Want to get to know some of the incredible creative minds behind the Your Next Read junior fiction novels? Read on!
Today, we say hello to Jade Goodwin, an illustrator and Gamilaroi Aboriginal woman living and creating on Wonnarua Country in the Hunter Valley NSW.
Since her first book in 2022, she has illustrated over 23 books, including the Little Ash, Tennis Camp Diaries and Yarn Quest series, and picture books such as My Dream For You, Let’s Try Again Another Day, Earthspeak, Goorramindi the Crocodile, How Big Is Love? and My Dream Holiday.
She was featured by SBS/NITV for her work in authentic representation. Her vibrant, heartfelt illustrations celebrate culture, nature and connection, with warmth and detail woven into every page.
And now Jade is bringing her illustrating talents to ‘The Missing Pencil Case’, written by Jasmin McGaughey, one of four launch titles in the Your Next Read Silver series for readers aged 5-8.
Below is an edited extract from an interview with Jade in episode #3 of the Your Kid’s Next Read podcast Summer Series.
YKNR: Since signing your first contract in 2022, you’ve illustrated 23 books, including picture books, junior fiction, and early readers – how did you get started?
Jade: “Long story short, everything kind of started for me on social media. I’d moved to Sydney and was living in a share house ’cause I was in my early twenties, and could absolutely not afford to live in Sydney on my own. [But it meant] I couldn’t spread out and paint. I’d seen the emergence of digital art and I had no idea about it, but I thought it was something I could take on the train or the bus or very easily use in the share house. So I saved up to buy an iPad and eventually bit the bullet and went into the Apple store in the city one day to buy one.
“When I arrived, they were doing a drawing class. It was free, and starting in five minutes, and [the staff said] ‘we can give you your iPad and you can set up and just go.’ And that’s what I did. I basically had a one-hour crash course with people at Apple about how to use the app I wanted to use and I hit the ground running. I felt comfortable with it straight away and, a little while later, my partner suggested I share my work online.
“[I was hesitant at first] because I didn’t really see myself as an artist – it was just a hobby. But I was commuting for two hours every day and that gave me time, so I started sharing my work, as a kind of digital sketchbook for friends and family. And then one day, I got noticed by a publisher – and that’s where it all started.”
You say you didn’t think of yourself as an artist, but you’ve always made art?
Jade: “I did study fine art at uni for one semester and I dropped out because it just wasn’t me. For me, there were all these people drawing fantastic things where you couldn’t tell if it was a photo or a painting and they had all these deep meanings and then you’d get to my still life with a fruit bowl. And I’d be thinking ‘this would be so cute if this banana or this apple had a smiley face on it, but this is not the right place for that to happen.’
“So I left and worked in a regional art gallery for a few years and then I moved to Sydney to work in a commercial gallery. But I have always drawn and been creative and I think that’s really honed from when I was really little. my grandparents had a screen printing studio, so I would spend a lot of time with my cousins, just making lots of things in there.”
You’re a proud First Nations illustrator – how do you think that feeds into your artistic process and the perspective that you bring to your illustrations?
Jade: “I have the opportunity to advocate for First Nations people to be seen in so many different ways, because we are so diverse across the country and the way we live. To show people in the city and people who live way out rurally, and just that authentic representation in showing everyone’s not the same. The Yarn Quest series [written by Brooke Scobie], for instance, was a fun one to work on because all of the main characters are mob – the Aboriginal kids – but I love how we’ve got Tane and Pania, who are more darker skin, and Sybil, who’s more lighter skin. And it just is – there’s no explanation for it.”
How would you describe your illustration style?
Jade: “I think it’s very warm and full of heart.”
When you illustrate junior fiction or chapter books, are you given the manuscript and you work out which bits will work best as illustrations or are you given a list of what needs doing?
Jade: “I’ve done both, and I’m not sure which I prefer. I’ve been given books where the layout is essentially done or it’s in the draft stage where there’s kind of like a block of [space left] where everyone is thinking the illustration should go. And for very early readers, that makes sense because it’s when kids are just starting to read.
“In that case, I’m drawing essentially what the text says and adding a few little details, but nothing too much. [The illustration] is just meant to help them understand what they’re reading.
“When you get into junior fiction, there is room to draw what is relevant to the page or the chapter, but I can add extra details and personality to enrich the world and bring it to life.’
“And then I’ve worked on other books where I am given the whole manuscript and the chapters, and I know roughly how many illustrations [are needed] per chapter and I can just go for it, which is great – and terrifying. It’s always terrifying when I send in my first ideas.
How do you decide if a book is right for you to illustrate?
Jade: “It comes down to a feeling, a heart connection. I’ll read a manuscript and tell myself ‘no expectations’. I don’t want to put any pressure on myself to see things right away. And then I’ll come back to it a few times and read it and really absorb it. Before can even start to bring it to life. Because often, you know, um, hear this a lot with writers, you always think like your first idea is like super amazing and it’s perfect.”
What’s are the biggest lessons that you’ve learned about illustrating children’s books since you signed that first contract?
Jade: “I think the biggest lesson for me has been ‘Progress Over Perfection’. It’s something I have to remind myself of all the time.
“I don’t have to be able to draw everything perfectly first time, and I don’t need to draw something way in the background of a picture book as perfect as I’d like it to be. Capturing the essence of the story is what’s important. Reading books with my nieces and nephews [has helped with this]. I’ll be saying ‘wow, this is really beautiful’ – and they just want to know what happens next in the story. That’s a good wake up call for me to remember the way that families or kids read books and that each kid’s different.
“So yes, my second biggest lesson is remembering that books are made for kids. Kids are the big reason why we’re here.”
Listen to the full interview here.
About ‘The Missing Pencil Case’ by Jasmin McGaughey, illustrated by Jade Goodwin
Do you like MYSTERY, FAMILY and FUNNY STORIES?
Then this book is YOUR NEXT READ!
Lea has lost her pencil case. It’s full of money she has collected for charity! Lea must search all over her apartment block for the missing pencil case. Where could it be?
Buy here from your favourite online retailer
Want to know more about Jade’s work in ‘The Missing Pencil Case’ (including the one small detail in her illustrations for the book that she hopes readers notice)? Watch the video!