Show love your way with author Karl Newson and illustrator Duncan Beedie

February 14th 2023

We all express love in different ways. Whether that's with a big hug, or a kind word, or... wrestling a crocodile? Joking aside, understanding these different displays of love, expressed through words or body language, is great for building empathy between children. This Valentine's Day, author Karl Newson and illustrator Duncan Beedie give the details of why Bush Baby from I Really Really Need A Wee shows off her love in the most unconventional of ways.

Author Karl Newson: "We all have our different ways of saying the same things"

About Karl Newson Karl is a best-selling author of both picture books and chapter books. Inspired to write stories when his children were little, Karl's previous works include the award-winning 'I Am A Tiger', 'I Really Really Need A Wee' and 'Same But Different Too'. His works have been translated into 29 different languages. Most recently, he has released the anticipated Bush Baby sequel 'I Really Really Love You So' and 'Beware of the Blue Bagoo'. DISCOVER BOOKS BY KARL NEWson

I Really Really Love You So is a love story with a difference – a twist – if you like! It’s not your average ‘I love you THIS MUCH!’ type of story, and it’s not a ‘cutesy-cheesy makes-you-queasy’ type of story… It’s a ‘how can I show you how much I love you?’ kind of story, and the answer to that is obviously ‘by wrestling with a crocodile’ (amongst other things)! 

There are lots of picture books that discuss the feeling of love in a sentimental way, but there aren’t that many I know of that do it in a funny, silly, whoa-this-is-unusual sort of way. I think there are often traps we fall into as human beings that say ‘this is how you do this’ and ‘this is how you react to this situation’ as if we all must be exactly the same and anything out of those rules is wrong and must be ‘ummed’ at. I have made it a rule of mine to break these rules as often as possible in my stories. We are all different and we all have our different ways of saying the same things.

Bush Baby expresses her love in all sorts of adventurous ways - which one would you choose?

Our story tells little readers “You do You” – just like our main character, Bush Baby, who always does things her way. She tries things out and sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t. Sometimes she gets carried away. But that’s OK too. Love is a universal theme but what love is to one person is different to someone else. I hope children will see this story and know that it’s OK if you can’t think of a poem to write to show your love– make a robot instead! And if flowers aren’t your thing, maybe try a stick? 

Wrapped up all around this is the humour in the story. It is written from the heart, to make you giggle! Hopefully you’ll giggle so much that you won’t even notice what I’m saying underneath the laughs. There’s a lot of incredibly silly goings-on in this book. Dangerous wrestles with crocodiles, epic solo voyages to sea, mountain peak expeditions and just the one use of the word ‘bottom’! These scenes, I hope, will guide the reader and/or child through this book, watching the expressions of the characters change and listening to the sounds that sing from each page, from the crashing waves of the sea, to the whipping-winds of a mountain, to the ‘boing’ of a bounce on a bear’s belly. 

Illustrator Duncan Beedie: "Empathy is key"

About Duncan Beedie Duncan is a children's author and illustrator, who's debut book 'The Bear That Stared' was nominated for Waterstones' Children's Book Prize in 2017. Since then, he has written and illustrated titles for Templar Books, Little Tiger, Quarto, and Pearson, including the first appearance of Bush Baby in 'I Really Really Need A Wee'. When he's not drawing agent llamas or rock and roll badgers, Duncan will be walking his dog Ivor or playing games with his daughter.  DISCOVER BOOKS BY Duncan Beedie

Empathy is key in children's books, so I was keen to design the character of Bush Baby so that she could reflect how the reader might be feeling themselves, through the facial expressions and sense of movement. I gave her big, adorable, expressive eyes - eyes that could show unconditional love and compassion whilst also conveying a dire need to use the toilet.

I think that her malleability is why children and adults have taken to her. I've had a lot of fun contorting, bouncing and jiggling Bush Baby around through Karl's delightfully silly words. I am sure we can all relate to her physical expressions whether we're trying to convey how much we love someone or just really, really need a wee. There is a universality of language in bodily expression, not to mention scope for slapstick humour, and it was satisfying to try and push this to the extreme when sketching out the character in her various scenarios.

When expressing love, "You Do You!"

We hope I Really Really Love You So becomes a firm bedtime favourite in years to come, and that its subtle nod to ‘You do You’ champions anyone out there who finds the world difficult at times. The hug that we foreshadow at the start, arrives at the end, and it’s a hug to all the little readers out there, saying ‘You got this’. We really, really, really hope you enjoy our story.

Now, we’ve got to dash… there’s another book that urgently needs to be made featuring Bush Baby, and it rhymes with number two! 

There's more unconventional love to go around with these recommended titles:

New from Karl Newson and Duncan Beedie I Really Really Love You So The expressive and determined Bush Baby returns in this follow up to 'I Really Really Need A Wee', but this time she has something very important to say. But how will she do it? This lovely picture books follows the grand ways Bush Baby expresses her love for her special someone, and is a fabulous addition to picture book collections. Our librarians say: 'bright illustrations with a concise but entertaining text - this is a great story to share'. DISCOVER

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