The Picture Book Buzz - Interview with Katy Hudson
- Maria Marshall
- 2 minutes ago
- 6 min read
Katy was raised in Middlesbrough, UK and started her Illustration career as a small child drawing on freshly emulsioned walls around the house!
Her parents quickly dissuaded this medium and encouraged drawing with pencil and paper instead. The idea stuck (the pencil was updated to an ink pot and pen in some cases) and after some lovely time at Art College and a degree in Illustration, Katy is now a freelance Illustrator based in London.
For more information on Katy, see our earlier interview (here).
She’s the author/illustrator of 18 books, including The Big Snowdown (2025), A Bold Pumpkin Plan, (2024), Waiting on Mr. Sloth (2022), Mindful Mr. Sloth (2021), The Perfect Birthday Recipe (2020), The Golden Acorn (2019), Runaway Baby Brother (2018). A Loud Winter's Nap (2017), The Runaway Egg (2017), and Too Many Carrots (2016) and the illustrator of Bug Club by Tiffany Renando (2025) and It's More Fun with Two by Michelle Courtney (2023).
Katy’s most recent book, Just Like Rabbit, was released on January 1st.
Welcome back Katy,
What is one of the most fun or unusual places where you’ve written or illustrated a manuscript?
I’m not sure these are fun places, but I’ve had two children whilst writing and illustrating my books so many page compositions have been ironed out in my head whilst pushing a pram in the rain, changing a nappy, or a late-night feed in the dark. I’ve learnt to always have a scrap of paper nearby otherwise I will end up drawing ideas on the back of a bank statement!
Oh, the life of a creative mother! What was your inspiration or spark of interest for Just Like Rabbit?
We already knew we wanted this book to be set in spring, and I was keen to have some underwater scenes so Frog seemed the best character to focus on for this outing.
We were thinking about spring themes and my previous book with Rabbit in Too Many Carrots. The Creative Director just said he thought my Frog character would look cute with Rabbit ears on… I drew it up and we all thought it was funny. The story came pretty quickly from there; I just had fun thinking what silly things Frog could do to be more like Rabbit. That feeling of wanting to be someone else or assuming others have it better than you can flare up throughout life. To celebrate your own beauty and skills is something that often gets forgotten
That sounds like a great start to a story and a wonderful theme to build it on. How about for The Big Snowdown, which released August 1, 2025?
We knew it would be a story set in winter. The idea was always to make the books seasonal, like my previous animal books with Capstone - Too Many Carrots, The Perfect Birthday Recipe, The Golden Acorn and A loud Winter’s Nap.
However, this time I was focusing on the nocturnal creatures, so it was the same woodland world but at a different time of day, which opened up new characters and altered colour palettes. I hadn’t completely figured Owl’s character out in A Bold Pumpkin Plan. I knew I wanted her story to be next and the more I drew her the sassier she got and the more her ears looked like pigtails. I knew I wanted to play on the “higher up the food chain”/ a bit obnoxious angle and my editor suggested “winter sports.” I swerved more to “winter activities” after I had the idea of Frog playing music on the icicles but it was just really fun coming up with things the different characters would shine at. Once we had the ‘sports day’ type setting, it seemed natural to me that Owl would assume she would just win everything.
I really love the sassy cockiness of Owl! What tends to come first (&/or easiest) for you – the story or the illustrations?
I normally have a character drawn or a particular scene in my head and I build the story around that. I normally have a tight manuscript before sketches but I’ll often draw thumbnails in around writing the story to imagine expressions or characters.
I love the community you’ve created around Rabbit, Turtle, Beaver, Squirrel, Owl, Raccoon, Hedgehog, and of course Frog. What is the hardest or most challenging thing about writing or illustrating Just Like Rabbit? And what was the most fun? How did this compare to the other books in this community?
Thank you so much! Just like Rabbit, was a lot of fun, once we had the story arc I just got to play at the artwork stage. It was my third book with the same characters so I had a clearer idea of their personalities and how they would stand or respond to Frog’s actions. From that perspective, I was more confident but as always, I was hoping to make the art richer and stronger than my previous books but still had to keep it feeling of the same world.
I always find it difficult to send the final version of my artwork spreads, I’m constantly thinking how I could do it better or what extra little detail or suggestion of another character I could slip in. I thought by the 7th book based in this world, I might be more at ease with this but if anything I have gotten more obsessive with it.
That just shows how much you care about these characters and their world, and we get to benefit from that. Is there a spread that you were especially excited about or proud of in Just Like Rabbit? What is your favorite spread?
I was really excited to do the underwater spreads so had a lot of fun painting them and thinking of extra details to include. I spent a great deal of time looking in the mirror pulling faces for the ‘Carrot tasting’ page but it was actually the page before in the ‘Le Cafe,” that I have the most connection with.
Text & Image © Katy Hudson, 2026
A special person I knew died while I was making this book. I would take both my children to her music classes where she would play and sing with her beautiful cello. Raccoon was originally playing an accordion when I first painted the scene but after her passing it felt a fitting tribute to change it to a cello and mark that moment in some way.
What a special touching way to celebrate your friend and a gorgeous image! How many revisions did the text and illustrations take from first draft to publication for Just Like Rabbit?
Just Like Rabbit, was one of the quickest stories I’ve written but that could be down to working with the same wonderful, Editor every time. This was our 9th picture book together so we’re very in sync at this point. I think The Big Snowdown took longer.
There’s often a long zoom call at the beginning of the project with myself and my Editor. I’ll normally have the rough premise of the story at the point. I’ll go away and write a first draft, then there’s normally some back and forth over a couple of weeks then when we’re all happy, I’ll start planning the story out on paper. Sometimes, at this stage, we’ll realise the pacing is off or we need more text here and less there. The text will get tweaked throughout and we’ll often cut more once artwork is in and we realise the art is already telling that bit of the story.
Sounds like you have established a very special and creative partnership with your editor. What's something you want your readers to know or discover about Just Like Rabbit?
Being a frog is really great.
HA! I love it! Are there any new projects you are working on now that you can share a tidbit with us?
[Perhaps a book featuring hedgehog?]
Ah Hedgehog has had his, in A Bold Pumpkin. The last in the series will be Raccoon’s story and she’s really very lovely despite what the woodland posters say!
Oh no! The last one? Last question, what is your favorite National Park or Forest, regional park, or city park (anywhere in the world)? Or the one you’re longing to visit. Why?
Hard to answer this! I went to Borneo about 10 years ago to see orangutans in their natural habitat and it was the most beautiful experience; I’d love to visit a rainforest again.
Thank you, Katy, for coming back and sharing your newest picture book with us.
Be sure to come back on Friday for the Perfect Picture Book #PPBF post on - Just Like Rabbit.
To find out more about Katy Hudson, or get in touch with her:
Website: http://www.katyhudson.co.uk/
