Join us as we explore Crystal Corocher's new picture book, Giovanni, delving into the powerful themes of resilience, education, and cultural richness that shape this heartwarming tale.

What do you love about kid lit?

It’s such a privilege to write for and engage with young people, particularly picture book readers; that window of development when a child is as open to magic as they are to learning something new feels unlike any other stage in our reading life and I find the work that goes into considering the best way to create for that age group endlessly fascinating.

Giovanni is a true story — what inspired you to write it?

I’ve felt inspired to write something for and about this group of Italians for a long time, it’s the homage I’ve always wanted to create and I’m grateful that I’m writing it in a time when the reading and publishing community are open to migrant stories beyond what we’ve always known. It is time for this migrant story to be both understood and celebrated and I think I’ve always felt a sense of responsibility to contribute to the work that has been done by other descendants and their families.

Have you and Giovanni shared any similar experiences?

Only philosophically speaking; I haven’t personally known starvation or deprivation in the way these migrants endured. Ten years ago I went through something that was personally very challenging for me and took a toll on my energy for nearly four years and I’m sure that coming from a resilient family helped me to dig deep when I needed to, so in those instances knowing where we came from is a personal sense of strength and appreciation, but my life has been a blessed one to not know what a voyage like the one I reference in Giovanni was like. I’m mindful that many new Australians would have had similar experiences though, and in recent times, it’s why I like to call this book a homage to migrants of all backgrounds.

Why did you choose to tell this story through Giovanni’s eyes?

I first had the reader in mind; I sat with all the information and then wanted to be sure I could frame it in a way that young readers could endear to and understand. I also think being a mum brought me to writing it the way that I did. My great-grandfather, Giovanni, was four during the voyage so I imagined my own son as a four-year-old under those circumstances to take me through the experience. When I did this, it just fell into place and all of the family stories I had heard and all of the research I had ever done just started to arrange into simple and emotionally guided prose.

What was it like to retell a true story as a picture book?

I’ve worked as both a journalist and a creative writer / editor for some time, so I often find myself in the non-fiction and fiction world, but more often than not, it’s a pendulum between the two. This project felt like a marriage between the two and it’s given me a boost of confidence to take into my other narrative non-fiction work, which is a genre I absolutely adore. Telling this story in picture book form also meant that the storytelling became shared between my text and Margeaux Davis’s illustrations. I think that was the synergy this story needed to be accessible to children and their families. It’s not a dense or arduous read in any way, but it is an important moment in history and I’m so delighted that it can be shared with any age of reader.

What do you hope young readers will take away from Giovanni?

I hope they will be open to learning about this migrant story and that it will stoke curiosity about other migrant stories we should learn or learn more deeply. I hope readers take away a sense of astonishment that anyone survived, because I do, every time I think about that voyage. And I hope that it provides a reason to pause and think about how lucky we all are to call Australia our home, to reflect on what that means in terms of First Nations People, to be empathetic to the plights of migrants and (if I’m being really optimistic) to spark conversations about tolerance and acceptance. Giovanni is a perfect addition to Harmony Day book lists, and I hope it will be embraced in that space.

What are you most looking forward to about Giovanni’s release?

I’m really looking forward to conversations about this book. There’s a story behind this story that I’m excited to share and proud to be connected to, so I’m really looking forward to meeting with readers at our various events - and students during author visits.

This is your second picture book, but Giovanni has very different themes to The Naked Sheep. What were the biggest differences in how you approached the writing process and was anything the same?

The part that is the same is that I did give every word on the page careful deliberation in each book. I’m a bit of an over-thinker, so there is nothing about either book I didn’t agonise over between writing and submitting. The two are almost polar opposites; Giovanni is prose, The Naked Sheep is written in rhyme; The Naked Sheep makes people laugh and Giovanni has already made plenty of people cry. But I think they are the right form for each of the stories. I didn’t try to force that with either of them, I just felt it out along the way.

How has your experience in publishing affected your writing process?

It has given me an understanding of the different roles in the industry and how they work together, which is incredibly valuable. I love a bit of a push with my work so being familiar with the process has made me very comfortable with feedback and the role of publishers and editors in elevating a story to the best it can be. I think I’ve become more confident in working with people I admire and get in my own way a little less these days.

What was it like to work with an illustrator on this story? Were there particular images or experiences that you were excited to see in drawings?

Margeaux took such a considered and thoughtful approach to this project. She spent time at New Italy Museum, she did her own research, and went the extra mile for accuracy and feel - I think it shows on every page. The lighthouse image and the orchard scenes are so full of life and are some of my favourites, but the sparseness and space on other pages really gives a sense of this voyage and has made it such an immersive and engrossing read. I also learned that we are fellow history enthusiasts and I’m so hopeful we get to create another project together sometime!

Do you have any other projects in the works?

I do! I have an early reader series and two middle grade stories I’m working on. There are also a few new picture book projects I’m completing and one that I’m in the process of contracting.

If you're interested in a face-to-face or virtual school visit with Crystal, find out more here.