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Slinky
Malinki's Lynley Dodd
Interview by Delwyn Dickey
Slinky Malinki makes a welcome
return in a new story about Christmas in Slinky Malinki’s
Christmas Crackers. This incurably curious feline is in
trouble yet again and wreaking havoc as usual.
With a subtle pallet and seemingly effortless rhyme this
children’s storybook looks set to be another instant classic.
Slinky Malinki, Hairy Maclary, Schnitzel von Krumm with the very
low tum are all wonderfully mischievous characters that are a
part of our childhood and also now, part of our national
identity. These quirky little creatures that live out their
lives in a uniquely New Zealand landscape, were created in the
imagination of Tauranga artist and writer Lynley Dodd.
Her imagination and artistic talent has seen Lynley become one
of our most recognised children’s writers and illustrators, and
has also seen her gaining acclaim on the international scene,
with her books enjoyed all over world but particularly in the UK
and Europe.
An only child, Lynley was raised by her parents in a tiny
forestry settlement in the central North Island. Her parents
were both avid readers and both had a wonderful sense of
humour. Lynley recalls fun and nonsense with
words being a normal part her childhood. Art
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was also a big part of her
younger days and so it seemed natural to continue
on and to turn a passionate pastime into a
career.
After studying Art at Elam,
majoring in sculpture, Lynley became an art teacher for five or
so years before leaving to start a family.
Art remained a constant always,
as she moved into freelance illustration work while her children
were young. When she collaborated with author Eve Sutton to
create My Cat Likes To Hide in Boxes in1973 her artwork
started to head in a different direction, and with the
publication in 1976 of her first solo effort the Nickle
Nackle Tree Lynley's future as a children’s book writer and
illustrator was set.
The hugely popular little scallywag who is the star in Hairy
Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy first appeared on bookshelves
in 1983 and the rest, as they say, is history.
After creating 30 illustrated books over virtually as many years
you’d be forgiven for thinking that the creative process must be
pretty easy for Lynley by now. But at a recent workshop in
Auckland Lynley emphasized how, even now, those conceptual ideas
on characters and story line, all the way through to rhyming and
illustrating, can take an enormous amount of time to get to a
stage that she is happy with them.
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The rhyming and rhythm process especially can be difficult, as
it has to sound easy, natural and to flow, but must also contain
that signature humour of Lynley’s. In fact there may have been
endless rewrites and changes to get to the final rhyme. And yes
- there are times when it just won’t go right. When this happens
Lynley sometimes adheres to a very useful piece of advice that
master of children’s rhyme, Dr Seuss once gave her – “Never get
wedded to a good line”. In other words - be prepared to change a
line or passage you love if it simply isn’t working.Lynleys
publisher, at the same workshop, commented that rhyme can be
incredibly hard to translate successfully into other languages
and recommended that aspiring writers think carefully before
using it if they want to be published worldwide. Lynley’s own
rhyming books have only been translated into three other
languages. Lynley detailed one hilarious attempt to translate a
Hairy Maclary book into one of the Asian languages, which
needless to say, didn’t go ahead.
The inspiration for her simple but cleverly crafted books can
often come from almost mundane sources or situations:
Hairy Maclary’s Bone - The chance sighting of a dog
carrying a big, dripping meaty bone down the street.
Slinky Malinki Open The Door - A magazine picture of a
cat trying to open a door into the kitchen at the Vatican, of
all places.
Schnitzel von Krumm, Dogs Never Climb Trees - A friends
dog that somehow managed to follow a cat it was chasing quite
high up into a tree, while Lynley was visiting.
A Dragon in a Wagon – A National Geographic photo of a
camel crammed onto the back of a truck tray.
Any thing that takes her fancy goes into her ever present “ideas
book” and it can be years before an idea may come to her as she
sifts through it. Hairy Maclary started out as a simple little
sketch of a small hairy dog on a scrap of paper, and sat in her
ideas book for several years before he caught Lynley’s eye again
one day.
While Slinky Malinki and Hairy Maclary are both Lynley's
favourite characters she really enjoys doing stories like The
Other Ark which is full of whacky and whimsical creatures,
as it gives her a chance to extend herself with her artwork and
create completely new characters.
Lynley works mostly in pencil, sketching to give her an idea of
the story images. She then photocopies these and makes up a
booklet “rough”, and finally paints full size illustrations
using black ink and gauche paint.
On average it takes Lynley around six months to write and
illustrate a book, with another six months or so for publishing
and printing before the finished work finally hits the book
shops.
While Lynley Dodd has never sought the limelight and does find
the attention surrounding the success of her books a little
overwhelming at times, she still finds it exciting and hugely
satisfying to know that her efforts are so well received.
Although she still feels she should pinch herself occasionally
to make sure it has all really happened. |
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