In today’s article, we invite you to join us in discovering the enchanting world of “The Little Helpers,” a series of children’s books that combine captivating storytelling with important environmental messages. Author Claire Culliford has created a universe filled with lovable animal characters who embark on adventures to protect our planet.
How has your writing style evolved since creating “The Monster’s Tea Party” at age 7?
Well, it’s possible my writing style has matured just a little! Although I still have exactly the same desire to include lots of fun and positivity along with an important moral message in my stories these days. As an adult, I understand the benefit of fictional stories being used as a means of educating and empowering children when it comes to important global issues. So I would say my choice of theme has become a little more refined. My writing style is a constant work in progress as I’m hoping to be writing for a very long time to come!
What qualities did you want Hector and his friends to embody in relation to environmental education?
I wanted the animal characters in The Little Helpers to embody kindness, compassion, imagination and creative problem-solving, as well as to be full of joy, play and positivity. I wanted them to be attractive, empowering characters with traits that children could relate to and who would also inspire children to want to be like them.
What challenges and successes have you faced in adapting your stories for different cultures?
As I have worked and lived in multicultural environments my whole life, I designed The Little Helpers specifically so that the animals would act as a means of representation for cultures from all around the world and also to unite readers from different cultures. The geographical environments – the oceans, rainforests, savannah, polar ice caps, gardens and parks – are included so that children from cultures who live in each of these environments can relate to them. They also raise awareness among children from all cultures of the diversity of living environments on our planet. Through the stories, they get a glimpse into life in different natural habitats and the benefits and issues associated with these.
When translating the books, we faced challenges in terms of accurately conveying the meaning of the English stories using appropriate vocabulary and cultural references in the target languages. Professional translators were used to ensure we achieved this successfully as these are exactly the issues that trained linguists resolve.
The feedback from children, and adults, in the countries where I have taken the books has been incredibly supportive, encouraging and positive. Seeing and hearing how much they enjoy the translated versions of the stories makes me think that adapting them for the different cultures that we have has been a success. Being able to reach more children around the world, by providing the stories in children’s own mother tongues, is a great achievement, I feel.
Can you describe your creative process in balancing storytelling with educational content?
When writing The Little Helpers, I start out with an environmental issue that exists in the world today. I consider a natural environment somewhere on our planet where this issue occurs and then look at what animals tend to live there. Once I have identified the main characters and the problem, I let my imagination flow freely to come up with a creative way in which the animals might solve the issue in an enjoyable and playful way.
I make sure to include real facts about the animals and the natural world, for educational purposes, as well as inventive solutions, so that the stories are engaging for children. I include a few questions at the end of each story to reinforce the educational element, by enabling readers to discuss the story content in more depth and to provide their own ideas for resolving the problems dealt with by the animal characters.
How have children responded to your stories, and what feedback has been most valuable?
Everywhere in the world that The Little Helpers have been, the reception from children has been fantastic. I have been fortunate enough to read the stories myself with children in many places and they always share that they love the inventive ways the animals help to solve real-world problems as well as their kindness and compassion towards each other and the natural world.
The most valuable feedback is often the input from the target audience whilst I am trialling each story with children. They are quick to point out bits of vocabulary that may need changing or any parts of the draft story which they don’t quite understand. This is wonderful for helping me to edit and produce the final version of each story.
Where do you see “The Little Helpers” evolving in the next few years?
Part of the amazing journey I have been on with The Little Helpers is that I never quite know where we are going to be taken next. There have been so many exciting and unexpected opportunities along the way – from collaborations with individuals and organisations around the world whose missions align with ours, to invites to send the books, or take them personally, to parts of the world where their message is truly needed.
When it comes to more planned developments, there are further stories in the series that have already been written which we will be bringing out in audiobook and print book formats. These ones we will be doing as story collections, as some of them contain some more complex environmental issues. I want older children to be able to continue being a part of the Little Helper family as their independent reading and literacy skills improve. As they grow in knowledge about the natural world around them, I want them to learn more about the environmental issues we face in our world so that they are inspired to help creatively solve them during their lifetime.
I aim to continue getting myself and the stories out to as many children around the world as possible as well. I am passionate about helping to encourage and inspire the next generation to want to look after everyone around them as well as all the different parts of our beautiful natural world.
