Kat Merewether
Author & Illustrator of Kuwi's Rowdy Crowd Published by Illustrated Publishing |
BIOGRAPHY
Kat Merewether (né Quin) was born in the Waikato in 1982. She lives in Te Awamutu with her husband and their three sparkling daughters. In 2002, at the age of 20, Kat set up a graphic design and illustration business. Today, her award-winning business, Illustrated Publishing, employs two full-time staff. As well as running the educational design studio, she regularly brings publications to life with her captivating illustration work. She has illustrated over 25 children’s books, 10 of which she has also authored. The Kuwi the Kiwi series has now printed over 160,000 books, appeared in the NZ Top Ten Bestsellers list for more than 50 weeks, and through book sales has raised $30,000 for the Kiwis for kiwi charity for which Kat is a keen ambassador. Selected Bibliography Kuwis Rowdy Crowd - Illustrated Publishing releasing end September Flit the Fantail published by Scholastic NZ (2018) Kiwicorn - Illustrated Publishing Kuwi's Kitchen - Illustrated Publishing Kuwi's Very Shiny Bum - Illustrated Publishing Kuwi's Huhu Hunt - Illustrated Publishing Kuwi's First Egg - Illustrated Publishing AWARDS 2016 - New Zealand Book Awards for Children & Young Adults TE HUA TUATAHI A KUWI (TE REO KUWI'S FIRST EGG) Children's Choice Award, Te reo Māori Award - WINNER Te Kura Pounamu - FINALIST New Zealand Book Awards for Children & Young Adults KUWI'S HUHU HUNT Children's Choice Award, Picture Book - FINALIST New Zealand Book Awards for Children & Young Adults 2013 - Ngā Tohu Reo Māori / Māori Language Awards. HINEMOA KŌ RAUA TUTANEKAI, Written by Aunty Bea, Illustrated and by Kat Merewether. Tānga - Print category - FINALIST 2012 - LIANZA Children's Book Awards IHENGA by Aunty Bea, Illustrated by Kat Merewether. Te Kura Pounamu Award Finalist. |
Synopsis of Kuwi’s Rowdy Crowd
All Kuwi the Kiwi wants is to sit down with a quiet cup of tea. But wherever she goes, someone turns up to shatter the peace.
Tap-dancing tomtits, karate-kicking kōkako and other noisy native friends join in the rowdy fun, until Kuwi can’t take it anymore ...
How the idea for the book came about
I first came up with the idea behind the Kuwi the Kiwi series when I was surviving the perils of life with a toddler. I had a two-year-old, Willow, and was pregnant with my third daughter, Florence, when I actually put pen to paper to write and storyboard the first book Kuwi’s First Egg.
In my research, I discovered that the male kiwi typically cares for the kiwi egg. I thought that was quite interesting, and wondered what would happen in the wild, if a male kiwi was taken out by a predator. I was keen to have Kuwi as a female protagonist, and especially excited to make her a mother, as I had not found any other children’s books where the main character was a mum. I wanted the series to really speak to the parents. The stories are all loosely based on experiences that I have been challenged with as a parent.
I added very basic te reo Māori words into the story, to introduce children to a little te reo at a young age. The stories are written to suit the 2 to 8 year age group, but have a broader appeal due to their quintessentially kiwi sense of humour.
The writing & Illustration process
I spent around six months working on Kuwi’s Rowdy Crowd. I generally work on the concept for a book for a few weeks, writing an initial draft and then giving it a bit of time before re-reading and re-writing. I then send the draft manuscript on to my editor, Sue Copsey. Once the story has been edited and tweaked, I put together a hand-sketched thumbnail sized storyboard, and create an illustration for each page of text in the book. Next, I lay out the book in the program Adobe InDesign. I make sure there are the correct number of pages for the printing process I have chosen, and place all of the text on the pages.
The next step is to draw each illustration spread to scale, with traditional pencil. Using tracing paper I draw these over and over until I am completely happy with the composition.
Following that, I print out the book with all of the draft sketches and text in place. I read this draft multiple times to my girls, to make sure that the text flows and the illustrations have the right level of detail. I also test it on their friends, my friends, staff and other family members.
When I am completely happy with the text and illustration ‘skeleton’, I scan and create a digital file of each sketch using Adobe Photoshop. I have created my own brushes and swatches within Photoshop and use them to start the arduous but absolutely enjoyable part – painting each spread.
My guidelines, as I compose the illustrations of this series, are to create cute, emotive, detailed and humorous images. Together with the story, my aim is to produce a book that can be read again and again, and with each reading, something new can be discovered within the illustrations.
All Kuwi the Kiwi wants is to sit down with a quiet cup of tea. But wherever she goes, someone turns up to shatter the peace.
Tap-dancing tomtits, karate-kicking kōkako and other noisy native friends join in the rowdy fun, until Kuwi can’t take it anymore ...
How the idea for the book came about
I first came up with the idea behind the Kuwi the Kiwi series when I was surviving the perils of life with a toddler. I had a two-year-old, Willow, and was pregnant with my third daughter, Florence, when I actually put pen to paper to write and storyboard the first book Kuwi’s First Egg.
In my research, I discovered that the male kiwi typically cares for the kiwi egg. I thought that was quite interesting, and wondered what would happen in the wild, if a male kiwi was taken out by a predator. I was keen to have Kuwi as a female protagonist, and especially excited to make her a mother, as I had not found any other children’s books where the main character was a mum. I wanted the series to really speak to the parents. The stories are all loosely based on experiences that I have been challenged with as a parent.
I added very basic te reo Māori words into the story, to introduce children to a little te reo at a young age. The stories are written to suit the 2 to 8 year age group, but have a broader appeal due to their quintessentially kiwi sense of humour.
The writing & Illustration process
I spent around six months working on Kuwi’s Rowdy Crowd. I generally work on the concept for a book for a few weeks, writing an initial draft and then giving it a bit of time before re-reading and re-writing. I then send the draft manuscript on to my editor, Sue Copsey. Once the story has been edited and tweaked, I put together a hand-sketched thumbnail sized storyboard, and create an illustration for each page of text in the book. Next, I lay out the book in the program Adobe InDesign. I make sure there are the correct number of pages for the printing process I have chosen, and place all of the text on the pages.
The next step is to draw each illustration spread to scale, with traditional pencil. Using tracing paper I draw these over and over until I am completely happy with the composition.
Following that, I print out the book with all of the draft sketches and text in place. I read this draft multiple times to my girls, to make sure that the text flows and the illustrations have the right level of detail. I also test it on their friends, my friends, staff and other family members.
When I am completely happy with the text and illustration ‘skeleton’, I scan and create a digital file of each sketch using Adobe Photoshop. I have created my own brushes and swatches within Photoshop and use them to start the arduous but absolutely enjoyable part – painting each spread.
My guidelines, as I compose the illustrations of this series, are to create cute, emotive, detailed and humorous images. Together with the story, my aim is to produce a book that can be read again and again, and with each reading, something new can be discovered within the illustrations.