From Cotton-Tail to Quokka Tales
Aimee Horne, who played Cottontail in the hit movie Peter Rabbit 2, has just completed narrating an audiobook series about a charismatic quokka.
Written by Jonathan Macpherson, Rotto! is a popular children’s series that follows the adventures of Clancy the Quokka and his human friend Kyle, an 8-year-old girl, on Rottnest Island.
Published by new independent JFM Books, the series has been growing in popularity, particularly with middle-grade readers.
Horne, who played alongside Margot Robbie, James Cordon and Rose Byrne in the box office hit Peter Rabbit 2 (so far the year’s biggest hit in the UK), takes on the role of narrator and a variety of characters in the series, including various Quokkas and school children.
Q&A with Aimee Horne Did you know much about quokkas and Rottnest island before doing the series?I've been to Rottnest Island a few times before and fell in love with the Quokkas and amazing beaches dotted all over the island. The “Rotto!” series gave me a better idea of what else was there and has made me interested in returning to find some of the spots that feature in the books. How would you compare Cottontail with Clancy the Quokka?Clancy is cheeky, loyal and brave. I think Cottontail is all those things, but maybe a bit more unhinged! What was it like playing so many characters (across 4 books) in such a short time?Challenging but fun! There is a lot of dialogue between characters and the jumping between them can get confusing if you're not paying attention when you're performing. Recording on my own meant that I could play around with the characters' voices for a bit longer than I might have been able to in a studio. For example, I wanted Kylie to be full of courage, but still clearly a little girl that has to overcome her fears, while Beerenburger, a gruff old quokka, needed to have a distinct voice, but the listener to still be able to link him to Van Cleef, his brother; that sort of development and creation takes time and I was glad I had it. What can listeners expect from the Rotto! series?An absolute romp with some fun learning along the way. Adventure, danger and excitement. Stories that fire up the imagination and probably a strong desire to visit Rottnest!
Q&A with Jonathan Macpherson (author)
What inspired you to write the “Rotto!” series?
My wife and I took our children over to Rottnest island when they were seven and nine years old, and they were totally taken with the quokkas, as you’d expect. I’d written a couple of thrillers and my kids had been onto me about writing something they could read (the thrillers certainly weren’t appropriate!). On the ferry ride back from Rotto, we were looking over the many photos we’d taken and there were a couple of my daughter that sparked my imagination. One saw her crouched beside a quokka, both looking like a couple of mates having a giggle, and the other was of my daughter hiking around Wadjemup Lighthouse wearing her backpack. Looking at those pictures I just knew I had to write an adventure story about a young girl and a quokka, and I wrote “Kylie and the Quokkas of Rottnest Island” soon after.
That’s book 2 in the series, isn’t it?Yes. But once I’d written it, I thought there should probably be a story about Clancy the Quokka before he meets Kylie. So Clancy the Quokka of Rottnest Island was written next, but it’s the first story, chronologically.
Was it important for you to have the protagonist be a young girl?Yes, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the story was inspired by my daughter so in that sense it was a no-brainer. Also, my daughter had mentioned that there seemed to be few children’s adventure books with female protagonists, so that was another reason. Kylie, the heroine, proves herself to be quite the swashbuckler, and certainly as capable as any boy her age.
Why did you choose the name Kylie?Kylie used to be a popular name when I was growing up, but not so much these days. I wanted her to be a typical Aussie kid, but also to stand out a bit. You can’t get much more Aussie than Kylie, and these days it’s a bit unusual I suppose, so it’s memorable. It was also a bit of a nod to Kylie Minogue.
There are many historical references in the books. Was that important?Once I had the spine of the first story, I did a lot of research to help me with the details and to create a real world. It’s not possible to research Rottnest without looking into its history. Obviously there’s a very sad history there regarding the First Nations people, which was tragic and so not appropriate for my story. I did include references to Aboriginal culture, and to the Dutch explorer Willem de Vlamingh, who named the island Rotte Nest (which means rat’s nest - he first thought the quokkas were rats!). I also discovered that feral cats were wreaking havoc on the wildlife, including the quokkas, for decades. That also informed the story. There’s a strong ecological aspect to the book, and one of the recurring messages is about the importance of not feeding quokkas, no matter how hard they are to resist!
