Interview and Review: Candy James and the Archie and Reddie series

Dynamic and Delightful Candy James!

Candy James is a husband-and-wife creative duo originally from Hong Kong and New Zealand, but now living on a thickly forested hill in Ballarat, Australia. They are toy, graphic, and garden designers who love to make funny books for children. You can learn more about all their fun creative activity on their Instagram and on their website. This is the perfect time to get to know Candy and James Robertson and their work since they have just launched two new books for early readers (ages 4-8), I Really Dig Pizza! and We Will Find Your Hat!, published by Razorbill, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Those are the first two titles of the Archie and Reddie series.

First two titles to the Archie and Reddie series.

Who is Archie and Reddie? Well, they’re a couple of foxes. A bit of an odd couple, you might say, with Reddie being small and outspoken; and Archie being big and unsure. Together, they make it work, sort of like Laurel & Hardy but different. These are two foxes we’re talking about after all. Maybe you’re familiar with the Elephant & Piggie books, by Mo Willems; or the Narwhal and Jelly books by Ben Clanton. Think quirky humor for kids and you’re on the right path.

A nimble use of comics to briefly explain a work of comics.

The first book in this series is all about pizza and…dirt. Archie stumbles upon a gift-wrapped pizza in the forest, and wonders who would possibly leave a perfectly good treat just lying around. So he does the only sensible thing and buries it so he can dig it up later for dinner! But with tummy rumbling, Archie discovers Reddie is trying to solve a mystery. It seems she’s found a pile of dirt and wants to get to the bottom of it! Mayhem ensues–along with funny word play, intriguing compositions and a heart-warming story to boot!

Both of these books will engage kids on many levels–not the least of which is hilarious good fun! This is outright uninhibited humor that resonates with young minds. Then add to that the Candy James magic touch, a multi-layered approach to design and storytelling. As you’ll discover during this video interview, both creators have numerous influences that they have masterfully distilled into their work, everything from Moomin to some of the great works of manga from their own childhood, like Dragon Ball. But, most essential to their vision in this series is all the fun they had telling bedtime stories to their daughter when she was an early reader herself. Fast forward to the present, and you’ll find that same child, Poppy, is now a teen and, in fact, loves to create her own comics. What both Candy and James wish to do is keep creating more stories and engaging with readers of all ages. “We hope,” says James, “that we’ve created characters that are strong enough to encourage readers to recite from the books and play as the characters themselves.”