIntyre and she makes some amazing gorgeous illustrations. I spend quite some time finding all the little details in the illustrations and soak up all the gorgeous colours. A deadline - those are wonderfully inspiring! I had a picture book due and I was on a plane ride to visit my family in Alaska. I didn’t have an idea right then, so I just started poking a story into my phone, about someone who didn’t have an idea for a story. And then I thought it would be much funnier if I was a unicorn.

Grumpycorn: McIntyre, Sarah, McIntyre, Sarah: 9781338617993

Just start writing or drawing, get something down on paper, no matter how boring or silly it is at first. A blank piece of paper can be scary - fill it up so it’s no longer blank, and then you may be surprised where your thoughts take you as you write and draw; you may do something better than you expected, or there may be a nugget of goodness in there that you can take out and refine later. And the more you write and draw, the better you’ll get at it; it’s all about practice. In the book, I show Unicorn’s friends helping him, and that might be helpful for you; often I create much better stories when I work with friends and we can bat ideas around together. Other times I just need space and quiet to get on with things, but some of the best thing I’ve written have been in awkward situations, like on a plane with only a phone and no notebook to hand, or in a noisy cafe. Don’t faff around too much with creating a perfect setup, just do it. That’s my best advice. Unicorn is confident that he is about to write the most fabulous story in the world. He settles down in his special writing house with his fluffy pen, fancy notebook and a cup of moonberry tea, waiting for inspiration to strike. Alas, he has no idea where to start. I was travelling to Seldovia, a small fishing town with houses on stilts, and it seemed a perfect place to set up an imaginary writer and artist retreat cottage. While I was there, I got to know children’s book artist Valisa Higman and see the amazing floating cottage her dad built, and where she works. She gets to row to work every morning! And she has sea otters popping by for visits. It’s pure magic. So I dedicated the story to Valisa and the people of Seldovia, who were incredibly welcoming and let me take part in their summer arts festival. I was so happy when I learned that Sarah McIntyre would be having a brand-new picture book, this time about a unicorn, no, a grumpycorn!Instead we see our grumpycorn continue his grumpy ways towards all his friends. They all try to help him and all he does is act angry with them. Which saddened me. I was hoping he would see that they were just trying to help.

Celebrate Grumpycorn with Sarah McIntyre! - Scholastic UK Celebrate Grumpycorn with Sarah McIntyre! - Scholastic UK

The ending? I loved that despite every grumble and complaint his friends tried to help out the grumpycorn. That they still tried to make him happy. I had tears in my eyes. And then our unicorn made its appearance and I was even happier with the events.