About

For a brief Bio, click here

Hello, there! I’m Meghan, a children’s author and diorama artist. My goal in all my writing is to inspire children to connect with their creative potential through stories set in nature. 

I’m currently writing, crafting and photo-illustrating a picture book series in the forest, with my handmade animal puppet called Rumie. It might seem an odd way to illustrate a book, but it makes a lot of sense if you know me…

As a quiet child, I learned to read and sew very young, since other forms of play felt too loud for me. I especially loved making tiny homes for my toys out of scraps – food packaging, Lego, old clothes – anything! When I wasn’t crafting, I pored over my picture books, studying the art of story and illustration – or explored in the forest, making forts out of fallen logs. My favourite TV shows were The Friendly Giant (CBC) and the The Wombles (BBC) – both using puppets, and handmade dioramas of secret, tiny worlds.

As an adult, I worked in the film industry as a live-action costume maker, and eventually came to design the costumes for stop motion children’s TV shows. Working on the tiny puppet costumes reminded me of my childhood love for miniature worlds, and inspired me to write a novel for children about a tiny mouse who yearns for adventure. I was thrilled when The Stowaways was published and did well! But as a person who needs to work with their hands, I wanted to find a way to incorporate my love for tiny tactile worlds with my writing process.

I had started by exploring the forest in spring, taking photos of the flora from the perspective of a little mouse toy I had, when I happened upon a small, idyllic stream – full of the possibility of miniature adventure! It was the perfect location for my mission: to make the diorama picture book I would have loved as a child. After creating two wire-framed puppet animals, and a rustic raft with birchbark sail, I began to illustrate their story – captured by camera on the stream.

I spent months working in the woods, experimenting with this new medium, becoming deeply connected with nature’s rhythms. It’s no wonder this experience influenced the story in Rumie Goes Rafting and Rumie’s character, too. Setting up the puppets and props in the mud and water – mosquito-bitten and patiently waiting for the rain to fill the stream or the sun to move behind a leaf – is difficult labour but so much fun!

During the seasons when nature’s background isn’t right for the exterior scenes in my stories, I make interior sets of Rumie’s home inside a tree, using found materials in nature as Uncle Hawthorne (Rumie’s guardian) would. The result is a cosy world of tactile details and creative free play – a world I would have loved to crawl inside as a child. (Though adults seem to love it, too!)

I’m delighted that Rumie Goes Rafting is now published in Canada and the USA (Owlkids books) in English, and also in Dutch in Europe (Maretak books). The next Rumie story is set in winter – challenging working conditions for sure, but a glorious backdrop for adventure! It will be published in 2028.

To follow my journey, you can find me on Instagram. To find out about my process, click In the Studio or On Location.