20/02/2023
In our church yard the snow drops are out in force - along with some violets and some early daffs! Maybe it’s an aspect of my increasing age, together with living so close to what is effectively a small urban nature reserve, but I find the onset of Spring a perennial source of delight. With the onset of the first flowers, I feel both energy and strength returning to the world - and thereby to me!
My most recent picture book, “Follow that Scent!” is about a child who discovers, one warm spring morning, a wonderful and indescribable scent floating in the air. Its fragrance is so mysteriously pungent that he loses interest in everything else, including his ice cream, as he begins to follow it. This in turn leads to all sorts of potential trouble involving a procession of animals and an overly sensible adult, before disaster is averted and all is finally and joyously resolved.
The story has been with me for years as a simple tale, so I was thrilled last year to get Oxford illustrator Sarah Hoyle to supply the pictures and so turn it into a picture book. Though that of course, is a serious understatement of what Sarah brought to the process given that she had to find some way to illustrate the ineffable scent. I think she did an amazing job, but that’s for you to decide!
And so my second picture book came to be born - and printed by the Oxford Holywell Press, of whom I cannot speak highly enough!
But now it’s also been made into a wonderful short film, produced by Julian Dorado with music by clarinettist Paul Medley. And what a film! Huge thanks also to Malcolm Atkins at the Westbury People’s Gallery for letting me have use of his recording studio! All in all, it’s been a real East Oxford production.
I hope you enjoy it and if so, please feel free to share with your friends!
Spring is sprung. And sometimes we just have to follow the scent!
Follow that Scent — a story by Julian Armitstead - YouTube
