SATA
ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: I’ll Carry You
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.helendocherty.com/
CITY: Swansea, Wales
STATE:
COUNTRY: United Kingdom
NATIONALITY: British
LAST VOLUME: SATA 373
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born in Weymouth, England; married Thomas Docherty (an illustrator), 2008; children: two daughters.
EDUCATION:Newcastle University, England, degree; Bristol University, M.A.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer and educator. French teacher at an international school in Mexico City, Mexico for four years; University of the West of England, former Spanish teacher. Former mentor to young filmmakers.
AWARDS:Oldham Brilliant Book Award, 2013, for The Snatchabook.
WRITINGS
Author’s work has been translated into several languages, including Bokmal, Catalan, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Polish, Serbian, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, and Russian.
The Snatchabook was adapted as a children’s stage play and an opera.
SIDELIGHTS
While growing up in coastal England, Helen Docherty enjoyed the stories shared among her Welsh relatives. Although she eventually pursued a degree in languages, and taught French oversees, Docherty’s interest in storytelling resurfaced once she returned to Britain and pursued a Master’s degree in film and television. Her marriage to illustrator/author Thomas Docherty became the catalyst for another career change: her debut picture book, Ruby Nettleship and the Ice Lolly Adventure, features colorful illustrations by her husband. As her career has progressed, Docherty’s tales have also been brought to life by other artists, among them Ali Pye and Mark Beach.
In Docherty’s story for The Snatchabook readers meet a fanciful creature that devotes its nighttime hours to creeping into quiet homes and stealing books. Praising Docherty’s rhythmic text as “reminiscent of Dr. Seuss’s work,” Brooke Rasche asserted in School Library Journal that The Snatchabook “refuses to be read silently.” In Booklist Ann Kelley predicted that the Dochertys’ picture book will be “a hit with kids and parents alike” due to it “ever-so-sweet story” and “beautifully lit illustrations … full of fun details.”
In Abracazebra, the Dochertys transport readers to the town of Yawnalot, where every day plays out in the same way. Things finally get spunky when the titular creature bicycles into town and entertains Yawnalot locals with a fun magic show. Although longtime resident Goat becomes jealous and seeks to force the fun stranger to hit the road, something happens to cause him to change his mind. Praising Abracazebra in School Library Journal, Carolyn Copland praised the book’s mix of “amusing verse” and colorful art that is “bright and full of detail.”
Also pairing Docherty’s storytelling with her husband’s engaging art, The Story Book Knight was published in the United Kingdom as The Knight Who Wouldn’t Fight. Characterized by a Kirkus Reviews critic as “an homage to reading” influenced by Robert Lawson’s classic The Story of Ferdinand, the rhyming story here follows a young knight named Leo, who would rather read that swing a sword and lance. During a three-tiered adventure, Leo manages to quell aggressions with mythical creatures through his story-telling skills. In School Librarian, Anne Harding praised Leo as “a delightful protagonist” and Docherty’s writing as “sophisticated,” dubbing The Story Book Knight a book that “begs to be read aloud.”
From wandering knights in shining armor, Docherty transitions to adventurous pirates in Pirate Nell’s Tale to Tell: A Storybook Adventure. Again paired with Thomas Docherty’s illustrations, this tale introduces Nell, a well-read young pup who joins a pirate crew that is pure canine and wholly illiterate. Led by Captain Gnash, a tough bulldog, the canine buccaneers dismiss Nell’s advice in deciphering a map showing the location of buried treasure. Ultimately, the young pup is proven right and Gnash includes mandatory reading lessons among his crew’s daily tasks. Highlighted by “cheery art,” according to a Kirkus Reviews writer, Pirate Nell’s Tale to Tell features an “upbeat rhyming text [that] keeps the plot moving.”
“Picture books … can help to frame children’s understanding of the world, and they introduce them to new concepts and ideas,” Docherty noted during an online interview with Family Bookworms. “They can also be a vehicle for exploring different emotions and how we deal with them. That’s why writing picture books feels like such a privilege to me—and also a responsibility. I want each book I write to carry a positive message—not just for children, but for the adults reading it, too.”
