The Society of Children's Books & Illustration lovers Volume 4 Nov 2013 | Page 8

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The Society of Children’s Books & Illustration Lovers – Newsletter #4 – November 2013

and drawing from life. It was good to hear that, very affirming!
I also love John Burningham, I like the spontaneity and the
emotional pull of his drawings, and his words and pictures work so
well together. I also love Bruce Ingman. His line is so individual,
naïve but sophisticated at the same time […]

And here is how “How to hide a lion” came about as described by Helen
herself via her blog:
http://ohiforgottosay.blogspot.co.uk/
30 Jan 2013
How did 'How to Hide a Lion' happen?
I thought you might like to know a little bit about how 'How to Hide a
Lion' came about.
All of my books start with some sort of drawing from life. I draw in
sketchbooks all the time, sometimes the drawings lead to a new book
idea straight away, sometimes they sit in the sketchbook for months or
years, sometimes they don't lead to a new picture book idea at all, but
that's OK too.
Anyway, one day I was pondering what my next book would be. I looked
around where I live to see what I might like to draw, a beautiful
windswept market town with a beach, a lighthouse and an old town hall...
and dismissed that. I couldn't stop thinking 'LION'!
My nearest lion is at Edinburgh Zoo. So I packed a bag with a few pens
and a sketchbook, and off I set. When I got to the zoo it was snowing
heavily. I walked up the steep hill to the lion enclosure. There was a sign;
'Lion enclosure closed'. I was so disappointed. But then I saw there was a
tiny gap where I could see the lion sleeping. I sat on the frozen ground
for about an hour but the lion didn't move. I did a couple of very bad
drawings of a sleeping lion (below). Then I gave up and filled in the day
drawing other animals.

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