Follow the Yellow

Self Portrait in a Straw Hat by Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun

My third book for Barrington Stoke’s super-readable Little Gems series is Elisabeth and the Box of Colours. Like the other two books I have written for Barrington Stoke, it is inspired by a real-life character from history – in this case, the French artist Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, who was born in Paris in 1755.

Élisabeth loved drawing from a very early age: she described herself as having ‘an inborn passion for art’. She went away to a convent boarding school aged 6, and while there, she often found herself in trouble for drawing. In her memoirs, she wrote:

During that time I scrawled on everything at all seasons; my copy-books, and even my schoolmates’, I decorated with marginal drawings of heads, some full-face, others in profile; on the walls of the dormitory I drew faces and landscapes with coloured chalks. So it may easily be imagined how often I was condemned to bread and water. I made use of my leisure moments outdoors in tracing any figures on the ground that happened to come into my head.

Her father, Louis Vigée, was an artist and encouraged Élisabeth’s love of drawing. Seeing a drawing she had made at the age of only seven or eight years old, he reportedly exclaimed: ‘You will be a painter, child, if ever there was one!’

My story takes particular inspiration from Élisabeth’s childhood, including her close relationship with her father. I have made a few changes to Élisabeth’s real story: in my version, Louis dies when Élisabeth is away at school, whereas in real life, he died around a year after she left school, when she was 12 years old. However, just like in my story, her sadness and grief affected her very deeply, leaving her unable to draw for a while. ‘So heartbroken was I that it was long before I felt able to take to my crayons again’ she wrote later. But after a little time, she returned to making art, as a way to help herself cope with her ‘sad thoughts’.

With help and encouragement from her father’s friends, Élisabeth continued to pursue a career as an artist. She set up her own studio by the age of 15, by which time she was painting portraits professionally. Although she was young and had no formal training, she quickly became very successful. She painted many of the most important people in Paris, and even became one of the very few female members of the French Royal Academy.

In 1778, she was invited to the Palace of Versailles to paint Queen Marie Antoinette. She soon became one of the queen’s favourite painters, as well as her friend. In total, she painted over 30 portraits of the queen, including many of the images of her that are the most familiar and recognisable to us today. Among these were an image of Marie Antoinette in a straw hat and a plain white muslin dress (1783) – which has become probably the most famous image of the French queen. At the time, the portrait was considered highly controversial because of the informal, simple style in which the queen was dressed: she was criticised for appearing in a public portait ‘wearing a chambermaid’s dust cloth’ and even accused of mocking the dignity of the French throne.

Another of Élisabeth’s most famous paintings of the queen was Marie Antoinette and Her Children (1787) which showed the queen at home at the Palace of Versailles surrounded by her children. The painting was intended to help improve the queen’s image, by making her seem more relatable to ordinary people, and show her in a sympathetic light.

But in spite of such efforts, just two years later, Queen Marie Antoinette and the rest of the royal family were arrested during the French Revolution. Élisabeth and her daughter Julie escaped from Paris, and travelled around Europe, living in Italy, Russia and Germany. Élisabeth continued to work as a portrait artist, painting many of Europe’s most important people, as well as painting landscapes and history scenes. Today, her work can be found in art galleries and museums all over the world.

Towards the end of her life, Élisabeth returned to France, and when she was in her 80s she published her memoirs (Souveniers). It was the intriguing and vivid recollections from her childhood that are included in the first part of these memoirs which helped to inform my story, Elisabeth and the Box of Colours. Here’s a little more about my version of Élisabeth’s story, which has been gorgeously illustrated by Rebecca Cobb.

‘A small, elegant triumph’ – The Times, Children’s Book of the Week

‘Beautifully told in spare, resonant words… A transporting little tale’ – The Guardian

​‘Absolutely gorgeous. Pure, wondrous joy … What an inspiring gem of a book’ – author Liz Hyder

​A ‘modern-day Madeline… offering hope and encouragment’ – The Times, Ten Brilliant New Children’s Books to Enjoy on World Book Day

Buy it now from Waterstones, Bookshop.org.uk or Amazon

Find out more about the real stories that helped to inspire my other books for the Little Gems series – Rose’s Dress of Dreams and Sophie Takes to the Sky

Check out my list of more brilliant children’s books about art and artists

My latest book Elisabeth and the Box of Colours is out now!

Illustrated by the amazing Rebecca Cobb, it was published earlier this month, as part of Barrington Stoke’s Little Gems series.

The story is inspired by the childhood of French portait artist Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun.

Here’s a bit more about the book:

Elisabeth loves to paint, just like her papa. She spends hours making her own pictures of everything she sees – and the more colourful, the better! But when she goes away to school, she finds herself in a world of grey: grey buildings, grey uniforms, grey rooms. She misses Papa and all the colours of home. And one winter morning, she gets some terrible news that makes her days darker than ever before. Will Elisabeth be able to find the colour and joy in her life again?

