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McFly band members Tom Fletcher and Dougie Poynter say they are thinking of introducing more female characters into their Dinosaur picture books (Random House Children’s).
The McFly musicians were speaking to The Bookseller as the latest in the series, The Dinosaur That Pooped the Past, was released. “Obviously because we were boys we wrote the kind of book we loved as kids but one of the things we’re looking at in future books is more female characters, perhaps some friends of Danny’s [the boy who befriends the dinosaur],”said Fletcher.
The new book also has a trio of baby dinosaurs that are “a lot more cute”, he added.
The Dinosaur That Pooped the Past, published last week, is the third book in the series and the duo said they are getting faster at writing the books.
“With the first one we didn’t have a clue really, it was really long, also with the first one you’re introducing characters and establishing the universe,” said Fletcher. “It’s getting quicker and quicker now.”
The first book, The Dinosaur That Pooped a Planet, was released in 2012 and has sold over 90,000 copies, according to Neilsen BookScan. The second, The Dinosaur That Pooped Christmas, has sold 94,115.
Fletcher and Poynter first came up with the idea of a dinosaur that ate things then pooped them back out in to make each other laugh. They now write the books in between touring and said that in some ways, writing kids books is easier then writing lyrics.
“It’s almost easier than writing songs because it’s the stuff we have to leave out of our songs. All the stuff we have to edit out of our music, we put in our kids book,” said Fletcher.
Poynter said writing is easy to fit in around their work in bands McFly and McBusted but pointed out that their readers are a discerning audience. “If kids don’t like it, they won’t politely laugh to make you feel better,” he said.
All three books are illustrated by Garry Parsons, chosen because of the way he balances scary and cute.
“We saw another book that Gary did with some dinosaurs in and thought he hit the nail on the head… when Danny first meets the Dinosaur he’s scared of him but he later becomes a dinosaur that is Danny’s friend,” said Fletcher.
The pair wouldn’t reveal how many books there will be in the series but have confirmed that the fourth book has already been written. “It definitely features poop,” they said.