About the Idea
The idea for Hello Beaky! came after finding a photo of a bird of paradise in an old National Geographic magazine. I liked the idea of him being a bird of paradise, but not knowing it – I could argue that this is a metaphor for the human condition but… I won’t. I suppose you could say it is my take on the ‘Ugly Duckling’ theme in that it is based around a character who doesn’t know what he is.
As in lots of my earlier books (this was first published in 1999) there are some themes and characters which I develop in subsequent books. There is a hug which seems familiar (see Hug) and the character of the frog is an early incarnation (albeit with blue skin) of Frog in the Duck in the Truck series.