I’d been interested in writing about the young Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun for a while, but it wasn’t until the pandemic hit that I understood what this story should really be about – how art helps us deal with sadness and loss.

It was such a delight to collaborate with Rebecca for this book. I’ve known Rebecca for a number of years, and we share an agent – and I’m a huge fan of her work and love sharing her wonderful books with my daughter, all of which made the chance to collaborate particularly special. Her beautiful illustrations have transformed the story and perfectly convey the idea at its heart – the power of creativity to uplift us, even in the darkest times.

Together, we dedicated this book to ‘all the young artists and storytellers’ — and to celebrate it, we shared some of our own own childhood artistic creations, which helped set us on the path to our future careers. (You can see them on Twitter or Instagram – just have a look for the hashtag #ElisabethandtheBoxofColours)

One of Rebecca’s gorgeous illustrations for the book!

We were delighted that the book was chosen as the Times Children’s Book of the Week, and got a great write-up from Alex O’Connell who described it as ‘a small, elegant triumph’.

Last weekend it was also included in the Guardian’s February children’s book round-up: ‘Beautifully told in spare, resonant words… full of Cobb’s delightful images… A transporting little tale.’

If you’d like to buy a copy of Elisabeth and the Box of Colours, you can get it from Waterstones, Bookshop.org or of course, your favourite local independent bookshop.

You can find out more about the artist who inspired the book here.

And if you’ve been inspired to have a go at creating a portrait yourself, this new activity sheet will get you started.

You might also like to check out my list of more brilliant children’s books about art and artists

UPDATED 11/7/20 with some new resources!

I wanted to quickly share a few resources and activities related to my books that might be useful for families and/or schools at the present time. Here’s a list:

The Clockwork Sparrow lesson plans– 3 weeks of activities relating to the first book in the Sinclair’s Mysteries series, ideal for Key Stage 2 (age 8-11)

 The Clockwork Sparrow on BBC Bitesize – Tune in to see Scarlett Moffatt reading extracts from The Clockwork Sparrow, as part of lessons aimed at 12-13 year olds.

 Mystery & History masterclass – on the Authorfy website you’ll find a masterclass for Peril in Paris, ideal for Key Stage 2 (age 7-11) and a masterclass for Rose’s Dress of Dreams for Key Stage 1 (age 5-7). Each masterclass includes videos, extracts and a detailed scheme of work.

Watch a video – settle down for storytime and watch me read from Peril in Paris or Spies in St Petersburg or check out this live-streamed video interview I did for the Lockdown Children’s Litfest.

Colouring sheets – colour in a Clockwork Sparrow,  a Jewelled Moth or a cut-out mask perfect for wearing to a high society fancy-dress ball!

Activities – inspired by Rose’s Dress of Dreams, create your own fabulous fashion design or design a hot air-balloon inspired by Sophie Takes to the Sky. Make your own Peril in Paris luggage tag for going on intrepid adventures.

Puzzles – download and print a Peril in Paris activity sheet with lots of puzzles to solve. Or put your detective skills to the test with this Sinclair’s Mysteries secret code puzzle

Explore Edwardian London – check out an interactive map of the real London locations that inspired the Sinclair’s Mysteries series

Get stuck into some history – Read about the real-life history behind the Sinclair’s Mysteries and Taylor & Rose Secret Agents series

Listen to a podcast about children’s books – listen to my podcast Down the Rabbit Hole which is all about children’s books. There are 70 episodes in our archive featuring authors, illustrators and children’s experts, with new episodes each month – you can also find us on Apple Podcasts.

… And don’t forget – if you fancy something cheerful to read, you can download my new Taylor & Rose mini adventure Secrets on the Shore as an e-book. It’s only £1.99 – links to buy here.

You can also of course download the wonderful Book of Hopes for free which includes stories, poems and illustrations by a whole host of children’s authors and illustrators – including me!

I’ll keep this page updated with any new resources: you can also check out the page on my website here.

Do be sure to check out all your favourite authors and illustrators for lots more book related content – there’s so much fantastic stuff out there at the moment. Look for the hashtag #BooksUnited on Twitter as a starting point.

Sophie Blanchard shown in an 1859 engraving by Jules Porreau

My second book for Barrington Stoke’s super-readable Little Gems series, Sophie Takes to the Sky, is inspired by a real-life heroine from history – Sophie Blanchard, who is often described as the world’s first female aeronaut. She was the first woman to work as a professional balloonist, and she became famous all over Europe for her amazing exploits.