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In the rhyming bedtime picture book, Blue Baboon Finds Her Tune, illustrated by Thomas Docherty, Blue Baboon attends a musical performance in the park where she picks up and starts playing a bassoon. But when she doesn’t play the same music as the rest of the musicians, an elephant musician takes the instrument away from her. Then there’s a monsoon, and she escapes into a hot air balloon that takes her up near the orange moon and then to a dune. Her friends and the musicians gather together again so Blue Baboon can play the bassoon and entertain her friend, Green Baboon. The illustrated pages contain many little details for children to find.
In Kirkus Reviews a writer remarked: “The characters are endearing, and the final two-page spread is a visual delight, with everyone floating through the sky in dazzling hot air balloons.” School Library Journal contributor Tanya Haynes commented: “The rhymes are perfectly written to convey movement from action to action,” and further praised the “purposeful vocabulary and delightful color.”
Docherty celebrates the tangible and intangible things we can carry in the illustrated rhyming book, I’ll Carry You, drawn by Brizida Magro. Children can carry a teddy bear, pebbles from the beach, a balloon, and a watering can from the garden. But there are other things we carry that we can’t touch, such as love, hope, worry, and the memory of someone that is no longer with us. When children are feeling blue, a parent can say, I’ll carry you. Children learn that a carried worry is lighter if it’s shared.
Online at Project Muse, reviewer Cassidy Russell praised the book’s message “that kiddos are strong and that it’s okay to turn to someone when things get too heavy.” Russell added that “the real star of the show” is Magro’s illustrations that combine cut paper collage with vibrant hand scribbles that create movement on every page. “In a world that can feel harsh and overwhelming, this is a soft landing place to buoy young readers through tough times,” declared a Kirkus Reviews critic.
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BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, October 1, 2013, Ann Kelley, review of The Snatchabook, p. 102.
Children’s Bookwatch, December, 2013, review of The Snatchabook.
Kirkus Reviews, June 15, 2016, review of The Storybook Knight; July 15, 2020, review of Pirate Nell’s Tale to Tell: A Storybook Adventure; review of Blue Baboon Finds Her Tune; April 1, 2025, review of I’ll Carry You.
Publishers Weekly, September 2, 2013, review of The Snatchabook, p. 57; September 5, 2016, review of The Storybook Knight, p. 76.
School Librarian, summer, 2015, Carolyn Copland, review of Abracazebra, p. 91; summer, 2016, Anne Harding, review of Do You Remember?, p. 90; winter, 2016, Anne Harding, review of The Knight Who Wouldn’t Fight, p. 218.
School Library Journal, November, 2013, Brooke Rasche, review of The Snatchabook, p. 80; August, 2020, Mary Lanni, review of Pirate Nell’s Tale to Tell, p. 62.
ONLINE
Children’s Book Review, http://www.thechildrensbookreview.com/ (September 11, 2016), Bianca Schulze, author interview.
Family Bookworms, http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/ (November 8, 2020), interview with Docherty and Thomas Docherty.
Helen Docherty website, http://www.helendocherty.com (May 23, 2021).
Project Muse, https://muse.jhu.edu/ (May 2025), Cassidy Russell, review of I’ll Carry You.
School Library Journal, https://www.slj.com/review/blue-baboon-finds-her-tune (July 8, 2022), Tanya Haynes, review of Blue Baboon Finds Her Tune.
Whitley Abell, http://www.whitleyabell.com/ (September 29, 2013), interview with Docherty and Thomas Docherty.*
I was born and grew up in a small town called Weymouth, on the south coast of England. My family was from Wales, and I inherited from them a love of stories.
As a child, I spent a lot of time either reading or writing and illustrating stories. From the age of about six I started making books with my own stories and pictures in them (and even a monthly magazine for witches, called WHOOSH). I took this very seriously, and if you’d asked me at the time what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would have said “an author.”
All I needed to keep me happy was a pile of books to read (I was a regular visitor to our local library), some blank paper, a pencil and some felt tip pens that hadn’t run out.
