Q&A with Nicola Davies

Posted on 1 December 2018

Welcome back to our author Q&As! This month we’re welcoming Nicola Davies, author of a host of children’s books, including the stunning Brave and the Fox, illustrated by Sebastien Braun.

Nicola grew up in Suffolk, surrounded by fields and wildlife, forming an early love for animals. She studied zoology at university and went on to work at the BBC Natural History Unit, first as a researcher and later as a presenter on The Really Wild Show. She started writing in her thirties, and hasn’t looked back.

Please describe yourself in five words.
Small nature loving children’s writer.

What was your favourite book as a child?
The Country Child by Alison Uttley.

What did you want to be when you were younger?
A wolf or, failing that, a dolphin.

What inspired you to write Brave and the Fox
Love and respect for Inuit culture and its close connection with the Arctic environment.

Brave and the Fox, like many of your books, carries a strong ecological and environmental awareness. Why is it so important for children to learn about these issues from a young age?
Children are drawn to the natural world, and they feel their affinity with it. Learning about nature shows them where they fit in the world and how we all depend on nature for the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat – essential lessons if we are going to keep our planet habitable.

You studied zoology at university, and after graduating you worked in that field. What drew you to writing children’s books?
A desire to communicate my passion to the group of people who would most understand and enjoy it.

Do you have a favourite animal? If you can’t choose just one, is there a particularly interesting and little known animal you really love?
There are so many to choose..I have to choose different ones on different days … today
Pink Fairy Armadillos – super cute south american armoured mammals.
Red Lechwe – the most elegant of all African antelope.
Green Hairstreak Butterflies – beautiful butterfly vanishing from the UK.
White Fronted Bee Eaters – African bird with the most joyful graceful flight and the sweetest little faces.

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
Read. Read. Read…and keep a notebook like an artists sketchbook. Get into the habit of drawing with words.



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For more fabulous insights into Nicola’s world, head over to her Twitter & Facebook or make your way over to her website…