Yvonne Mes talks dinosaurs, opals and writing for children

Meet Yvonne Mes, author, illustrator, presenter and co-ordinator of WriteLinks, whose latest book The Opal Dinosaur has just been published. She kindly  agreed to answer a few questions from Storylinks.

Where did the story come from? Whose  idea was it to write a story about this discovery?
I wish I could share some fabulous inspiring story behind the story, but it was all rather practical. My agent at the time informed me that CSIRO was looking for picture book pitches, which led to me brainstorming what subjects with a strong scientific component might interest children and would also fill a commercial gap. It quickly led me to dinosaurs, as they are universally fascinating to children. A quick online search confirmed my suspicion that there were few picture books about Australian dinosaurs, especially in narrative non-fiction form. And when I found a news article about a dinosaur that was opalised instead of fossilised I was amazed, I didn’t even know that was possible and here was a new species of Australian dinosaur that was literally and figuratively a treasure! 

 I found the death of the little dinosaur very moving and beautifully told. Was this difficult to describe for your young intended audience?

For the dinosaur’s bones to be found she had to naturally die first. Initially, I worried about it a little. but death is part of children’s lives, whether it is the death of an insect, a pet, or a loved one. And just because the concept of death provokes difficult emotions doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be included, in fact, I think it is important death IS included as a matter-of-fact and as a natural part of the life cycle. Of course, I did soften it a little. I am not a spiritual person, but I loved the thought that while her physical body was going through transformation, her story would live on. 

You say the opal dinosaur is a she – is there evidence for this or did you make an authorial decision?
This was definitely an authorial decision. We don’t know whether the remains of Fostoria were male or female. Because the dinosaur, as a living creature, only appeared in the first few pages of the story, it felt more personable to give her a gender to build the character’s rapport with the young readers.
The limited number of dinosaur skeletons of the same species mean there is little definitive evidence of whether dinosaurs remains were male or female. Even where dinosaur fossils have been found with or on a clutch of eggs, it proves nothing definitive. After all, both modern male and female birds can incubate or guard eggs. 

How closely did you work with the illustrator. As an illustrator yourself how was the process for you?
As is usual in the picture book publishing process, illustrator and author rarely meet or exchange ideas. There were some clarifying questions from Sylvia related to me via the editor and I got the opportunity for input into the early storyboard and as the illustrations evolved. But just as I wouldn’t expect Sylvia to tell me how to write a story, apart from some practical considerations here or there, I wouldn’t dare interfere with her creative process! Sylvia is a science communicator, and I know she did as much research as I did and did such a beautiful job in communicating the story to a child audience.

There are several other fascinating dinosaurs mentioned in your story. Are you planning on writing about any other Australian dinosaurs? Lightning Claw? What’s next for you?
Oh, I am a true dinosaur fan now, which is funny, because I didn’t go through a dinosaur phase as a child and neither did my kids. Now I have shelves full of dinosaur books; I have started collecting fossils and of course I also got myself some Lightning Ridge opal to play with. I have loved sharing this story with children and though I was already convinced of how much children love dinosaurs geeking out about dinosaurs with them in person gives me such a kick! And yes, I do have a few dinosaur stories simmering and sizzling waiting to jump from pan to paper.

Thank you so much for talking to Storylinks. Find out more about Yvonne at her website Yvonne Mes