Hubery, Julia

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Hubery, Julia

Personal

Born in Stamford, Lincolnshire, England; married; children: three children. Education: Attended college. Hobbies and other interests: Pottery.

Addresses

Home—Gosport, Hampshire, England.

Career

Children's book writer. Formerly worked as an architect.

Writings

The Naughtiest Piglet, illustrated by John Bendall-Brunello, Gullane Children's (London, England), 2004.

Raffi's Surprise, illustrated by Mei Matsuoka, Simon & Schuster (London, England), 2006, published as A Friend for All Seasons, Atheneum (New York, NY), 2007.

A Christmas Wish, illustrated by Sophy Williams, Little Tiger Press (London, England), 2008.

Come Home, Little Brave, illustrated by Julie Monks, Orchard Books (London, England), 2008.

Wishmoley and the Little Piece of Sky, illustrated by Mary McQuillan, Scholastic (London, England), 2009.

Sidelights

Julia Hubery worked as an architect for several years before turning to writing. Inspired by her own three children, she has created several picture-book stories featuring simple texts. In her first, The Naughtiest Pig, one naughty piglet constantly strays away from Mother Pig, causing great worry among the family. With a penchant for getting into mischief, the frisky piglet soon finds that Horse, Cow, and other farm animals are also worried, because the foolish creature is heading for trouble. Her story A Christmas Wish is brought to life with pastel artwork by Sophy Williams and chronicles the day Gemma and Ty accidentally break a beloved Christmas tree decoration—the sparkly snow deer—and unleash a special holiday magic.

Another young animal is the star of Raffi's Surprise, a picture book by Hubery that was published in the United States as A Friend for All Seasons. In the story, a young raccoon lives in Old Father Oak, where the leaves prove enticing as they change from green to gold in autumn. When the oak leaves start to fall, however, the raccoon worries about the tree until his mother explains the change of seasons. Praising the mixed-media illustrations Mei Hatsuoka contributes to Hubery's story, Hazel Rochman noted in Booklist that A Friend for All Seasons "offers a fun way to tell the hibernation story," and a Kirkus Reviews writer deemed the book "a gentle tale with a nifty lesson."

Discussing her writing process on the Little Tiger Press Web site, Hubery commented: "As I work part-time and have three children, I have to grab the writing time whenever I can and hope the ideas flow. I nearly always have a few texts bubbling along, so my writing day varies. Sometimes I'll play with new ideas, maybe a picture or a sentence, to see if anything comes. Other times I'll prod and stir my half-way texts to see if I can move them on. Inspiration likes to strike in awkward places, like on the way to work—so I have to scrabble for a pen and scribble it down to play with later."