Isadora Moon Day: Exclusive Q&A with Harriet Muncaster
It’s Isadora Moon Day!
As passionate advocates for the magic of reading, we at Books2Door have always cherished the way stories like Isadora Moon allow children to explore their identity and embrace their uniqueness. It's why we're thrilled beyond words to celebrate something truly special: Isadora Moon Day.
In an exclusive Q&A session, Harriet Muncaster answers questions sent in from our dedicated community.
When did you first realise you wanted to be an author, and what helps you most in the writing process?
“I always liked creating my own stories, but I actually studied illustration at university and then specifically an MA in children’s book illustration. When I was young, I didn’t even realise that illustrating children’s books was an actual job you could do, until my art teacher at school took the class to see an exhibition by the children’s author and illustrator James Mayhew, who lived locally at the time. As soon as I realised it was a job you could do, I knew that’s what I wanted to do! Writing the stories for the pictures I drew then just sort of developed naturally. I work very visually, and have to be able to envision what my characters will look like before I can write a story about them. So I think when it comes to my particular writing process, drawing a character I like in a style I like comes first and then the stories build from there!”
What were your favourite books to read growing up?
“My favourite books have always been ones that either feature miniature people or have a slightly spooky but comforting atmosphere. Some of my favourites include The Borrowers by Mary Norton, the Brambly Hedge books by Jill Barklem, and the Dorrie books by Patricia Coombes.”
How did Count Bartholomew and Countess Cordelia meet?
“Ooh, that’s a question I get asked quite a lot, but I’m not quite sure! I think maybe they met one night in a strawberry field. Perhaps Cordelia was out enjoying the evening air amongst the strawberries when Bartholomew flew by. Their shared love of red fruit is probably what first brought them together!”
Why did you decide to make Isadora half-vampire, half-fairy?
“I have always loved the colours pink and black together because they create such a strong contrast. I had this idea that I wanted to create a character who would look good in a pink-and-black colour scheme, so I did this sketch of a little girl with fangs, messy hair and bat-like wings. Looking like that, I realised that she must be half-vampire and half-fairy, and that tied in perfectly with my idea for a colour scheme of a gothic black and candy pink world!”
What does Isadora want to do when she grows up?
“Isadora dreams of performing ballet on stage one day, just like her idol Tatiana Tutu. In Isadora Moon Goes to the Ballet, Isadora actually got to meet Tatiana Tutu, which inspired her even more!”
What is your favourite Isadora Moon story, and why?
“It’s really hard to choose just one, but I am particularly fond of Isadora Moon Goes to a Wedding. I absolutely love stories about miniature people having tiny adventures, and it was so fun to write this story where Mirabelle uses her shrinking potion on Isadora, Honeyblossom and herself so they can explore (and eat!) the sugar-castle wedding cake!”
Do you have a favourite character from a series that you’ve created?
“Again, it’s hard to choose just one because I love all my characters and they’re all interesting and special to me in their own way! I must admit that I do have a special fondness for Victoria Stitch though, as she’s a character I created a long time ago, when I was eighteen. I actually created her long before I thought of Isadora Moon, and I developed her character and style for years and years before she finally appeared in a published book!”
Would you say you are more fairy or more vampire?
“I love the gothic aesthetic of vampires, but I’m definitely more fairy: I can’t stay up late, but I do love getting out into nature!”
What will be Isadora and her family’s favourite songs also, what is yours?
“Well, Isadora loves to practise her ballet, so I suppose she likes any songs that she can dance around elegantly to! As for me, I like lots of different music. My ultimate favourite is probably ‘Zombie’ by The Cranberries.”
What would you do if you woke up and you were Isadora Moon for the day?
“Oh, well, Isadora Moon can do so many fun things, it’s hard to know where to begin! It would definitely be SO much fun being able to fly, so I’d start by doing that for a bit. Then I would magic myself up a really scrummy breakfast using my magic wand. After breakfast, I would invite Mirabelle over and tell her to make sure she brings her shrinking potion. I would love to be able to shrink to miniature size for some tiny adventures just for a bit! Finally, I would throw a big party with lots of magical fairy food and invite all my magical friends: fairies, vampires, mermaids, Nova the shooting star, Snow Boy, Oscar the Ghost, Mignonette the Tooth Fairy… It would be a fantastic day!”
Since it’s Isadora Moon Day- what kind of cake do you think she has to celebrate? What three wishes would she make when blowing out her candles?
“Three wishes?! I thought you usually only get one for blowing out the candles- haha! I’m not sure exactly what Isadora would wish for, but since she is very kind and generous, I think she would just wish for everyone around her to be happy! Actually, the next Isadora Moon book (number 21!) will be called Isadora Moon Makes a Wish so you will be able to find out what she wishes there!
As for the cake, I think Isadora would have a pink-and-black checkerboard cake, with the pink squares being raspberry flavour, and the black squares being dark chocolate flavour. (If you’ve never seen a checker-board cake, it’s one that has a pattern of different coloured squares when you cut into it, like a chess or checker-board!)
And, in case you’re wondering, Isadora Moon Day is not the same as Isadora Moon’s birthday. Although it’s not specifically mentioned in the books, Isadora’s birthday is actually on June 21st!”
How are you celebrating Isadora Moon Day today?
“Today I’m at the Isle of Wight Story Festival sharing my books with lots of children on the Isle of Wight. I know that there are lots of bookshops up and down the country which are holding their own Isadora Moon Day celebrations as well, so for anyone who’s not at my event today, there may well be an event happening at a bookshop near you! Whatever you do this Isadora Moon Day, I hope you have a magical and sparkling time!”
At Books2Door, we want children to have a continued and genuine love for reading, whether it’s to escape, educate or even create their own stories. What advice would you give to anyone who wants to write their own stories?
“I have two simple pieces of advice for anyone who wants to write stories: READ LOTS and WRITE LOTS. The more you practice at anything, the better you will get at it, so it’s important to just keep on practising writing stories and, even if they don’t turn out exactly how you want at first, if you keep going with them, your stories will get better and better! It’s also important to read lots of books, especially about things you find interesting. This isn’t to steal other writers’ ideas, but just to get a feel for how different writers tell their stories.
One other thing that will help you when writing your stories is to write about things that interest you and that you feel really passionate about. Being a writer is lots of fun because you get to create your own worlds and decide exactly what will and will not go into the worlds you create. So you can fill a story with all the things you love most and then you’ll really enjoy writing that story and be inspired to make it the best it can be! My favourite quote when it comes to writing is ‘write the book you want to read!’”
If you want more help and ideas for writing your own stories, there’s a free Isadora Moon Guide to Writing Stories on my website here: https://harrietmuncaster.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/The-Isadora-Moon-Guide-to-Writing.pdf. There are also lots of other fun and free activities on my website!