The Bath Children’s Literature Festival runs from 24 September to 3 October, offering a vibrant array of talks and activities for children an their families from some amazing authors and personalities.
Among those taking part is comedian and actor Stephen Mangan who, along with his sister and illustrator, Anita, will be appearing at the Komedia on Sunday 26 September from 2-2.45pm to talk about their first book, Escape The Rooms, which follows Jack and Cally, two children dealing with loss who have to enter a series of mysterious rooms to solve riddles, clues and trials to find their way home. Wildly funny and endlessly surprising, Escape the Rooms is also a story about friendship, overcoming fears and being kind to yourself.
We recently caught up with Stephen and Anita for a quick chat about their new book.
Congratulations on Escape the Rooms, which is getting rave reviews. We know brothers and sisters who couldn’t direct a person to the end of the street without arguing the best way to go… How did you get along with creating a whole adventure with a beginning, a lot of twisty bits and then an ending?
Stephen: We stayed in our lanes! I dealt with the writing, Anita with the artwork. Which is just as well because I am totally hopeless at art. We managed not to fall out over any aspect of the project and being brother and sister and sharing a sensibility and sense of humour meant that we instantly got what the other one was getting at.
Anita: Ditto! Stephen’s words conjured up the imagery easily for me. And he loved what I created. Perfect harmony.
Were you both into reading, writing and drawing as kids growing up together?
Stephen: I always had my head stuck in a book as a kid. I loved reading. The downside of being so busy as an adult is that I don’t have nearly enough time to read.
Anita: I loved Roald Dahl books but I was quite a slow reader. When Stephen was devouring books I was staring out the window, watching the world go by (I now think of this as valuable research in drawing characters). I did create little cartoon characters when I was younger but my confidence at drawing came as an adult.
On social media you, Anita, have said you had to keep the secret about the book for two whole years! Have you got any advice on how to keep a good secret quiet for so long? And WHY did you have to not tell anyone?
Anita: Haha! That would be telling. I wanted to wait to tell everyone when we were close to publication, otherwise you’re in danger of boring the pants off people with two years’ worth of lead up! Better to try and be omnipresent for a short time than lingering and loping around for an age.
Q: Are the two adventurers in the book, Jack and Cally, based on the two of you?
Stephen: Not at all from a writing point of view. I don’t know where they came from to be honest, there’s probably a little bit of me in each of them.
Anita: Visually I couldn’t help but make Jack a bit like Stephen as a child because he wrote him as having dark curly hair. And Stephen is the king of dark curly hair. If Cally looks like me that must be a subconscious thing. Hang on though, I was a bit grumpy when I was younger…
Q: Were you tempted to draw any characters who look like you as grown-ups in the book?
Anita: Oh yes I was … and I did! Try and find us. Stephen, me AND our younger sister Lisa is in there too.
Q: It’s a very exciting story but it also has elements of sadness and a sense of having to go on a difficult quest. Do you think all good stories need to have shadows of unhappiness or a need for something to get us involved?
Stephen: Not necessarily unhappiness but, for me, the best stories combine humour with a bit of emotional depth. Hamlet is a very funny play, for example, as well as being deeply moving. So is the Muppet Christmas Carol!
Q: Do you draw every day and will you be drawing for us when you come to Bath Children’s Literature Festival?
Anita: I draw most days. My other hat is a graphic designer which involves a lot of computer work. And yes I’ll definitely do some live drawing at Bath. I might even get Stephen to join me at the flip chart!
Q: Finally, will there be more adventures for Jack and Cally after Escape the Rooms?
Stephen: Nothing planned as yet but I loved writing the book and those characters so who knows…
- Escape the Rooms by Stephen Mangan and illustrated by Anita Mangan is out now in paperback (Scholastic). Stephen and Anita will be at Komedia, Bath at 2pm on Sunday 26 September. Tickets from bathfestivals.org.uk or tel: 01225 463362.