The inspiration behind SuperDaisy
By author Rebecca Smith
Just two months after her second birthday my daughter’s close friend Daisy was diagnosed with Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis – a rare disease classed under the cancer umbrella. The rarity of LCH means that diagnosis often comes too late and Daisy was very ill indeed. That night, overwhelmed by a sense of utter helplessness, I did the only thing that I could in order to process the devastating news. I sat down to write.
SuperDaisy was born of a desire to do something helpful in a time of despair, to provide a story of hope for children like Daisy and a resource for all young children grappling with the reality of serious illness. I wanted to create a story that provided parents and carers with a way in and out of challenging conversations about childhood cancer, emphasising the extraordinary strength of character discovered by children facing this ordeal.
But SuperDaisy took longer than I expected to finish. Call me superstitious but it was simply impossible to write an ending before knowing how Daisy’s real-life story would develop.
Two years from diagnosis, Daisy was on a firm footing having responded well to chemotherapy. I shared the completed text with the Little Princess Trust. Could this story be genuinely helpful for children and families facing the devastation of childhood cancer?
That first visit to LPT was overwhelming. It is a charity built on an unfaltering foundation - Wendy and Simon’s unconditional, enduring love for their daughter, Hannah. The power of that driving force is the life blood of the charity, permeating everything that they do. You feel it when you are there and it stays with you. Seeing the boxes of donated ponytails and recognising that every ponytail has a story – people don’t cut of their hair and donate it without reason – left me literally weak at the knees.
Yes, was the answer. Yes, the story would be helpful, not only for children with cancer and their families but also for healthy children confronted with the reality of cancer. And there was no book like it out there.
Emboldened and determined, within weeks I found myself meeting the team at HarperCollins. There was no to and fro, no question or delay, SuperDaisy would be published with all profit going to the Little Princess Trust. Surrounded by the books of inspirational children’s authors, Ann Janine Murtagh, Executive Publisher at HarperCollins Children’s Books told me, “When you believe in something you must follow your heart.” Ann Janine believed in SuperDaisy.
I believe in SuperDaisy. I believe in her ability to empower children with a sense of agency. I believe in her power to fight the injustice of childhood cancer, on the page and through the funds she raises.
She has strength of character beyond that which I wrote for her. Zoe Waring has done the most magical work in her perfect illustrations. But still, we both agree that there is more to SuperDaisy than could ever be fully captured on the page. She has a spirit of her own – strong and just and courageous - just like those children that she represents.
Everyone who buys her book joins Daisy and the Little Princess Trust in the fight against the injustice of childhood cancer.
Bringing SuperDaisy to life on the page
By illustrator Zoe Waring
When HarperCollins approached me to illustrate a book in conjunction with the Little Princess Trust, I just had to know more!
It was all top secret to begin with. All I knew was there was a story written by a fantastic debut author, inspired by a real little girl and her heroic battle with cancer.
I usually draw a lot of animals, so I sat that evening and drew a little girl swinging from a tree with long flowing pink hair. It wasn’t until a few months later, when Rebecca and I had the most wonderful first call, that she mentioned the illustration and had thought that I’d read the story! I'd had no idea SuperDaisy wore a pink wig at that stage and it felt as if a sort of magic energy was steering the illustrations from there on in.
Creating SuperDaisy’s look was my first challenge. Rebecca’s story was clear, this character is strength, hope, kindness, courage, confidence, love, magic and more, all rolled into one and I wanted her to radiate this! Daisy had to be able to take the reader on this often difficult journey, leading them through the challenges sensitively and then smoothly swooping into uplifting scenes. Her expressions needed to be open and readable, so that children of all ages were able to engage with her and understand what emotions she was feeling at each stage of the story. I often pull many faces while drawing (yes alone at my desk - I look crazy!) and love to observe my little one and her friends for inspiration.
When it came to SuperDaisy’s outfit I wanted to create something that a child may have been able to put together. It would be a dream come true to see lots of little SuperDaisy’s swooping around on World Book Day!
A good colour palette always helps to inspire me when creating a new character too and when it came to designing SuperDaisy, the pink wig was obviously a great place to start. I wanted to incorporate the purple and gold colours from the Little Princess Trust branding -as SuperDaisy would be sitting alongside them at some point.
When drawing the characters I had to try and imagine how I’d have felt as a little girl or how I would feel as a mother. This helped me to draw on my own emotions and bring empathy to the illustrations. There were moments I felt this deeply, particularly the spread where she begins to lose her hair. The little hair clip moment still catches in my throat each time and the mum quietly brushing, with her eyes closed. It felt important for me to acknowledge mum's emotions too as this would be a book read by a parent or carer, possibly having gone through this experience and even though I haven’t, I do know fear, loss and the importance of feeling seen.
It also felt important to show SuperDaisy was not alone and it was at the moment of sketching out this spread that I introduced the cat. When Daisy packs away her Princess outfit and dreams I needed someone or something there to offer her a little reassurance. He then got added to all of the other scenes and what a fun little addition he was!
Fun was a very important factor for me. I knew this book was going to be in the hands of real life little superheroes and I wanted to reinforce Rebecca’s story and help to create that wonderful escapism and adventure a picture book can bring. The zoo scene was especially enjoyable to illustrate. I want the little readers to return to this book again and again and to spot new things - so busy scenes like this are just perfect for adding in all those little details!
I had such a wonderful journey illustrating this book, Rebecca is the most amazing author to be paired with and I know by bringing this groundbreaking book into the world, she will be having an incredibly positive effect on so many lives.