A Wish for Baby by Caz Goodwin & Sara Acton

A Wish for Baby by

Caz Goodwin & Sara Acton

“I wish for you, dear little one, enchanting dreams each night.

And days that bring surprises, full of wonder and delight.”

(A Wish for Baby)

(A Wish for Baby is published by Affirm Press)

A Wish for Baby is an exquisite picture book for babies. Crafted with love and accomplishment, it is full of delight, fun, wonder and joy. It is a worthy successor to Margaret Wild and Ann James’s The Midnight Gang, Freya Blackwood’s The Runaway Hug and other classic Australian picture books.

Interview with A Wish for Baby picture book creators Caz Goodwin and Sara Acton

Thank you for speaking with Joy in Books at PaperbarkWords, Caz and Sara. There is so much to discover in A Wish for Baby, this interview will be a springboard to whet appetites for people to explore further themselves.

Where are you each based and how do your worlds coincide?

Caz is based in Melbourne and Sara lives on the Central Coast of NSW.

Caz: We both love picture books and believe in their potential to delight readers, shift perspectives and build empathy and understanding. We were delighted when our publisher, Affirm Press, suggested we work together on this title.

A Wish for Baby was developed with the assistance of the May Gibbs Children’s Literature Trust. What did that involve?

Caz: I was awarded a May Gibbs Creative Time Residential Fellowship in 2022. The fellowship enabled me to take up a one-month residency in Adelaide to concentrate intensively on my writing. It was during that time I wrote the text for A Wish for Baby. I am so grateful to the May Gibbs Children’s Literature Trust for their generous support and admire their encouragement of Australian children’s authors and illustrators. 

Caz, A Wish for Baby suggests great possible adventurous highs and more humble everyday wishes and hopes. Where does your book take us? How does its tone vary?

Caz: The book takes the reader on adventures climbing snow-topped mountains and riding camels in the desert. It also points to the small, everyday pleasures a young child might experience, such as watching snails in the garden and splashing in a bath full of bubbles with a rubber duck. The tone ranges from bright and joyful to more sombre images with rain-filled skies and dark, lonely nights, reflecting life’s inevitable highs and lows. But throughout, the mood remains hopeful.

Caz, there are many adventures to be encountered in your tale. How do you and Sara champion books as part of this?

Caz: I am passionate about children’s literature and its capacity to engage youngsters and encourage their love of books and reading. As the head of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) in Victoria, I’m also passionate about supporting children’s book writers and illustrators throughout their careers.

In A Wish for Baby, there are two pages that draw attention to the power of books. The first shows a father reading to his child under a tree. I love this illustration. Everyone—even the dog, is smiling with delight, indicating the joy that can be found in sharing stories. There is a second element that pays homage to reading. Towards the end of the book, there is a touching bedtime story scene:

‘I wish you many magic hours lost inside a book.

There’s so much to discover if you’re just prepared to look.’

Sara: I love how the book celebrates the joy of connecting through everyday adventures, delighting in a butterfly, splashing in puddles and through reading a book together. It illuminates the magic of how sharing a book feeds our imagination and creativity, something I feel strongly about and try to explore in the books I create and advocate in school visits. In a book we can adventure through the night sky and hop across the stars!   

Caz, you have a background in writing rhyme and so have a depth of experience. Your skill shines through in A Wish for Baby.

Which lines are you particularly pleased with, and why?

Caz: I’m really pleased with the lines,  

‘I wish you health and happiness, but even when there’s pain,

I hope you see the rainbows as you’re running through the rain.’

I wanted these words to reflect the essence of the wishes and dreams we can find ourselves projecting towards a new baby: for a life full of wonder, adventure, curiosity and joy, while acknowledging it’s likely there will also be pain and sadness.  

Caz, what symbols have you used in the book? Why?

Caz: I find symbols emerge organically as I’m writing. I don’t consciously set out to include symbols, but they always appear. Some of the symbols in A Wish for Baby include stars (dreams and inspirations), a rainbow (hope and promise), sunshine (life and positivity) and cakes (celebration and joy). Sara has included other symbols in her illustrations, including butterflies (growth and transformation) and birds (freedom and independence).

How have you shown everyday magic in your story?

Caz:The illustrations depict everyday magical experiences open to a young child, such as the exhilaration of splashing in the waves, the delight in finding sea creatures in a rockpool and the joy of imaginative play. Even the discovery of a snail can be magical to a child.

Sara, you have created such a gentle, but also playful, mischievous and imaginative, atmosphere? Could you explain how you’ve done this?

Sara: When I first received Caz’s text I started by filling a sketchbook with drawings and ideas that the words triggered. I like to follow many threads of thought and try not get tied down in one direction at the beginning. That means there are piles of sketches that are never used but they are important in the process and add depth and authenticity to the final illustrations. They compiled of everyday observations and memories of when our children were young. Little occurrences such as my dad chasing the children around on the trampoline and the dog desperately wanting to join them. The very first image that I drew on reading the text was from a memory of my partner carrying our daughter in the front carrier on our first holiday with a baby in a caravan in Wales walking along the clifftops with our dog and inspired the spread: 

‘And days that bring surprises, full of wonder and delight.’ 

