There’s nothing quite like a compelling anti-hero, and Takalani Munzhedzi (South Africa), winner of our Writing for Children Competition, has created exactly that. Inspired by the likes of Pippi Longstocking and Horrid Henry, Takalani set out to create a character that was equally crafty, devious, and humorous. “I knew Petunia had to be an anti-hero the minute I started writing the story,” says Takalani. But how do you make a mischievous character that the readers want to root for?
Below, we talk to Takalani about how she crafted an anti-hero that we can all get behind, plus her illustration process and children’s book recommendations.
Where did the inspiration for this delightful and hilarious story come from?
At first, I didn’t really know what I wanted to write—but I knew I wanted it to be something that kids would enjoy and laugh at. As I was thinking about it, I remembered a David Walliams book I had read when I was a child called The World’s Worst Children. It inspired me to create a character that was very crafty, devious and humorous at the same time. So Petunia Higgils came to be.
What was your process for illustrating this piece? Did you illustrate as you wrote, or did the illustrations come afterwards? How did you decide which moments in the story to depict?
I decided to draw up my illustrations after I had finished the story. I picked the scenes that I thought would be the most fun to look at and follow along visually so I grabbed my pencil and started doodling all sorts of wacky things. I guess a part of it was also me wanting to draw my favourite scenes and bring them to life.
Our Guest Judge said about your heroine Petunia: “She is horrid, as shown by her pranking and devious ideas, but she is also an anti-hero that readers will follow everywhere.” What drew you to creating this naughty and scheming sort of character, and how did you ensure readers would nevertheless embrace her?
I knew Petunia had to be an anti-hero the minute I started writing the story. I remembered how fun it could be to follow the “antagonist” of the story instead of the typical good guy. After I had roughly thought of her character, her horrid behaviour sort of took over the story the more I wrote. When it comes to people embracing her, I wanted her to do something heroically epic and shockingly funny to top the story off so I chose to make Ms. Littlebottom more horrid than Petunia, so you couldn’t help but be on her side!
What were some of your favorite children’s books when you were young?
When I was younger, I read a lot of Jacqueline Wilson books, such as the Tracy Beaker series and Candyfloss. I also enjoyed books from David Walliams and Liz Pichon. Overall, I think some of the books that stood out to me when I was a child were: Tom Gates, The Midnight Gang, Geronimo Stilton, Pippi Longstocking and way too many Horrid Henry books to count!