How have the books done so far?They’ve done very well, particularly in Australia, but also in the US and the UK. I came to realize that, of course, a lot of people overseas had never heard of quokkas, as evidenced by some of the reviews - “Who knew Quokkas were real animals?!” etc, so it’s been great to create awareness about the “world’s happiest animal”, as they say.
How was the process of working producing the audiobooks with Aimee Horne?It was terrific! Aimee is a total professional and exceeded my expectations. I’d listen to the “dailies” with my wife and children and we’d be in fits of laughter. Even though we knew the stories well enough, Aimee brought a whole new dimension to them, and really brought the characters to life in ways we didn’t expect. She’s extremely talented, and very funny!
How did you decide on voices for the characters?I had certain ideas about the key characters, so I’d give Aimee notes and she would come back with samples that were always right on the money. For Kylie, I asked her to look at some online video clips of a young Bindi Irwin, who had the perfect energy, enthusiasm and authenticity that I had imagined for Kylie. Aimee absolutely nailed that right away. I wanted Van Cleef, a wise old quokka, to sound similar to Gandolf from Lord of the Rings, and Aimee was able to capture that vibe, with her own nuances. Clancy was difficult because his voice is described in the book as “the most adorable voice ever” or something like that, which sets an impossible task for an actor. I had to be a bit more specific, and Aimee again created the perfect voice for Clancy - very cute, but also plucky and funny. I thought it was important for Aimee to create many of the other characters voices, to leave it to her interpretation. That turned out to be a good decision, as she came back with terrific choices that I wouldn't have imagined. I couldn't be happier with her narration and character choices.
The “Rotto!” series has just been released on Audible, Apple Books, Google Play, Scrib’d and most other audiobook outlets. The books are available on Amazon. For more information visit www.jfmbooks.com
Written by Jonathan Macpherson, Rotto! is a popular children’s series that follows the adventures of Clancy the Quokka and his human friend Kyle, an 8-year-old girl, on Rottnest Island.
Published by new independent JFM Books, the series has been growing in popularity, particularly with middle-grade readers.
Horne, who played alongside Margot Robbie, James Cordon and Rose Byrne in the box office hit Peter Rabbit 2 (so far the year’s biggest hit in the UK), takes on the role of narrator and a variety of characters in the series, including various Quokkas and school children.
Q&A with Aimee Horne Did you know much about quokkas and Rottnest island before doing the series?I've been to Rottnest Island a few times before and fell in love with the Quokkas and amazing beaches dotted all over the island. The “Rotto!” series gave me a better idea of what else was there and has made me interested in returning to find some of the spots that feature in the books. How would you compare Cottontail with Clancy the Quokka?Clancy is cheeky, loyal and brave. I think Cottontail is all those things, but maybe a bit more unhinged! What was it like playing so many characters (across 4 books) in such a short time?Challenging but fun! There is a lot of dialogue between characters and the jumping between them can get confusing if you're not paying attention when you're performing. Recording on my own meant that I could play around with the characters' voices for a bit longer than I might have been able to in a studio. For example, I wanted Kylie to be full of courage, but still clearly a little girl that has to overcome her fears, while Beerenburger, a gruff old quokka, needed to have a distinct voice, but the listener to still be able to link him to Van Cleef, his brother; that sort of development and creation takes time and I was glad I had it. What can listeners expect from the Rotto! series?An absolute romp with some fun learning along the way. Adventure, danger and excitement. Stories that fire up the imagination and probably a strong desire to visit Rottnest!
Q&A with Jonathan Macpherson (author)
What inspired you to write the “Rotto!” series?
