She even made one of her most loved characters Lola, from the Charlie and Lola series, hanker after one so much she ended up with an imaginary dog with no name.
Now Lauren, 60, is scratching her itch for all things canine with an appearance at the ultimate doggy festival, Goodwoof, where she will be introducing her books to a whole new generation in the Literary Corner along with astronaut Tim Peake, and actors Martin Clunes and Hugh Bonneville. Her appearance at the event, held at the Goodwood Estate, near Chichester, on May 16-17, will celebrate the bond between people and their four‑legged friends – something Lauren still envies.
Lola ends up with an imaginary dog because she wants one so much
‘Last year I got really close to getting a dog, encouraged by my teenage daughter, Tuesday. But then I woke up in the middle of the night and thought: “What are you doing?” It’s just not practical at present. I’m so busy.
‘I panicked about who’s going to look after the dog while I’m out – my life is just not routine enough. So we have a cat, a British shorthair, Knuckles, who is very like a dog.
‘He wants to be with you, he follows you all over the place and is very affectionate.’ Lauren’s name is synonymous with the books parents love to read to their children. The author was on a train in Denmark in the late-1990s when she noticed a pixie-looking girl who bombarded her mother and father with questions. It sparked the idea for the Charlie and Lola picture books that have captivated families over the last 25 years.
Cement was originally supposed to be called Clement but a typo happened – and the name stuck
Her first book in the series, I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato, was published in 2000. It has sold over a million copies, spanned a television series, won the Kate Greenaway Medal, now the Carnegie Medal for Illustration, and most recently sparked a tattoo craze. Lauren also penned family favourite series Clarice Bean and Ruby Redfort and in between all this she was nominated the UK’s Children’s Laureate in 2017-2019 and is a UNESCO Artist for Peace.
Throughout all this her love of dogs has endured. ‘Lola desperately wants a dog, so she pretends to be a dog, pretends her brother’s a dog and then has an imaginary dog,’ Lauren laughs. ‘It was really about my own daughter’s desperate desire to have a dog. She used to turn up with a makeshift lead with nothing on the end of it – having taken it out for a walk!’
Based in Camden, London, Lauren often comes down to Sussex to visit friends. ‘I head down to Piddinghoe, near Lewes, and we often go swimming in the River Ouse down there. It’s one of my favourite places.’
It’s her first visit to Goodwoof however, which kicks off this year with an opening parade highlighting rescue dogs. The parade is free to enter but participants and their dogs who have been adopted, rehomed or found as a stray, need to register online.
The illustrator is famous for her quirky drawings
It’s a chance for hounds of all breeds, shapes and sizes to take centre stage and is a subject that Lauren wrote about in her book, Clarice Bean, Scram! about a dog called Cement. He was supposed to be called Clement, but there was a typo, and the name stuck. ‘Cement is a stray dog which Clarice finds,’ says Lauren. ‘It’s really based on my friends Pat and Chris’ dog, a black labrador called Musetta which was like a child. The way she looked at you, she knew she had done something wrong, but just couldn’t help it – she was one of my favourite dogs ever.’
What would be her perfect pooch? ‘I almost got a smallish whippet, because they sleep so much and I wanted something that wouldn’t mind me sitting in my studio and then would go for a quick walk – they run and get all their energy out.’
However, her dream dog would be a sheepdog – the talented breed will be on show at Goodwoof with competitions and demonstrations. ‘I just don’t have the lifestyle for a sheepdog, but I think they’re absolutely brilliant,’ she smiles. ‘I love the way they round people up. I met a neighbour who said that she used to have a sheepdog who would literally take her children to the park and look after them.’
D Mackintosh
In A Dog with Nice Ears Lauren wrote about Lola’s obsession to find the perfect dog. ‘She gets a rabbit in the end,’ explains Lauren. ‘Her parents say “absolutely no” to dogs. But in some ways I think it’s the most important book I’ve ever written because it’s about how she adjusts herself to getting a rabbit by telling everyone that actually it is a dog. I think that’s the trick to life, be happy with what you’ve got.’
Lauren’s first story published in 1999, Clarice Bean, That’s Me! was originally written as a film as she had a friend who was an actor, but someone suggested it would make a good children’s book. She struggled to get it published so began a lampshade business with a friend, Chandeliers for the People, created murals and even had a stint working for Damien Hirst, doing spot paintings. ‘It sounds way more glamorous than it actually was,’ she explains. ‘I was saying “yes” to everything; it energises you and then things came together. I was very creative but also quite determined. You can be as talented as you like, but if you if give up too easily, you’re done for.’
Lauren writes for herself, covering topics that mean something to her and hopes that they will resonate with other people. Covering typical issues like picky eating, starting school and going to sleep, the message is often something different than is perceived. Going to sleep she explains is really about the fear of missing out. Her stories are an amalgam of people, memories and experiences. In the Charlie and Lola series, Charlie is based loosely on her sister. ‘I was the picky eater in our family, a stage most children go through. But my sister was a bit like Charlie – she was kind and so she is really Charlie’s character. But visually he is based on my Danish friend Soren; I saw a photograph of him as a child and he was wearing that outfit.’
She feels that Charlie and Lola has endured perhaps because of its message of kindness. ‘People say to me is that it’s partly because the characters are nice to each other. It’s about discussion and finding a way through rather than fighting. I think it’s also very much to do with the imagination. It shows how we travel in our imagination and children are the experts at this. They solve problems by imagining a way out or in.’ Her writing is laced with of humorous narrative that all ages can relate to. ‘Knowing how often you might have to read a book to a child, it makes a huge difference if it’s one that you enjoy,’ she says. ‘A book isn’t just read by just a five or 12-year-old, it might be someone who’s 80.
‘But reading picture books aloud with your children, you learn so much about what’s going on in their minds and they learn about you. A picture book is never read from start to finish it always meanders with questions in the middle. So, you talk about the pictures: “Why are they doing that?” or “What would you do in that situation?” It’s a very bonding time.’.
Lauren Child will in Literary Corner at Goodwoof on Sunday, May 17.
A special 25th anniversary edition of I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato is priced at £8.99. A new book, Lotta and Lola: Pudding Now Please, will be released this year.
Goodwoof runs from May 16-17, tickets start at £32, goodwood.com/goodwoof
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