Where Stories Find Their Heartbeat

The Little Boat and the Wide, Wide Sea began more than twenty years ago, during a creative writing class at university.

Asked to choose an object and simply start writing, I picked a ship in a bottle. I wrote about a little ship that longed to escape, to feel the wind in its sails and the rain on its deck — yet was frightened of what might happen if it ventured into the unknown.

When I read the piece aloud, I became unexpectedly emotional. I realised the little ship's longing for freedom, and its fear of what lay beyond the safety of the familiar, reflected something of my own life at the time.

More than twenty years later, I returned to that little ship, and the idea eventually became The Little Boat and the Wide, Wide Sea.

Where the story began

Before Beacon, Tortuga and the Fisherman found their colours, they began as sketches. These early drawings offer a glimpse into how the illustrations for The Little Boat and the Wide, Wide Sea first took shape.

Finding the Right Readers

Creating Tortuga

Finding Beacon’s Home

The manuscript changed dramatically during the writing process. Originally, it had more advanced language and was aimed at older children. As the story developed, I rewrote much of it for younger readers and decided to use large colour illustrations — bridging the gap between picture books and traditional chapter books.

I needed a believable place where a little boat could be swept from a river into the sea. My research led me to Polperro, in Cornwall, which has a river running through the old fishing village and out into the harbour. This gave Beacon's adventure the setting it needed.

Beacon's first companion wasn't Tortuga at all. It was Koko, a dolphin. But as the story developed, I realised Beacon needed someone older and wiser — a character who could reassure and guide him without taking the adventure away from him. And so, Tortuga was born. I based Tortuga loosely on the leatherback — the world's largest sea turtle and a visitor to British waters — although I took a little artistic licence with his appearance.

Other parts of the story changed too. The storm originally happened at sea, but moving it to the beginning gave me the perfect way to sweep Beacon from the safety of his familiar environment towards the unknown.

Changing the Journey