Born near La Rochelle in France in 1778, Sophie was reportedly a very nervous child, who was frightened of loud noises and too afraid even to ride in a horse-drawn carriage. When I first read about her, I was fascinated by how this easily-scared and timid young girl could have gone on to become an intrepid pioneer of aviation – which gave me the central idea for my book.

Not much is known about Sophie Blanchard’s real-life childhood, although historians think that she probably had her first ride in a hot-air balloon aged around sixteen (for the purposes of my story, I imagined a secret ballooning adventure which could have happened when she was even younger!) However, when she married Jean-Pierre Blanchard, the world’s first professional balloonist, she joined him in his ballooning career, and from this time onwards, there is lots more detail about her adventures.

Sophie began joining Jean-Pierre on balloon flights in 1804, and described the feeling of flying as ‘an incomparable sensation’. Although not the first woman to fly in a hot air balloon, she was certainly groundbreaking, becoming the first woman to pilot a balloon herself, and the first to make ballooning her career.

The couple continued to fly together until 1809, when her husband died after suffering a heart attack and falling from his balloon. After his death, Sophie continued to work as a balloonist, giving displays all around Europe, which frequently drew huge crowds. She entertained the Emperor Napoleon, and later King Louis XVIII, who appointed her his ‘Official Aeronaut’.  She became known for her daring night-time flights, for letting fireworks off from her balloon, and for intrepid adventures like flying her balloon through storms, or even over the Alps, where it was so cold that icicles formed on her hands and face!

But ballooning was very dangerous. Sophie was in several accidents, and eventually died in 1819 when her balloon caught fire at the Tivoli Gardens in Paris. After she died, a memorial was erected above her grave in Père Lachaise Cemetery. The story of her death was recounted throughout Europe, and can be found referenced in the writings of Jules Vernes, Fyodor Dostoevksy and Charles Dickens among others. Today, she is remembered as a pioneer of aviation and a bold adventurer.

Here’s a little more about my story, in which I’ve imagined what Sophie’s childhood might have been like.

Sophie Takes to the Sky by Katherine Woodfine, illustrated by Briony May Smith

Scaredy-Cat Sophie is afraid of everything! So when a balloonist comes to the town fair, Sophie is left behind while everyone else goes to watch him fly in his marvellous balloon. She’s far too frightened of the crowds, the commotion and even riding in a horse-drawn carriage.

But Sophie longs to watch the hot-air balloon sail across the blue sky. If she could just be brave enough to face her fears, who knows where her journey might take her …

A touching tale for young readers of learning to overcome anxiety and follow your dreams.

Illustrated by Briony May Smith, this is a reimagining of the childhood of Sophie Blanchard, one of the world’s first female aeronauts.

‘A super-readable story, imbued with wonder’- Imogen Russell Williams, The Guardian

‘A wonderful adventure for a little girl who overcomes all her fears… a charming story that will encourage all readers to be brave’ – Julia Eccleshare, LoveReading4Kids

‘A touching story of courage and self-belief’ – Fiona Noble, The Bookseller

‘The true story of balloonist Sophie Blanchard is beautifully retold… this special book reminds us that huge bravery and great feats often begin with little steps’ – Children’s Books Ireland, Mind Yourself reading guide.

Buy it now from Waterstones, Bookshop.org or Amazon

Find out more about the real-life heroines that have inspired my other Little Gems titles: Rose’s Dress of Dreams and Elisabeth and the Box of Colours

My latest book for Barrington Stoke’s super-readable Little Gems series, Sophie Takes to the Sky is out today!

Like my previous book, Rose’s Dress of Dreams, it’s inspired by a historical heroine – in this case, one of the first female aeronauts, Sophie Blanchard. In this reimagining of Sophie’s childhood, we discover where Sophie’s passion for flight might have originally begun. Here’s a bit more about the book:

Scaredy-Cat Sophie is afraid of everything! So when a balloonist comes to the town fair, Sophie is left behind while everyone else goes to watch him fly in his marvellous balloon. She’s far too frightened of the crowds, the commotion and even riding in a horse-drawn carriage.

But Sophie longs to watch the hot-air balloon sail across the blue sky. If she could just be brave enough to face her fears, who knows where her journey might take her … A touching tale for young readers of learning to overcome anxiety and follow your dreams.

I’m thrilled that this book has been gorgeously illustrated by Briony May Smith. I’m a huge fan of Briony’s  artwork, and her illustrations for Sophie Takes to the Sky are so full of atmosphere – they perfectly conjour up the setting of this story. What a delight!

If you’d like a little taster of the book, you can check out the first chapter here

You can also download a gorgeous poster with one of Briony’s stunning illustrations (see below) or a colouring sheet to design your own hot air-balloon

Take  a look at my Pinterest board showing some of the visual inspirations for Sophie’s story

And of course you can buy the book now via Waterstones | The Hive | Amazon