About
Andrew and Janet McLean are a couple living in Melbourne, Australia. Together they create picture books for children.
JanetJanet McLean has been a kindergarten teacher for more than forty years. She is presently the pedagogical leader at Bubup Wilam Centre for Early Learning, in Melbourne, Victoria. As an early childhood teacher, it was the constant exposure to picture books enticed Janet to start writing her own.
I was born in Melbourne at 11.45 pm on 21 June, shortly before my father's birthday on 22nd June. He thought I was the best birthday present ever.
I have two older bothers, David and Peter. I always thought I could or should be able to do anything they did. I'm sure they got tired of me tagging along all the time. I grew very tall, very quickly. In Grade 5 I was the tallest child (girl or boy) in the class. I'm the one in the middle of the row of standing girls.
I used to get tired of people saying, "You'll have to put a brick on your head." During that year I was very ill and had to stay home for eight weeks. Every year our family went away for a beach holiday and met up with once-a-year friends. One year Dad had to drive all the way back to Melbourne to pick up the leg of lamb we'd left on the kitchen table.
I had a very happy childhood. There were lots of children in our neighbourhood. We used to make up plays and concerts. We sold tickets to our parents so that they could have the privilege of watching us perform. In summer we played outside until our mothers came to call us in after dark. At high school I won a Citizenship prize when I was in Form 5 (Year 11) for merit and ability. On the day the headmaster called me in to tell me, I was late getting to school. I think he thought perhaps I didn't deserve the award after all.
When I left school I trained as a kindergarten teacher, and later I completed a Diploma in Special Education. I am a passionate early childhood educator, and I have been able to combine my love of story with my work as a teacher.
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AndrewAndrew Mclean studied at Prahran Technical College and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. He taught art to high school students before becoming a teacher of painting and drawing at Chisholm Institute in Caulfield, Victoria. He now works full-time as a painter and illustrator.
I was born in Bairnsdale, Victoria, in 1946, the youngest of three boys. There are eight years between each of us. My brothers left home to work in the city so I was an only child for much of the time. I hero-worshipped both of them and always looked forward to them coming home. My elder brother, John, often did little drawings to illustrate his letters. He introduced me to many of his favourite artists such as Edward Ardizzone. My father built this Cape Cod style house in Bairnsdale. It was a lovely house with views across McLeod's Morass and the Mitchell River flats to the bluff at Eagle-Point.
I often climbed out of my bedroom window and walked along the roof to the chimney, from where I had a view of the whole town. One night I watched a police car chase all around and through the town.
At primary school I remember one teacher in particular - "Spud" Murphy. He had a green strap which he used to improve our spelling - one whack on the hand for each error. But I was lucky. He liked my drawings, so he would let me off when I made a spelling mistake. My good drawings saved me from "the cuts". I lived across the road from the high school and was always late, probably because I didn't like it much. However, I really enjoyed Art School. This is a picture of my final year painting group. That's me in front with the brushes trying not to think about three years of teaching ahead of me. I ended up working as a teacher for 5 years before becoming a full time artists and illustrator.
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Us...
We met at an all night beach party in Somers, Victoria, and we've been together ever since. We were married in 1969. Our first home was a lovely little farmhouse just outside Yea, in North-East Victoria. Andrew taught at the high school, and Janet drove 130km a day to teach in a kindergarten at the Puckapunyal army camp.
After Andrew had completed three years of teaching we went overseas on an ocean liner called the Marconi. When we returned to Australia in 1972, we decided to write our first picture book "The Riverboat Crew". It was rejected by the first publisher we sent it to, and so it sat in the drawer for five years. It was eventually published by Oxford University Press in 1978 after Janet met the wife of the publisher at the local playgroup. |
Making Picture Books
After all of our children - Alexandra, Angus and Catriona - were born, our book-making had to fit in with family life and our outside jobs as teachers/artists. The first books were created on the kitchen table. This led to a few disasters, like honey being spilt on a finished drawing. The ideas for our stories have come from things that have happened to us as a family - on holiday, at home, our pets, our friends.
Andrew did this whimsical drawing of a dog up a windmill (pictured left) when we were holidaying at Kirkwood Farm, long before "Hector and Maggie" was written. He remembered his dog, Donny, who used to climb ladders. In the story it's Hector the Rooster who ends up on the windmill.
Our dog, Maggie (pictured below), adopted us when we lived in South Melbourne. She was a wonderful companion and she lived with us for sixteen years. She was an alley dog who never lost her yearning for the street life. We used her name in "Hector and Maggie" and her story in "Oh Kipper!" |
Our most recent picture book, "Let's Go Baby-0!" was inspired by the fun we shared with our first grandchild, Rory, when he was just starting to explore the world as a baby and toddler. By the time "Baby-o!" was published we had a second grandchild, Otto, who certainly adds to the fun.
With most of our books we develop the story, characters and settings together. We make lots of notes and jottings and sketches during this process. We always end up with way too many ideas to fit into a 30 page book! Once we have a rough idea about how the story will flow and how the words and pictures will fit together, we set about working on a final draft. Even at this stage we can still make lots of changes because...we live together.
We have received Honour Book Awards from the Children's Book Council of Australia for "The Riverboat Crew", "Hector and Maggie", "Dog Tales" and "Josh". Andrew has also received a number of awards for books he has illustrated for other authors (you can view these on our 'Books' page). In 2001 Andrew was awarded a Centenary Medal for is contribution to children's book illustration in Australia.
With most of our books we develop the story, characters and settings together. We make lots of notes and jottings and sketches during this process. We always end up with way too many ideas to fit into a 30 page book! Once we have a rough idea about how the story will flow and how the words and pictures will fit together, we set about working on a final draft. Even at this stage we can still make lots of changes because...we live together.
We have received Honour Book Awards from the Children's Book Council of Australia for "The Riverboat Crew", "Hector and Maggie", "Dog Tales" and "Josh". Andrew has also received a number of awards for books he has illustrated for other authors (you can view these on our 'Books' page). In 2001 Andrew was awarded a Centenary Medal for is contribution to children's book illustration in Australia.