Have you ever met a FURIOUS seahorse?

Discover more about Morag Hood's choice of a seahorse as a character and the challenges of writing, as well as illustrating, picturebooks in this insightful Q&A Blog feature.

This story is wonderful, funny and very relatable – for young readers and adults. Was that your intention when the idea came to you? The first idea came about when my son was very little and there were a lot of big feelings floating around – the title really represents how I felt at that time! But I also understood what it was like to be that tiny furious seahorse so I think that’s probably part of why it has ended up being relatable for young readers as well as adults.

Did you choose your main character to be a seahorse intentionally so that you could play with ideas – for example, him being cross that everything is wet! I’ve always drawn little seahorses in my sketchbooks and when the idea for the title came to me, I really enjoyed that contrast between the seemingly placid and still sea creature and the idea of him being absolutely rage-filled. It felt very funny to me.

Is the story conjectural or based on your own experiences of children and their different moods? I was very much writing from experience! Both from the perspective of being a mum to a toddler at the time, but also with that understanding that we all have times where everything just feels a bit wrong – even if we have maybe learned to handle it a bit better than Seahorse does!

Do you hope children will learn that having a bad day is perfectly normal and okay after they’ve discovered seahorse’s story? Absolutely. We all have bad days, and I hope seeing that reflected in the book will help them realise that is a universal experience and that it is always ok and just part of being a human.

Is it your hope readers will see themselves / others close to them through the story and gain a better understanding of empathy? I think children really recognise the feelings which Seahorse has and when I talk to them they can see all the things which helped Seahorse feel a bit better and move through his emotions. And they can also articulate the things which help them when they feel this way. The book has been a great starting point for those kinds of discussions.

Did you draw the underwater scenes before writing the story to inspire your words? Mostly the words and the pictures developed alongside each other. I had the title and my seahorse character and wrote out some of what became the eventual words in the book. But it was only once I started adding in the little octopus character in my sketchbook that the story really came together.

Picturebooks are limited by word count, does this mean as a creator you have to work harder to share your concept? There aren’t many words, but they have to be exactly the right ones! Picture books can appear to be deceivingly simple. I really enjoy that limit, and with both the words and the pictures I always want to do just enough to convey the essence of the story.

How did you decide on all the things that would go wrong for Seahorse? It feels like a day many of us could experience! I think they were probably all things that have happened! Well, a stubbed toe rather than a stubbed tail, and a small child jumping on me first thing rather than an octopus, but you get the idea! They are all very real things which have been transplanted to Seahorse’s world.

Are picturebooks a favourite format of yours as a creator, because you have the freedom to write and illustrate them? I love the interaction between words and pictures which you get in a picture book and getting to play with that gap. I think it allows for a lot of humour and depth.

Do you have a favourite setting for your stories and do you have your own favourite stories? My books often have quite abstracted settings, without a lot of detail. I’ve been really enjoying creating this underwater world with Seahorse and a cast of characters. It feels joyful and bright and reminds me of underwater drawings I used to make as a child – although those usually featured mermaids as the main characters.

I tend to respond most to similarly slightly abstracted worlds – like those of Jon Klassen, Chris Haughton and Daisy Hirst. I like how they allow you to really focus on the storytelling.

My thanks to Morag Hood for taking the time to answer these questions for me to share with our readers and to Ellen Abernathy at Simon & Schuster Children's books for making it all happen! Seahorse Is Furious is out now and available from all those places you buy your books!