As a child, Pamela was lucky enough to grow up in a house full of pets and go to a primary school where lots of spooky and weird things happened (well, in her imagination at least). As a student, Pamela’s student jobs included: fishwife, teaching basketball in America, phlebotomist and Artist Liaison for a (really bad) Abba tribute band.
Butchart grew up in a block of council flats in Dundee in the 1980s. An only child, she had the best of both worlds. “I could go into my room and come up with wild stories and ideas, but equally I could pile outside with all the other kids in the tenement and do our secret clubs. We were so naughty.” Reading was always part of her life - “my mum and my gran would make sure I went to the library every single Saturday” - and Judith Kerr is a lifelong favourite. She vividly remembers writing her first story aged eight; it would eventually be published as The Toilet Ghost. She told stories more than she wrote them down.
Butchart is a passionate advocate of funny books. “They have a special power, which is accessibility. A lot of funny books are also easy to read books, easy to relate to, easy to pick up and feel good about yourself. Funny books can break down some of the barriers of children believing ‘books aren’t for me’. The confidence they gain is invaluable.”