Peters Q&A with Andy Griffiths

April 13th 2016

  At the beginning of April, Australian author Andy Griffiths popped in to the Peters Showroom as part of his UK tour to explore our books. We all loved having Andy down for the day, and between swapping stories and hearing all about our favourite treehouse adventures, we managed to sit down with him to discuss all things writing and imagination.  

Peters: Tell us a little bit about how and why you started writing for children?

Andy: I’ve always written for friends and family. Silly things that make them laugh. When I became a high school teacher in my late 20s, I met kids who thought reading and writing were boring, so I wrote short stories for them to make them laugh. I would photocopy these stories into self-made ‘books’, and photocopy their stories too so they could see themselves as published authors! This showed them that reading wasn’t boring.

I’ve always loved music too and have been vocalist and lyricist in bands, so the DIY aspect of creating demo tapes influenced the self-published book idea. It took around 10 years to get from those photocopied ‘books’ to ‘real’ publishing.

P: Where do you get your inspiration from?

A: I get my inspiration from all the books I read as a child. I want to recreate the excitement and fun I felt as a child reading my favourite books – Alice in Wonderland, Dr Seuss, A. A. Milne, and Enid Blyton. My books are a real mix of British and American influences, plus the sci fi and horror comics I loved as a child. The books are an amalgamation of these, plus the Goon Show and Monty Python – Enid Blyton gone wrong! The Treehouse books are a hybrid graphic novel/novel, where the narration can work without the pictures, but the pictures are still essential. We’ve created a complex story with few words, which is actually very difficult to produce.

    Here's Andy enjoying a good read in our Showroom.  

P: As an ex-teacher, do you have any tried and tested methods to help inspire children to enjoy reading for pleasure? Apart from reading your books, of course!

A: Exposing kids to a wide variety of books is very important – let the child choose the book that’s right for them. It doesn’t matter if it’s a book you don’t think is right; if they’ve chosen it, it can be their doorway to reading. You should also take care to set a good example, as someone who reads and writes for pleasure. This leading by example is far more powerful than giving children a lecture – it rubs off on them.

P: From your myriad of published titles, do you have a favourite?

A: The Treehouse series brings everything together. There’s a nice balance between extreme gratuitous violence and the sweetness of style from earlier books. I love the idiotic plots and the strong friendships – it anchors everything together nicely. The Treehouse represents a safe place for readers, and it opens out to many different reading levels and audiences. Girls are interested too – the character of Jill is like a modern day Pippi Longstocking. The books are true in a respect and channel real life; Jill and Andy make sense of the diversions in illustrations that Terry creates, finding logic in the illogicality.

P: What was your favourite book when you were growing up?

A: My favourite book as a child was Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. It’s a keystone for me for evoking a sense of wonder and silliness, yet still being logical. The Treehouse series owes a lot to it; heavily illustrated, lots of rhyme, and an advanced narrative that can be enjoyed by children and adults. The Treehouse series works for both in a different way – kids are living it, but the adults can appreciate the themes and enjoy them at a different level while they’re reading them with and to their kids. It makes sure everyone is included.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland creates a world that children believe in even after they close the book, and this is what kids have said the Treehouse series does too. If this has got you interested in Andy's latest books, check them out here.