December picture book of the month: The Dinosaur that Pooped Christmas - ANSWERS BACK FROM DOUGIE AND TOM McFLY

[RachelMumsnet]

December's picture book of the month, The Dinosaur that Pooped Christmas has caused much excitement at MNHQ; First of all copies of the book came in and it had us all and in equal measures. Then we received confirmation that authors Dougie and Tom of McFly had recorded a very special Christmas message to Mumsnetters. Visit December picture book of the month page to watch the vid, read more about the book and find out how you can win one of 50 free copies ...

It's All about You this month: We're inviting you to send in your Qs to Dougie and Tom before the end of Sunday 9 December. We'll pick ten Qs and send them over to Tom and Dougie to answer before Christmas. If you're question has been chosen, not only will you feel like a Star Girl, but you will also receive a SIGNED copy of The Dinosaur who Pooped. Everybody Knows this will Obviously make a great Christmas present, so we'll announce winners early next week so the books can be sent out before Christmas.

We urge anyone who received a free copy to please come back to this thread and let us know what your kids think (and we don't want any Lies) so we can pass on the feedback to the McFly boys.

[DougieandTom]

@Firewall

Hi! You are both fantastic and its great to see such a wonderful book from you both! My question is what inspired you to write a picture book? Is it something you always had in mind to do?

Thanks :)

Dougie: Dino poop started as a joke. Me and Tom are always coming up with silly ideas but this is one that actually followed through (no pun intended).

Tom: We both love children's picture books and had talked about writing one but the idea for Dino Poop came about as a bit of a joke originally. The book is basically a mash up of things we love and find funny. We both love dinosaurs and Christmas, and poop will always be funny!

[DougieandTom]

@Catiinthehat

Love the title! If the books as good as the title I think this will be a huge hit! It's great to have a kids book that will hit the note with dads as well!
Do you have any more books in the line up? (More in the series? Or something completely different?)

Dougie: There is another Dino poop book due in the spring. We think the next one is actually a lot funnier. We have many ideas in the pipeline for other projects as well.

Tom: Yes there will be more from our pooping dinosaur in 2013! We're very lucky to have found a publisher who believes in our writing and I think we're all keen to see what messy adventures Danny and Dinosaur could have next! We have ideas for books outside of the Dino Poop series too.

[DougieandTom]

@thisthreadwilloutme

My kids would love this book, their favourite book is The Little Mole Who Got Pooped On so this is right up their street.

My question for both of you is

What was your favourite book when you were a child?

Dougie: My favorite books were anything that had dinosaurs in. I also used to enjoy reading Latin.....I swear.

Tom: I was (and still am) a massive Dr Seuss fan. My parents read them to me as a kid and I found them hilarious!

[DougieandTom]

@gloriafloria

Do you have good memories of sharing stories/being read to by your parents when you were children and do you feel this may have had some influence on your creative skills?

The title of the book definitely appeals to my son and daughter's humour

Dougie: Yeah I'm sure there are. We write stuff that we know we would have loved when we were kids. Like pooping dinosaurs!

Tom: Both my parents read to me when I was young and my dad used to make up his own stories about a dragon that lived in a mountain. I definitely think they had a huge part in allowing me to be creative and imaginative.

[DougieandTom]

@Helium123

Hi, what's it like writing together? Do you find that you bring the best out of each other to write the best book? What's your way of solving a conflict of ideas between you (if there are any!)

Dougie: Its the best way to write together. We spend three quarters of the time eating sweets and just trying to make each other laugh and then usually the writing just starts to flow.

Tom: We've had almost 10 years of writing songs together so writing The Dinosaur That Pooped Christmas was fairly similar to writing lyrics. We're both very similar and I think we both now when something just doesn't feel right, but when something works its just clicks right into place.

[DougieandTom]

@LaVitaBellissima

Lots of popular children's books and programmes have been turned in stage shows, would you like to see "The dinosaur who pooped Christmas" on stage, do you think it would translate well?

Dougie: I would love to see a man in a dinosaur suit pooping out Christmas live on stage. It would be like a McFly show!

Tom: We'd love to see it on stage. We could have a poop splash zone in the front few rows, like at Sea World...

[DougieandTom]

@RedLady48

Hi Tom and Dougie,
My question is, if you could collaborate with any author/illustrator for your next book, who would it be and why?
My parents and younger sister love TDTPC xx

Dougie: I would love to collaborate with Joe Ledbetter (artist) I have been a fan of his for quite some time and have a lot of his work.

Tom: Well we're extremely lucky to have Garry Parsons illustrate our book, he's fantastic and really brought our character to life. My favourite books of all time are the Harry Potter series, so I'd have to say J K Rowling...although I'm sure that's a very popular answer to that question!

[DougieandTom]

@WidowWadman

Hi Tom and Dougie

What is your view on the 'chickens are dinosaurs' hypothesis?

Dougie: Birds are closer to dinosaurs than most lizards could ever dream of being. Next time you meet a chicken RESPECT IT!!

Tom: I'm not sure but The Chicken That Pooped Christmas doesn't quite have the same ring to it.

[DougieandTom]

@Hopezibah

My question is if you could chose only one would you prefer to be remembered as famous popstars or famous authors and why?

(my son's question is who is your favourite Moshi Monsters character? as they heard you are big moshi fans! - We were actually at the music rox party too but the irony is that if your book had been out by then, I would have been totally star-struck about meeting real children's authors - but as we don't really follow music much we thought that everyone was excited because McNULTY was there - we didn't realise it was MCFLY they were all so excited about!).

Dougie: Not sure. But I would like the following on my grave stone "He lived, He Pooped, He Died"

My favorite moshi monster is Burnie. He breaths fire. What's not to like?

Tom: Well, fame has just always been a byproduct of our success, so I don't really mind if I'm remembered at all but I hope our songs, books or anything we create is loved and remembered by at least someone...even if its just our mums!

[DougieandTom]

@dreamingofawinechristmas

Hello Dougie and Tom!

I've just ordered this book! My only dilemma is who to wrap it up for... Youngest DS (who shares a name with the main character and also loves dinosoars and poo) or teenage DD who has your pictures plastered all over her bedroom wall and wants to see you at Wembley next year. (Shame you are not in Torquay again!)

Anyway my question is how are you both spending Christmas Day?

Dougie: I will hopefully be spending it the same way as danny does. Wiping off poop from the turkey with my new pet dinosaur!

Tom: I'm spending it with my wife and both our families who are all coming over to our house this year.

Happy Christmas !

[McPheastOfStephen]

bump

Congratulations all

[Hopezibah]

Just to say our book has arrived and I have read it (but have saved it for the boys to read at Christmas as a surprise - they won't believe their eyes!). My own opinion is that it is a fab book - I love stories that rhyme, and there's even a moral to it. my two boys (aged 6 and 8) and into all things potty humour, bums and poos are totally going to love this book!!! Thank you mumsnet and thank you Dougie and Tom xxx

[Hopezibah]

Just to add now that the boys have read the book - they LOVED it so much!!! It is a real hit - they found it so funny and it totally appealed to their sense of humour (just as I guessed it would). thanks again! Thanks for the answers to the questions too - have enjoyed reading that. xxx