Ebb and Flo and Their New Friend
We're so pleased to be re-issuing the classic Ebb and Flo series by Jane Simmons, a series of picture books about life on the coast with young girl Ebb and her dog, Flo. Find out more about the first edition, Ebb and Flo and Their New Friend below:
One day Ebb and Flo find a bird sitting in their boat - in Ebb's favourite spot! Flo invites the bird to join them, but Ebb isn't so sure and wishes the bird would just fly away. But what happens when Ebb's wish comes true? A seaside story of friendship with Ebb and Flo.
When we asked Jane about the inspiration behind these stories, she told us 'My entire life has been around boats and animals, so the inspiration for their watery world came from that. My earliest memories are from Australia. We lived on the shore of a sheltered bay and we had a small boat of our own and my Mum was always taking me out in it. I spent a lot of my time on the rocky shore at the bottom of our garden playing with the crabs and jellyfish. '
Each Ebb and Flo story has a deeper meaning behind it. On Ebb and Flo and Their New Friend, Jane said 'Ebb and Flo and their New Friend is the first book of the series. It’s about the difficulties of a new friend in a group and how that person new can make ripples by just being there. They bring in a change and that can be difficult to get used to. If you feel jealous and you don’t get to know them, you could miss a big opportunity to make a good friend. Ebb does just that and before she gets to know Bird, Bird disappears. If only she’d given her a chance. Luckily Ebb gets a second go and they become firm friends.'
Jane is not only the author of the Ebb and Flo series, but she also illustrated it. Of her illustration process, Jane told us 'I can’t think of it as my process as it is just such a part of me and my life, playing about with paint and ideas until one or more ideas take hold. Ideas for stories and characters come out of nowhere and they start to form into something more solid as I write, draw and paint them. Nothing comes first, it just sort of grows out of endlessly messing about with words, drawing and paint. I have no hard and fast rules about what type of paint, ink, pigments or paper I use, it is what ends up working for a particular project. I have been inspired by so many painters, illustrators, writers and other creatives past and present who have helped to grow a collective pot of knowledge, I with so many others continue to draw and learn from, and hopefully add to it.'
Take a look at the book trailer for Ebb and Flo and Their New Friend below: