Hi Charlie! We are excited to have published your debut picture book, Felix Found an Egg! Where did the idea for this story come from?

Hi! The story is somewhat autobiographical. When I was a kid, I once found what I thought was an egg in my parents’ compost bin. I carried it around for days, waiting for it to hatch. It never did—it turned out to be an avocado stone! My mum eventually threw it away because it had started to go mouldy.

Felix, the main character, is a lot like I was as a child—always in my own head, with an overactive imagination.

You spent much of your childhood in the remote Shropshire countryside. Has this influenced your work? If so, how?

Growing up surrounded by the Shropshire hills gave me a love of nature and a real appreciation for beauty. Living so remotely—our nearest neighbours were over a mile away—meant there were long stretches of boredom, especially as a kid. That boredom turned out to be a gift, though, because it forced me to get creative. I really believe that’s what helped train and shape my imagination.

As an author/illustrator, we’d love to hear about your process. What comes first (or what comes most easily): the words or the visuals? How do you build your narrative?

Story is everything for me. I’m always daydreaming—on long walks, or in that quiet moment just before I fall asleep. That’s often when the ideas come.

From there, it usually starts with the words. I love to write quickly and get the ideas out of my head and onto the page, and then I hone and edit from there. Writing is rewriting, as Hemingway said.

Once the story feels solid, I start structuring the visuals and building the narrative visually. That part is the best—finding the rhythm between the text and images is one of the most rewarding parts of the process.

You are also the founder of animation studio, Scribble Room Animation. How does your experience as an animator shape and influence your approach to creating a children’s book?

Animation is all about storytelling, and everything I’ve learned about visual language through animation fed into this book. That said, picture books have their own unique rhythm and structure, which added a new level of creative exploration for me.

Animation is also deeply collaborative, which has taught me a lot about working creatively with others. That experience was so useful when working with the brilliant team at Flying Eye to bring Felix Found an Egg to life.

Lastly, we have to ask: If you found a mysterious egg, what would you wish was inside?

Just like Felix, I’d love for there to be a dragon inside. I mean, come on—who wouldn’t want a pet dragon?

Anything else you’d like us to know about the book, your work, etc?

Creating Felix Found an Egg has been the most creatively rewarding and fun experience I’ve ever had in storytelling. I really hope readers enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it. And if things go well, I’ve got a whole bunch of other strange and wonderful things for Felix to find—and even more adventures waiting for him.

Thank you, Charlie!

Felix Found an Egg

Charlie Miller

A humorous story about a child’s endless imagination.

Felix loves to play in the garden, but he’s always avoided the stinky compost bin – he is sure there’s a monster lurking in there! Determined to take back his garden, Felix musters up some courage and approaches the smelly heap. But instead of a monster, Felix finds… an egg! What could be waiting to hatch?

Felix and his grumpy cat Gary discover that sometimes things that seem scary aren’t what they appear to be…

Get your copy HERE