Susanne lives in the UK with her husband and their two sons. She is a child
educator and has an MA in Children’s Illustration. You get to know more about
Susanne and her creative process in writing and illustrating books in the
following interview:
What inspired you to write Donkeys First Christmas?
Susanne:
I wanted to spark off an interest in the
story of Christmas rather than tell all
the facts about the Nativity. What better
way than a cheeky (and sometimes lazy)
donkey. Most children love animals, and
few can resist a cheeky one - especially
one that refuses to 'play ball’ and do
what the grown-ups say!
The illustrations in The Donkeys First
Christmas are very beautiful ~ So expressive and pleasant to look at, with soft and warm colors. Would you
describe the process of creating the
donkeys appearance ~ He is so appealing, awakening the readers sympathy for him right away?
Susanne:
Yes, I wanted him to be cute - that’s
why he’s got a big head, small body. I
also wanted him to look a little bit
grumpy to start with - lots of frowning so he looked like he needed ‘cheering up’. I wanted the character to be simple (so not
too much detail) a little bit different
- hence the blue colour. I began with a
3D model and lots of drawings until I found something I was happy with.
Being an artist, you probably are working at the moment with many ideas for your future projects. How
do you nourish your creativity?
Susanne:
With difficulty! It’s more like - how do
I prevent things from taking over my 'creative head space’! I have to
fight my own head from drifting into worries about finance, or from feeling there’s so much I need to do with my
house, my kids etc.. The battle is
mainly in ‘allowing’ myself the time to indulge in being creative. Once I have the time set aside -
that’s half the battle won.
I do a regular ‘sing-song’ slot with
toddlers at my church’s local toddler
group every Friday. I have to be very
animated to keep the children’s (and
their parents!) attention, so that’s really good for me to remember when I’m writing. Staying connected on some level with
kids and with what does and doesn’t hold
their interest is invaluable for me when
it comes to the writing process.
Another thing that has really helped in
experiencing what works when it comes to writing is actually reading my books out to an audience.
When I’ve done this, I realize there IS
no mercy! If I don’t read clearly and quite
animated…and if it wasn’t for having something a bit funny or interesting in the story to hold the
children’s attention - I’d be a
gonner! This is probably why it’s
taken me so long to do my second book -
I’m thinking - help! It better be good - ‘cos I 'aint standing in front of a whole school of children doing a
book reading if it’s not!
Today is the 2nd Sunday of Advent ~
we're getting closer to Christmas. Are
there some traditions that are specially dear to you at Christmas?
Susanne:
Yes - I love the calendar presents.. my
mum gives the kids some little things
wrapped up for each day of December - something her mum did for me and my sister. It was so exciting I
remember. Although my eldest couldn’t
really care a less my youngest loves it!
We also, give our kids a bigger
present on a Sunday…this is fun! I use it as an
opportunity to give them something special like a pot of Nutella each
or something like that. They love that -
especially when I’ve held off buying it
for a few months - aren’t I mean:) I’ve got a pancake frying pan for next Sunday - they’ll love that too -
but think they will both have run out of Nutella by that time…shame:)
Thank you Susanne for taking time to this interview - I love this cute, little Donkey, his expressions and the sweet grumpy mood! And moreover - His genuine manner of taking us with him to the road to Betlehem ... and all the things that follow!
Book Review: The Donkey's First Christmas - Read Aloud - Interactive Version
The beautifully illustrated Donkey's First Christmas gives the reader extra dimensions in the new interactive version - You can hear the donkey's E-or'ing and the sound of its hooves, and see it hiding behind the hay, protest to walk, among other capturing animations.
You can read the book aloud, and let your child
touch the screen and start the animations. Or by selecting the Read
Aloud -function, you can enjoy the capturing voice of the author,
Susanne Tillotson Schroder, who reads the native aloud. Furthermore,
you can see the words lit up in the colour coded text, as Susanne reads
along.
The reader cannot do anything but identify with the little donkey who
doesn't hide his stubbornness , who'se ears are flipping up when
hearing a baby cry - And who in the very end learns that he has been
helping Mary and God's precious son!
I warmly recommend the Donkey's First Christmas - both as a book and as an interactive read aloud version. The Donkeys First Christmas is available at Amazon as a paperback from £7.99and as a Kindle £0.99.
The Donkey's First Christmas as interactive read aloud-version is found at iTunes from $3.99 - available on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Mac.
: : :
Wishing you a peaceful 2nd Sunday of Advent ...
The sound of the hooves are still echoing in my mind ...
On the journey to Betlehem, for a long time ago ...
Nina
