It's getting dark in the toy room! Cowboy Ted, Pretty Kitty, Hector and Spike have spent all afternoon making dens and Cowboy Ted decides he's not going to go back to the toy box with the other toys, he's going to spend the night inside his den. But as he sits in his tent and the room becomes darker and darker around him, Cowboy Ted begins to feel just a little bit scared. But Cowboy Ted is not the only one who can't get to sleep and, one by one, the other toys come to join him in his tent. This is a sweet, reassuring story that acknowledges that it's comforting to have company if you're feeling a little scared of the dark. Jo Partis has captured the charm and humour of her toddler-inspired characters - through both her illustrations and dialogue - and, consequently, the interplay between them in this toy room soap opera is delightfully entertaining.
Joanne has always enjoyed drawing and painting, so after finishing A-Level art, she went on to do a Foundation Course in Illustration at Loughborough. The course encouraged her to find an individual style and allowed her to experiment with different types of illustration.
In her third year, inspired by such classics and The Very Hungry Caterpilla, she began working on an idea for a children's book competition. This is how Stripe was born.
Inspiration has also come from her family cats, Oscar, Psyche, Leo, and Prue, despite their fondness for sitting on freshly painted artwork!
