The only time sharks feature in the story is for the names of each class. For example Pygmy Class is Reception, Hammerhead Class is Year 4 and so on. Every aspect of this book series has been clearly planned, with regular links to the book title!
I’m Sarah-Lou Evans, teacher, mother and now officially a published author! My dream has always been to one day write important and meaningful stories for children, but until recently I have not had the time or confidence to make that dream a reality. My aim for the ‘We Too’ book series is to support and capture the interests of as many children as possible by encouraging them to empathise with the characters. I am so excited to finally share the first 6 characters’ stories, after working on this project for the past 3 years.
My experience in the teaching world has been imperative in giving me insights into the different ways of living. It has truly opened my eyes to the fact that everyone is dealt a very different hand in the game of life. This, partnered with a real lack of empathy for their peers that children currently show, gave me the inspiration I needed to create ‘We Too Have Sharks In The Blue’.
During my maternity leave with my first child in 2022, I decided to embark upon my journey and plan out the school, classroom, teachers and children for the book series. In order to create the characters, I first decided on the storylines and types of family lives I wanted to cover and then gave each child different looks, interests and personalities. Diversity was always a necessity right from the very start. My next step was to find myself the perfect illustrator, and I definitely found that in Lorna!
I’m Lorna Humphreys, an award-winning children’s book illustrator. As a child, I was always creative and an avid doodler, but it wasn’t until 2019 that I started to teach myself digital illustration. I love working with authors all around the world adding a little magic to their stories!
When Sarah-Lou first approached me with her ideas for ‘We Too Have Sharks In The Blue’, I immediately knew I needed to be part of this amazing series. What I didn’t expect was how much our friendship and creative collaboration would flourish! The important and poignant messages behind the characters’ stories in this series really resonated with me, especially as my eldest daughter is autistic. Seeing her struggle with social interactions and emotional regulation has always been difficult as a parent, especially because other children rarely understand her struggles.
Creating these wonderful characters has been such an amazing process. To start with, Sarah-Lou provided me with all the necessary information for the characters and their stories. After reading each story, the characters felt like real children with real feelings. I knew it was down to me to do them justice and bring them to life through their facial expressions, posture, how they interact with their peers and even how they wear their school uniform! I hope that my illustrations make each character feel as real to you as they do to me and Sarah-Lou…
