We already have had two colouring books from the Wizarding World - Harry Potter Colouring Book and Harry Potter Magical Creatures Colouring Book.
Psychologists call these treasured toys ‘transitional objects’, which can soothe children and act as a comforting stand-in for a parent when needed. Why do you think beloved toys and items are so important for children (and adults)? The worst thing I ever lost was my mother’s engagement ring it still makes me sad to think about it. It’s one of the things that irritates me most about myself. Jack is brave, loving and a little lost, though he finds himself through his adventure with the Christmas Pig, and I’d describe CP in exactly the same way.ĭo you lose things? What’s the worst thing you have ever lost? If you had to describe the character Jack in three words, what would those three words be? And what three words would they be for the Christmas Pig? You’re entering a world that runs according to its own peculiar magical laws, and there is magic around Christmas Eve, but there are no wands and wizards. The Christmas Pig is a magical story, but in a very different way to Harry Potter. I’m a great planner and I knew exactly what was going to happen, and where, and how, before I started writing The Christmas Pig. How different was it plotting out the Harry Potter series? Is there any magic in The Christmas Pig? My children were playing on the beach and I was huddled beneath a sunshade, drawing maps and thinking through the logistics of the world. In my writing room in the garden, but I remember mapping out the Land of the Lost while our family was on holiday. He’s still with me, bald in places due to my habit of picking at his fur when I was very small. I ended up calling him Henry, after one of the trains on Thomas The Tank Engine.
My equivalent of Dur Pig was a large, blue-eyed, pink and white teddy bear, which was bought for me by my grandparents. Slowly, the Land of the Lost started to take shape. The story was inspired by my dread of David losing his beloved pig for good, and gradually I became interested in what it would mean to be a replacement toy, knowing that you couldn’t ever be quite what the original was, with all its many associations and memories. One day, while poking around in a cupboard, three-year-old David found the replacement pig by accident, declared him to be his original pig’s brother and kept him, too, so they’re both still with us. At one point I got so worried that David was going to lose his pig for good that I bought a duplicate just in case.
That’s my invention).ĭavid was prone to hiding this pig in all kinds of places, so bedtime was sometimes put off while we tried to track the pig down. My son David’s favourite, can’t-go-to-bed-without-him toy when he was little was a pig just like the one in the story, made of soft towelling material and filled with belly beans (although the real life toy isn’t called Dur Pig. These are the questions and answers, and at the end you can watch the video.Ĭan you tell us a bit about the inspiration behind the story? What inspired you to write The Christmas Pig?Īlthough the story is invented, the initial inspiration came from a real toy, or rather, pair of toys. Rowling did a interview with The Daily Mail, and read an extract of The Christmas Pig. To promote The Christmas Pig, the new book that is out tomorrow, J.K. Rowling and she reads and extract from the book October 11, 2021 News Publications The Daily Mail: Q&A with J.K.