My wife and I took our children over to Rottnest island when they were seven and nine years old, and they were totally taken with the quokkas, as you’d expect. I’d written a couple of thrillers and my kids had been onto me about writing something they could read (the thrillers certainly weren’t appropriate!). On the ferry ride back from Rotto, we were looking over the many photos we’d taken and there were a couple of my daughter that sparked my imagination. One saw her crouched beside a quokka, both looking like a couple of mates having a giggle, and the other was of my daughter hiking around Wadjemup Lighthouse wearing her backpack. Looking at those pictures I just knew I had to write an adventure story about a young girl and a quokka, and I wrote “Kylie and the Quokkas of Rottnest Island” soon after.
That’s book 2 in the series, isn’t it?Yes. But once I’d written it, I thought there should probably be a story about Clancy the Quokka before he meets Kylie. So Clancy the Quokka of Rottnest Island was written next, but it’s the first story, chronologically.
Was it important for you to have the protagonist be a young girl?Yes, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the story was inspired by my daughter so in that sense it was a no-brainer. Also, my daughter had mentioned that there seemed to be few children’s adventure books with female protagonists, so that was another reason. Kylie, the heroine, proves herself to be quite the swashbuckler, and certainly as capable as any boy her age.
Why did you choose the name Kylie?Kylie used to be a popular name when I was growing up, but not so much these days. I wanted her to be a typical Aussie kid, but also to stand out a bit. You can’t get much more Aussie than Kylie, and these days it’s a bit unusual I suppose, so it’s memorable. It was also a bit of a nod to Kylie Minogue.
There are many historical references in the books. Was that important?Once I had the spine of the first story, I did a lot of research to help me with the details and to create a real world. It’s not possible to research Rottnest without looking into its history. Obviously there’s a very sad history there regarding the First Nations people, which was tragic and so not appropriate for my story. I did include references to Aboriginal culture, and to the Dutch explorer Willem de Vlamingh, who named the island Rotte Nest (which means rat’s nest - he first thought the quokkas were rats!). I also discovered that feral cats were wreaking havoc on the wildlife, including the quokkas, for decades. That also informed the story. There’s a strong ecological aspect to the book, and one of the recurring messages is about the importance of not feeding quokkas, no matter how hard they are to resist!
How have the books done so far?They’ve done very well, particularly in Australia, but also in the US and the UK. I came to realize that, of course, a lot of people overseas had never heard of quokkas, as evidenced by some of the reviews - “Who knew Quokkas were real animals?!” etc, so it’s been great to create awareness about the “world’s happiest animal”, as they say.
How was the process of working producing the audiobooks with Aimee Horne?It was terrific! Aimee is a total professional and exceeded my expectations. I’d listen to the “dailies” with my wife and children and we’d be in fits of laughter. Even though we knew the stories well enough, Aimee brought a whole new dimension to them, and really brought the characters to life in ways we didn’t expect. She’s extremely talented, and very funny!
How did you decide on voices for the characters?I had certain ideas about the key characters, so I’d give Aimee notes and she would come back with samples that were always right on the money. For Kylie, I asked her to look at some online video clips of a young Bindi Irwin, who had the perfect energy, enthusiasm and authenticity that I had imagined for Kylie. Aimee absolutely nailed that right away. I wanted Van Cleef, a wise old quokka, to sound similar to Gandolf from Lord of the Rings, and Aimee was able to capture that vibe, with her own nuances. Clancy was difficult because his voice is described in the book as “the most adorable voice ever” or something like that, which sets an impossible task for an actor. I had to be a bit more specific, and Aimee again created the perfect voice for Clancy - very cute, but also plucky and funny. I thought it was important for Aimee to create many of the other characters voices, to leave it to her interpretation. That turned out to be a good decision, as she came back with terrific choices that I wouldn't have imagined. I couldn't be happier with her narration and character choices.
The “Rotto!” series has just been released on Audible, Apple Books, Google Play, Scrib’d and most other audiobook outlets. The books are available on Amazon. For more information visit www.jfmbooks.com