Sara, I’m always interested in the illustrative media and process. Could you briefly talk us through what you’ve done here?

Sara: I drew the line work in pencil and painted the illustrations using a mix of watercolour and ink, with elements of print and collage. I wanted to create a real depth in the starry sky artwork to give an impression of the passage of time as the dad thinks ahead of all his hopes and wishes for his child, and to also add a magical dreamlike quality. I layered multiple ink washes to create this effect and printed textural elements such as potato prints for the moon. I splattered paint with the end of a brush to add sparkles that dance across the page and lead the eye in the direction of the story. These hand drawn elements were scanned and put together in photoshop.

Sara, what is something hidden or that readers may not notice at first?

Sara: I like to sometimes incorporate collage into my illustrations when I am working out the colour palette. I might repeat this in the book in different forms to help create identity and connect the illustrations. In A Wish for Baby the pattern used in the baby’s sleep suit on the first spread is repeated on further spreads in clothing, the tablecloth where they are baking and the bedroom wallpaper. 

Sara, you’ve become known for including dogs in your books. Did you incorporate the dog into A Wish for Baby or was it already in Caz’ s story? Across your body of work, how do your dogs both change and stay the same?

Sara: I do love to include a dog in my books! We always had a dog when I was growing up and our dog has been an important part of our children’s lives. When I started drawing ideas in my sketchbook a dog materialised and became part of the family in the book, sharing in the everyday adventures. 

I often draw my dog Bess to warm up at the beginning of the day and she has been a great help in observing movement and expression regardless of what type of dog I am drawing. I chat to a lot of people and their dogs on our walks and come home and memory sketch all the different characters we meet.  

Sara, please tell us something about your experience working on Runt, another book featuring a dog,with Craig Silvey.

Sara: I researched many sources for drawing references when working on Runt, from working dog trials to Crufts and the hilarious bloopers where the rescue dogs take part, refuse to come out of the tunnels and run off the poles from the jumps! I drew many different breeds and mutts before Craig and I decided on the perfect character for Runt. Observing our dog Bess running on the beach was particularly helpful in drawing movement for the dinkus – the little drawings dividing sections of text that also feature on the endpapers. If you put these images of Runt together they create a moving image such as in a Victorian zoetrope.  

Caz,  congratulations on Grace and Mr Milligan being a CBCA shortlisted book.Please tell us about your experience of being catapulted into children’s book fame through this.

Caz: Being a CBCA shortlisted author is a great thrill, and Grace and Mr Milligan has just been awarded as a 2024 honour book. Although I don’t write to win awards, it is rewarding to have my work acknowledged by the CBCA. Grace and Mr Milligan took a long time to write, so it was especially gratifying to see it get coverage in the mainstream media which so often overlooks children’s books.

Both, what is your greatest wish for a baby – either as shown in the book or further afield?

Caz: I think the last lines of the book sum up my greatest wish for a baby:

‘I wish for you, dear little one, that in your heart you’ll know,

I love you and I always will, wherever you may go.’

Sara: That is so hard to answer as in your heart you are so full of wishes for a new baby, but one of my greatest wishes would be for them to be happy and take joy in the small things. 

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What are you writing, illustrating or working on now or next?

Caz: My last two works have been serious books addressing big themes of grief and loss (Grace and Mr Milligan) and hopes and aspirations directed to a new life (A Wish for Baby). In my next story, I’m again using my love of rhyme and rhythm in a picture book. The illustrator and I are developing some cheeky new Australian animal characters that I know will bring joy to readers.

Sara: I am currently illustrating a gorgeous story that celebrates the connection between a grandparent and grandchild and the joy in simple activities shared together. It is full of warmth and humour. I am afraid there is no dog but instead a cat observing the hilarious antics that unfold. 

What have you been reading that you would like to recommend?

Sara: My most recent picture book purchase is Up High by Matt Hunt, a fabulous father/child book with wonderful perspective and expressive illustrations. 

How can your readers contact you?

Caz

Website: www.cazgoodwin.com

Email: Cazgoodwin0@gmail.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carolyn.goodwin.338

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cazgoodwin0/

Sara  

Website: www.saraacton.org 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/saraactonillustration/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saraacton_illustration/ 

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It’s fitting that A Wish for Baby is published by Affirm Press. It is wonderfully affirming and should become a go-to baby book gift choice.

A Wish for Baby at Affirm Press

Caz Goodwin guest author post about Grace and Mr Milligan at Paperbark Words blog.

Sara Acton and You’ve Got Yoghurt in Your Nostrils (written by Bethany Clark) at PaperbarkWords blog (scroll down)

Runt interview with Craig Silvey