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Polly Faber: Children’s Author, Pet Picker and Tortoise Impersonator

2018 is a busy year for children's writer Polly Faber. The author of the 'Mango and Bambang' series (about the adventures of a girl and her tapir best friend), has penned another three books!

Barnes Children’s Literature Festival: What did you want to be when you were growing up?

Polly Faber: Everything! But in no particular order, some favourites were to be a cooker (‘gas or electric’ asked my big brothers…), a pony, a golden retriever, a private investigator, a naturalist, a fairy and a film star.

BCLF: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

PF: It’s OK to feel sad sometimes because you can’t ever really know what happy feels like without it.

BCLF: And the worst?

PF: That all I had to do was follow the recipe and my gingerbread castle would come out fine.

BCLF: If you could ask another author a question, who would you ask and what would the question be?

PF: I’d ask Clara Vulliamy whether we could make another book together soon please? And what’s her favourite way to eat potatoes?

BCLF: My favourite word is …

PF: ‘Puggled’ is a good one. It’s from Yorkshire I think and it means very tired. I use it a lot.

BCLF: My greatest fear is…

PF: Plummeting. I don’t like tall buildings or planes much. I’m not verylikely to bungee jump or skydive. Or go across that glass bridge in China…

BCLF: My hidden talent is…

PF: I can do a good tortoise impression.

BCLF: Favourite book as a child?

PF: Depends on at what age but probably Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild. I was a very big Asterix fan too.

BCLF: Who is your favourite literary villain? 

PF: I scare easily, so I tend to only choose the setting ‘Very Mild Peril’. I used to sometimes skip past the baddies in books I knew well! Miss Slighcarp in Joan Aiken’s The Wolves of Willoughby Chase is properly awful.

BCLF: Tell us a joke!

PF: What do you call a French man wearing sandals? Philippe Phlop (you need to say it with a terrible French accent)

 

Polly in conversation with co-creator Clara Vulliamy

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