The ALBERT the tortoise and Hugg ‘n’ Bugg series of books: A Guest Post by Ian Brown

Do You Know the Difference Between a Turtle and Tortoise?

I don't know if I've spoken much on here about my love of animals, but for my entire life I've admired them. All I watched was Animal Planet or movies such as Homeward Bound, Beethoven, or Milo and Otis just to name a few. I worked at a vet clinic in high school, then received my bachelors in Organismal Biology allowing me to internship with wolves. I even went on to work with brown bears for a bit.

So when I saw the ALBERT the tortoise series I knew I needed to reach out to Ian to see if he would consider writing a guest post. Let's see what he has to say!

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ALBERT the tortoise and Hugg ‘n Bugg books

written by Ian Brown, Illustrated by Eoin Clarke

Hi. I’m Ian Brown and I’m lucky enough to be author of the ALBERT the tortoise series of picture books (aimed at 0-7 years), board books (0-3 years) and activity book plus the Hugg ‘n’ Bugg series of picture books. There are 9 ALBERT picture books and 3 board books. There are 4 Hugg ‘n’ Bugg picture books. With more Albert books on the way.

The ALBERT books all feature the adventures of pet tortoise Albert (some would call him a turtle) and his garden friends. They are all about teamwork, helping others, being kind and friendship. All the Albert picture books also contain facts about tortoises, turtles, dinosaurs, life cycles, amphibians and garden bugs. The ALBERT picture books are also available as ebooks, animated ebooks and audiobooks. Titles are now also available in Spanish, Korean, Maltese and Welsh (our publisher is based in Cardiff, Wales).

The Hugg ‘n’ Bugg books are about a messy yeti and a flea who team up in the snowy Himalayas. The flea, Bugg, doesn’t like the cold and is looking for somewhere warm to live. The fur of the yeti, Hugg, is perfect but very messy. In return for tidying the fur, he gets to live in the yeti’s hair.

More details at www.AlbertTortoise.com

Before writing the books, I was a print and TV journalist and for 40+ years was a TV producer. I’ve worked on projects like The Simpsons and with household names like Harrison Ford, Pierce Brosnan, Michael Caine, Simon Cowell, George Michael, Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson and many more. It took me 40 years to be published. I usually read biographies, diaries or memoirs. Usually of famous names. That said, I do return to my favorite childhood books as well – the Paddington bear books.

What was your inspiration for the story?

The inspiration for the ALBERT books is our real family pet tortoise called Albert. He is more than 80 years-old and was found and adopted by my wife’s family when she was a little girl. She and her mum thought they had come across a rock near their house. But it was a tortoise. Nobody claimed him – after a lot of effort to return him – and they took him in and named him Albert. About five years ago, he had flipped upside down in our garden in London, England. I was gently turning him over when an idea came into my head. Eventually that became our first picture book ALBERT UPSIDE DOWN.

How long did it take you from start to finish?

The first draft was very quick. I could see the whole story like a cartoon film in my head. Polishing the story and improving it took many months – while we sought a publisher and the illustrations were worked on.

How much time did you spend working on the story each day?

It’s not a daily process for me. For a new story I start by noting down ideas. Then they build in my head. I try to think of exciting images for the illustrations and for comical things that might happen. Then, after a few weeks the story forms and I am ready to write. I write by hand at first and then type up a neater version. Then we discuss illustrations, polish the words and prepare to submit the idea to our publisher Graffeg Books. Most work each day is on promotion through social media or

story time events at schools, libraries and book festivals. The books have made it into US schools and real Albert is also an Ambassador for several US turtle and tortoise organizations.

Did you have any other contributors?

All the ALBERT and Hugg ‘n’ Bugg books are illustrated by Eoin Clarke who is also an animation director. Fortunately, I had already been working with him on animation projects when I had the idea for the first ALBERT story. The look of Albert went through a few stages. He started out more like a Disney character. But we settled on him looking more like a real tortoise. Eoin is brilliant and brings my ideas to life – making them much better. All the illustrations are oil paintings. In the first ALBERT picturebook, I had one image in my mind in particular .. Albert upside down with all the garden bugs – worms, ants, spiders, snails - working to try to turn him over. The idea was based on an image from Gulliver’s Travels. Eoin created a magical illustration.

What’s next?

There are set to be 3 more ALBERT picture books and 2 board books at least. One is most likely a Halloween story. There is also an animation of ALBERT in the works to be a kids’ TV series. We already have a trailer of 3D CGI Albert and it is very exciting indeed.

Do you have any tips or tricks?

Just do it! – Don’t wait and keep thinking about a story or book you might want to do. Have a go. You never know where it might lead. Do not sit and think for ages about the perfect title. Get writing. The title will come in due course.

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Guest Post Wrap Up

What a fun post by Ian! I highly suggest checking his page out if you haven't already. The books from the story to the illustrations are fantastic.

Leave in the comments below if you know the difference between a tortoise and an turtle.

You can also check out some of the latest guest posts including self-publishing authors Amanda Kute or Nadja Bullis. If you would like to be featured on the blog, please feel free to reach out at kalikuzma@gmail.com.