This week we are delighted to feature children’s author, illustrator and lifelong lover of all things tiny, Harriet Muncaster. Harriet who lives in a country village in rural Bedfordshire, writes and illustrates delightful tales of fantasy, of magical worlds inhabited by fairies, witches and Wisklings. These being fairy-esque creatures with antennae, pointed ears and exceptionally long eyelashes.

Harriet is best known for her international bestselling, award-winning series, Isadora Moon. These are written especially for 5-8-year-olds. And her Victoria Stitch novel, Bad and Glittering for middle grade 9-12-year-olds, all published by Oxford University Press. As well as writing and illustrating her books, Harriet also makes little 3D character dolls, which she takes out, like a little mascot, on long country walks and holidays, to photograph in natural woodland settings. Harriet, finds such times relaxing and calming, and life slows down so that she can really appreciate nature.

The little doll she carried with her for a long while was Celestine – Victoria Stitch’s twin sister. However, the two could not be more different from one another. After a while Harriet found herself worrying about something happening to the little doll, such as getting lost or damaged. Eventually, she retired Celestine and created other little characters in 3D to photograph.

Loving fantasy worlds since childhood

The fantasy worlds in which her stories and characters live have been a part of Harriet’s life since she was very young. She told Miniatura, “From a young child, I have always loved all kind of tiny things. And I loved the idea of creating a world where everything is in miniature, the sort of place where fairies drink from little acorn cups. My wiskling world is my ultimate passion.”

Harriet also enjoys writing her Isadora Moon books. Isadora is half fairy, half vampire who lives with her mother, a fairy, her father, a vampire, her baby sister Honeyblossom and her favourite companion, a magicked-to-life stuffed Pink Rabbit. The character of Isadora evolved in a way, from Victoria Stitch – a gothic fairy, who was a bit mean and spiky, which 12 years ago, the world was not quite ready for.  And so, a couple of years after taking an MA in children’s books at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, Harriet adapted her ideas and Isadora Moon began to take shape and make herself known to Harriet.

Oxford University Press loved her ideas and commissioned her to write more about this cute little vampire fairy who has bat wings and loves the colours black and pink. To date, Harriet’s Isadora Moon series features 12 titles and has been translated into 29 different languages. It’s sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide and won the El Corte Ingles Children’s Book of the Year 2019 award. Quite recently her Victoria Stitch, Bad and Glittering has been published by OUP and is proving very popular. Plus, she’s writing a series on another character – Mirabelle who is Isadora’s cousin. Naturally, Harriet loves all her books, but she has a particular soft spot for Isadora Gets In Trouble, as it features Isadora’s dolls house.

Having a great love of all things tiny, crafting miniatures is something Harriet has always done quite naturally, whereas, she points out, she had to learn how to draw and paint. However, she hadn’t known anything about the world of miniatures until she went along to a Miniatura Show.

She said, “I remember going to Miniatura for the first time and was amazed at what people were making. I didn’t realise all this was going on. I discovered a brilliant jeweller, Ursula Sturmer, who makes the most beautiful sparkling jewellery. I bought a necklace from her, and decided that my character, Celestine was going to be a jewellery designer.  My books have been very influenced by miniatures.”

Although Harriet didn’t really have a dolls house as a child, as she was always making her own little worlds and environments for her characters, she now has a castle from Dolls House Emporium. She is decorating this in sparkling gold and gemstones, where her little 3D dolls, who have now retired from being photographed, live in glittering luxury.

The future for Harriet sees her creating more sparkling accessories for her castle and of course writing and illustrating more adventures for Isadora Moon and Victoria Stitch. She concluded, “I can’t imagine not doing these books. I’ll just go on writing and Illustrating – and living in Victoria Stitch’s Wiskling world forever. I just can’t envisage it not being in my life.”

Discover more about Harriet here: www.harrietmuncaster.co.uk