Welcome to another post in our Five Questions With series. Today we are speaking to picture book author, Sabina Mutangadura Seldon about her lovely book, Cape Robin Chat, which takes us on a discovery of birds in Africa. Tell us about your new book. My book is a picture book titled Cape Robin Chat. It’s targeted at children aged between 4-8 years. Basically, it’s about a bird - Cape Robin Chat – whose job it is to wake up the morning. To do this, he has to get his fellow garden birds up and singing, which makes the sun shine. But then a bird with a rough, out-of-tune voice invades his peaceful African garden. It’s a Babbler and he’s determined to make himself heard. In no time, his screechy, out of tune scurr-scurr-scurr call has disrupted the birds’ harmonious dawn chorus. Things quickly get worse when the Babbler’s silly cronies join in. The morning isn’t having it and the sun goes on strike. Cape Robin Chat decides it’s time to do something. The rest of the book is about what he does and the response. What inspired you when working on this project? I was inspired by my back yard. Every morning we’re woken up by the robin. Often, a while later, we hear the noisy (very noisy) babblers make their appearance. It made sense to me to have these birds in a story. Others from our garden that made it in were the Grey Lourie (also known as the Go-Away bird), the Crested Barbet as well as the Laughing Dove. Talk to us about the creative process for this book. It’s a long story – literally. The idea came when I was in my first semester at grad school (VCFA) quite a few years ago. I got a draft down and my advisor at the time, Jane Kurtz, said it had emotional resonance. The semester ended and I didn’t get back to it. I graduated and had a baby all at the same time and I didn’t think about the story. Then I picked it up again once my baby had passed the one-year mark. One of my mentors, Uma Krishnaswami, reached out to me and offered to critique it. With her help, I got it to the stage where it was ready to be published. It came out this April and it was really rewarding. Did you encounter anything unexpected while working on this project? I enjoyed writing the book but when it came to publishing it independently I had to put on a different hat. The business side was really challenging – from finding the right illustrator to coming up with contracts and then marketing the book. So, yah I was unprepared for that. An unexpected “good” thing was the generosity of friends who organised my book launches in Cape Town and Harare. All I literally had to do was show up and read! Also unexpected was how much I LOVED reading the book to the people who came. Now for something completely different! Do you prefer a restful morning out in the mountains or a lazy afternoon by the beach? Why? I prefer a restful morning out in the mountains😊 It’s not so much the challenge and achievement of the climb but the beauty, fresh air, sound of mountain streams and the breath-taking views. It makes me feel closer to God! Thank you Sabina for sharing your publishing journey with us. It's great to see the support you have had from friends as you launched this independently published book. We wish you all the best in your writing career. Sandra Yoong-Chia Bio - Sabina Mutangadura Seldon I’m a Zimbabwean author of children’s and YA books. I live in Harare with my husband and three young children. In my previous life I worked in journalism, public relations and different media. I collected children’s books for a long time before realizing I could write my own. This was around the time of the start of my motherhood journey. My work is inspired by my African heritage and the world around me. Cape Robin Chat is my first children’s book but I’m currently working on a middle grade story. It’s about a 10-year girl’s relationship with her mother, the friendships she makes in her new town and the library they’re determined to save. I’m a graduate of the Vermont College of Fine Art’s Writing for Children and Young Adults programme. I love reading (of course!), playing with my children, observing nature and going on holidays where I get to check out the wildlife. I can be found online at www.sabinamutangaduraseldon.com
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SCBWI ICRThis is the blog for the International Central Region of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). You can learn more about SCBWI here and about the International Central Region here. Archives
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