Lisa Shanahan: Do we have some more questions?

Emma Quay: Yes.

Student: How did you choose the places for Bear and Chook to visit?

Lisa: That’s a great question. Do you know what, when I finished ‘Bear and Chook’ lots of people said to me ‘I think you should write another story.’ And of course and the very last line of ‘Bear and Chook’ you know Bear he says to Chook ‘I want to go to the Moon.’ And so lots of children said to me ‘Are you going to write a story next time about Bear and Chook going to the Moon?’ And for a long time I thought ‘Well, maybe that’s what will happen.’ And then when I was really I guess, thinking about what would happen next. I can remember … well I was lying down again on my bed again, it seems to be a great place to get ideas for Bear and Chook stories and I suddenly heard a little phrase come into my mind and it was you know ‘Bear and Chook were fast asleep when a breeze came sniffing and licking.’ And I thought to myself ‘That breeze is a very holidayish like kind of breeze; it’s very sea like.’ And interestingly enough when I went back to ‘Bear and Chook’, I remembered that there was a moment where Bear actually does see the sea. It’s when he builds the mud castle and Bear says ‘I can see the sea,’ cried Bear waving from the turret and Chook says ‘Careful up there!’

‘And the mountains!’ hollered Bear climbing on the roof and stretching tall. ‘And the forest, and the …’ And I realised right in the very beginning of ‘Bear and Chook’ was the secret to what their next story should be. Because of course you know Bear and Chook would need to, you know go on a journey together and Bear definitely would remember that sea and he would definitely want to go and see what that looked like. And of course there was the mountains and the forest. Because they were going on the journey it had to be a bit scary in order for the time when they got to you know the sea it seemed so beautiful and delightful. So, I guess in some respects that the places that they went to, going over the bridge and through the forest and over the mountain to get to the sea was a little bit like a quest, they had to get through those scary places to get to the good part of the story. And the part where they really could both relax and enjoy one another’s company before the terrible event that happened to Bear.