Paper Planes

Simon and Schuster 2019. Illustrated by Richard Jones

“A beautiful… imaginative picture book.” The Sunday Times

‘Mia and Ben were the very best of friends. Together they sang and swam, but what they liked to do most of all was make paper planes…’

I first thought about writing Paper Planes when my brother moved to Australia. Growing up, the two of us had always been close, so I tried to imagine how I would have felt if we’d been separated as children. When we first visited my brother in his new home, our own children, began making paper planes together, and the idea for a story based on a long-distance friendship began to take shape.

I jumped at the chance of working with Richard Jones again after our initial collaboration on The Snow Lion and his illustrations for Paper Planes really fitted the reflective mood of the story. My absolute favourite piece of all Richard’s beautiful artwork was used as the cover image for the US edition. It shows Mia and Ben racing their paper planes with migrating geese, and captures the essence of their very special friendship perfectly.

I’d like to think this story might help anyone who’s missing a friend, however far away that friend may be. Sometimes a new school down the road can feel just as far away as the other side of the world.