Here are some of the books I made:
About Me_Books
In the end, I didn’t become an author – at least, not straight away. I went to Newcastle University in the north of England to study French and Spanish, and in between being a student there I spent time in France, Spain and Cuba, where I learned to dance salsa and once queued for 4 hours for an ice-cream. After graduating, I trained as a secondary school teacher and headed out to Mexico City with an open ticket and no job. Luckily, I found a job teaching French in an International school, and I ended up staying in Mexico for four years, before returning to the UK to do a Masters in Film and Television Production at Bristol University. After a lot of fun helping young people in Bristol make films (but not making much money), I returned to teaching for a few years, working with refugees and asylum seekers and then teaching Spanish at the University of the West of England.
During this time, I met Thomas Docherty, who had recently started illustrating his own books. It was Tom who encouraged me to start writing stories again, and we co-wrote the book Ruby Nettleship and the Ice Lolly Adventure (Templar, 2010).
About Me_Helen
In the summer of 2011 I wrote my first ever rhyming story, The Snatchabook (Alison Green Books, 2013).
Tom and I got married in 2008 and we now live in Swansea, Wales, with our two daughters and a dog called Tesni (who looks a lot like Lynley Dodd’s Hairy Maclary).
Looking back, I’m glad that I ended up learning languages, living abroad and working for many years as a teacher (and, very briefly, film producer)… before I finally became an author!
Nowadays, I love going into schools to tell my stories to children and inspire them to write stories of their own. Working with Thomas Docherty through Storyopolis, I’ve helped lots of children in Swansea create their very own Book in a Day.
You can read some of their fantastic stories by following this link to my Storyopolis page.
Here are some of the things I like best, in no particular order:
The smell of gorse by the sea (if you’ve never smelled gorse, it’s a bit like coconut mixed with honey)
gorse by the sea
Sorbets (like ice-cream, but fruitier)
plum sorbet
Going for walks in the country or by the sea (especially if they end with a sorbet)
Swimming in the sea or in lakes
Visiting castles (we have lots in Wales). Here is one of our favourites, Dinefwr:
Castle-Dinefwr
Reading stories to our two daughters, when they were a bit younger – some of our favourites were The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, Tom’s Midnight Garden, When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit and the Ramona books
Learning new languages – I’ve been learning Welsh for the last few years
Dancing (mostly in the kitchen these days)
Taking Tesni for walks in Clyne Gardens (a beautiful park near us). She loves playing with her friends, splashing in the stream and chasing after her ball
Sadly, we had to say goodbye to our beloved cat Cadi. Her favourite game was Watch Face: trying to catch the reflection from a watch on the wall (she never did catch it)
Docherty, Helen I'LL CARRY YOU Henry Holt (Children's None) $14.99 5, 6 ISBN: 9781250399243
A story of the things--tangible and intangible--that we carry.
In gently rhyming text, Docherty lists the things that children can hold: a pebble from the beach, a beloved teddy bear, a watering can filled to the brim. But each item is so much more than the sum of its parts. The pebble is full of memories "of sea and sand," the bear offers an opportunity to care for a beloved friend, and the watering can gives youngsters the chance to nourish thirsty plants. And we can't touch some of the things we carry--hope, a memory, worry. "We can carry each other through difficult days," continues the unseen narrator, who appears to be an adult soothing a child. "So when you are feeling a little bit blue, you know it's okay because I'll carry YOU." With its comforting message, the text feels like a tender lullaby. Complementing the story, the bright, scribbly illustrations feature children and adults who vary in skin tone and hair color and style. Magro finds creative ways to convey abstract concepts, using a knotted tangle of black lines to represent worry and soaring birds to symbolize hope. In a world that can feel harsh and overwhelming, this is a soft landing place to buoy young readers through tough times.
Deeply meaningful and uplifting.(Picture book. 2-5)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2025 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Docherty, Helen: I'LL CARRY YOU." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Apr. 2025. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A832991799/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=67438537. Accessed 15 Aug. 2025.
