I’m so pleased to be participating in the blog tour today for The Wardrobe Monster, especially as it’s my current Book of the Month!

The Wardrobe Monster is a delightful story written and illustrated by Bryony Thomson, published by Old Barn Books.  The tale features a young girl Dora and her three toy friends who’ve been unable to sleep at night due to the strange and scary sound coming from the wardrobe.  No matter how much they try to ignore it they simply can’t and eventually Dora plucks up the courage, with the help of her friends, to find out just exactly who or what is making all the noise….

I absolutely loved this story. It’s childlike appeal creates a gentle narrative accompanied by beautifully drawn, unique illustrations. With utterly endearing characters, the enduring theme of being scared of the dark and imagining monsters in the wardrobe is one we can all relate too. The reassurance as we discover that what’s in the wardrobe isn’t scary at all is palpable and little ones will be delighted with the gorgeous green and pink Wardrobe Monster who topples out!  The best stories are ones we can identify with and I’m sure many will be pleased to know they are not alone in their night time fears and feel much relieved to see things are never as scary as we imagine. The Wardrobe Monster is a warm-hearted story, great to read aloud and sure to become a firm bedtime favourite.

I’m delighted to host a guest post today for the blog tour by Bryony, sharing more about the inspiration for The Wardrobe Monster.  Bryony studied fine art and completed an MA in Children’s Book Illustration at Cambridge School of Art. Her work has already achieved critical acclaim in the form of a High Commended award in the MacMillan Prize and being shortlisted for the Bridgeman Studio Award.  Definitely one to watch!

“The basic idea for The Wardrobe Monster was floating around in my head for a long time before I managed to get it down on paper – I think perhaps it needed to stew like a good cup of tea! Most of my stories are based on my own life or things I have seen, overheard or experienced and so it takes a little while to figure out how to turn them into a more universal story that can hopefully be enjoyed by everyone.

The inspiration for The Wardrobe Monster came quite directly from my own experiences. I went away to boarding school when I was eight years old which was a little scary and daunting. The school was in a very old stately home in Norfolk and we slept in these huge Georgian dormitories which had enormous looming wardrobes and somewhat temperamental plumbing. The result was that once you were tucked up in bed and the lights went out there were a lot of dark shadows lurking in the corners and strange clanking and banging noises throughout the night. I can remember lying there under the duvet much like Dora with my rather overactive imagination running wild, picturing all the different, unpleasant and scary things that could be making these noises!

I remember feeling silly for being frightened and so through the story of The Wardrobe Monster I wanted to show that it is OK to be scared – everyone is at one point or another, even those who put on a good facade. But also that if you can summon up the courage to be brave you will often discover that the thing you were afraid of isn’t nearly as bad as you thought. I’m not sure this is a lesson I’ve learnt yet, but it’s something I remind myself of fairly frequently! Ultimately in The Wardrobe Monster I was aiming to create the kind of story that would have made my eight year old self feel better.

Just as the story was inspired by my experiences, the characters are also based on real people. For me this is a really helpful approach as it means that I already know how they will react to certain situations and the kind of mannerisms they will use. Bear is very much my Mum, always taking the rational approach and trying to calm everyone down; Penguin is a bit like my Dad, especially in his sense of foreboding and slight tendency to melodrama, and Lion is definitely my husband getting a little bit over-excited and keen to dive in head first. The only character not based on anyone is Wardrobe Monster himself but I think this is because his character was always ‘other’, he was the scary unknown and so couldn’t be based on anything I was familiar with. In the end though it turns out he’s just a big cuddly monster who’s no less scared than anyone else!”

Thank you Bryony for sharing this insight with us – it’s great to hear where your ideas came from and how this story is rooted in your desire to reassure young readers and encourage them to be brave!

With thanks to Old Barn Books and Liz Scott for inviting me to participate in this blog tour and sending me a copy of The Wardrobe Monster to review.

Find out more at www.bryonythomson.com and www.oldbarnbooks.com. 

Check out the next stop on the blog tour at https://jillrbennett.wordpress.com