Inside This Yummy Gummy Land: A Q&A with Elissa Elwick

We were delighted to chat with author and illustrator Elissa Elwick about The Gumdrops, her brilliantly colourful and imaginative graphic novel series for young readers. Set in the wonderfully inventive world of This Yummy Gummy Land, the books are packed with humour, heart and interactive moments that invite children to become part of the adventure. In this Q&A, Elissa tells us more about the inspiration behind the Gumdrops, how she created their joyful world, why themes such as bravery and kindness are so important to the stories, and what readers can look forward to next.

You can buy the book, complete with an exclusive The Gumdrops bookmark and activity pack, here.

The Gumdrops combines graphic storytelling with interactive elements that invite readers to join the adventure. What inspired you to make the story so participatory for young readers? 

Since the characters and the whole world they exist in - This Yummy Gummy Land - is based upon imagination and the imaginary, it seemed only right to invite the reader to be a part of the story and really fire up their own imagination! When I came up with the initial idea, my then 4-year-old was always asking me to make the characters in the picture books I was reading to her to talk directly to her, and that was a big inspiration behind the Narrator’s role in The Gumdrops. Reading should be fun and I want readers of The Gumdrops to have as much fun as possible within the pages of these books!

This Yummy Gummy Land is such a joyful and imaginative setting, from the Imaginary Friend Factory to the Story Swamp. Which part of the world was the most fun to create? 

That’s a hard question to answer as I’d like to visit them all, but I had a lot of fun designing the outside of the Imaginary Friend Factory! I’d like to make it out of blocks, sweets and ice cream cones for real one day!

The book explores qualities like bravery, kindness and patience through the “recipe” for an imaginary friend. Why was it important for you to weave those emotional themes into the story? 

I think a lot of that comes from the Gumdrops themselves. The kindness and patience Bubbles, Rainbow, Sparky and Hope have for each other came out as I wrote the story – it wasn’t something I really had to think about. Everyone deserves someone in their life that treats them with kindness and patience and I wanted the reader to feel a part of that, like the Gumdrops are their friends too. Bravery looks different for everyone and it’s out differences that make every single one of us unique and special. I wanted to celebrate our differences, and the power of our own imagination.

You’ve said that working on The Gumdrops felt like the characters “walked straight out of your imagination.” What was it like bringing them to life through the graphic novel format?

I LOVED it! I’d never made a graphic novel before (only picture books and young fiction books) and it felt more like drawing an animated film! Since the only writing is the speech bubbles, everything that happens has to be shown in the pictures, and I got to explore a lot more of the characters’ poses and expressions than I normally do. I imagined the boxes/frames of the panels were the camera, and played the story out in my head as I drew it. It was so much fun!

What does your ideal writing and drawing day look like when you’re creating stories like The Gumdrops?
I wake up early and go to the gym to lift heavy things (that’s my Gumdrop Power!) and then once I’ve taken my daughter to school I settle at my desk in my little pink studio (which is full of books and toys from my childhood) and spend the rest of the day writing or illustrating! I can see trees from my studio window and I like to take a walk at lunchtime to get some fresh air, then it’s back to the Gumdrops! When I pick my daughter up from school I tell her what the gang have been up in This Yummy Gummy Land while we walk home. I feel very lucky that I get to do this every day!

Can readers look forward to more adventures with the Gumdrops? 
They can! The second book is called The Gumdrops: Main Character Energy and is out in September. The Gumdrops meet a character called Bowie who is fading away! With help from the reader, they have to rewrite his story to make it as exciting as possible! But you’d better watch out for Evilee!
I’m currently busy working on the third book in the series!