Docherty, Helen BLUE BABOON FINDS HER TUNE Sourcebooks Jabberwocky (Children's None) $14.99 9, 6 ISBN: 978-1-72823-890-6
As it turns out, beauty is in the ear of the beholder.
Blue Baboon wanders into a park and spots a musical combo playing. She sees a bassoon on its stand, scoops it up, and starts playing along. Sadly, she is not a natural, and an elephant, one of the musicians, takes the instrument away from her. After a storm puts an end to the music, Blue Baboon spies a sign for nighttime hot air balloon rides and takes off in one; as she does, the elephant hands (trunks?) the bassoon to her, and eventually she finds a new place to play her music--and a friend, Green Baboon, who appreciates her unusual sound. Though the rhyming text is spare, with just a few words per page ("Big monsoon, wet baboon"), there are many details in the vibrant illustrations (the facial expressions of all the characters, including the moon, the ducks who follow along), all contributing to the depth of the story. Even the music feels vivid, shown in floating, gentle bubbles from the combo in contrast to the boldly colored lightning bolts that emanate when Blue Baboon and Green Baboon play. Children will enjoy pointing out the pink balloon with a white heart that appears in every spread. The characters are endearing, and the final two-page spread is a visual delight, with everyone floating through the sky in dazzling hot air balloons. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An eye-catching palette and charming characters will draw readers in from the very first page. (Picture book. 2-5)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Docherty, Helen: BLUE BABOON FINDS HER TUNE." Kirkus Reviews, 15 July 2022. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A709933328/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=68a811d5. Accessed 15 Aug. 2025.
Blue Baboon Finds Her Tune by Helen Docherty (text) & illus. by Thomas DochertySourcebooks. Sept. 2022. 32p. Tr $14.99. ISBN 9781728238906.COPY ISBNPreS-Gr 2–This cute adventure story may be music to listeners’ ears. A blue baboon locates an unused instrument and begins playing her own melody. Although interrupted by a rainstorm, the baboon strives to keep the music playing in a new land. The rhymes are so succinct they seem to have written themselves; “Orange moon, blue baboon./ Blue baboon/ spies bassoon.” The baboon meets another friend, and they discover a way to share their musical talents together. The rhymes are perfectly written to convey movement from action to action; the purposeful vocabulary and delightful color enrich children’s knowledge while capturing and keeping their attention. The matching font color to the objects strikes a high note as well. The heart balloon travels throughout, moving from the cat at the beginning of the story to another baboon at the end; it is a dazzling idea and may be a creative tool for a follow-up activity. What may this love represent?VERDICT Although considered a bedtime story, this lovely journey may be read anytime as it broadens vocabulary, expresses a love of music and learning, and demonstrates togetherness in social gatherings. Patrons will sing your praises.Reviewed by Tanya Haynes , Jul 08, 2022
Reviewed by:
Cassidy Russell
Docherty, Helen I'll Carry You; illus. by Brizida Magro. Holt, 2025 [32p] Trade ed. ISBN 97812503943 $14.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R 3-6 yrs
This rhyming book asks the reader what things they're able to carry—both physical things, like a drawing or a pebble they've found, and less tangible items, like hope or a tune. The world might be too big for one person to carry, but the text reminds readers that a carried worry can be lighter if it's shared. They can carry a memory of someone they love, even if they're separated, and people can carry each other through difficult days, with the narrator (or reader) promising that "when you are feeling a little bit blue, you know it's okay … because I'll carry YOU." The parallel messages here—that kiddos are strong and that it's okay to turn to someone when things get too heavy—is a needed and valuable one, but Magro's illustrations, marrying cut paper collage with vibrant hand scribbles, are the real star of the show. There's movement on every page, from the ripples of a rock being skipped to a flurry of art supplies trailing behind a little girl who has just finished a painting, and deft use of the double-page spreads result in moments of beautiful surprise, [End Page 336] like when two little girls water flowers into oversized blooms. The mostly primary palette and round faces and features of the characters, with a variety of skin colors and hair textures, lend an enchanting '60s vibe to the images. This book, with its skipping rhyme scheme and direct address to the listener, just might create space for kids who are willing to share the things, big and small, that they carry.