About the Author

Kaye Baillie is an award-winning children’s author and has been making up stories since she was a kid on the orchard where she grew up. She has always loved writing and typing and as a teenager picked one hundred cases of apricots during the scorching summer fruit season so she could buy her very own second-hand typewriter. Kaye’s favourite things to write are humorous short stories which often appear in The School Magazine, and fiction and non-fiction picture books.

About Great Big Softie

Great Big Softie is about fitting in and feeling accepted. It’s also about knowing right from wrong and being brave to stand up for what’s right.

Elliot is a great big softie. But to fit in with the other monsters he decides to perform some monstrous deeds. After scaring a little girl on her bike, he must decide whether to continue being monstrous or follow his heart.

Great Big Softie is illustrated by the amazing Shane McG and published by New Frontier Publishing

The Hardest Thing About Writing Great Big Softie

In the scene where Elliot stands outside the little girl’s house, I wanted it to be unclear about what Elliot will do next. At the same time, I wanted to hint that he has decided not to do what the other monsters expect of him. It’s a lot to capture in one image. 

The Most Fun Thing About Writing This Book

When Elliot goes on his rampage and causes quite a bit of damage, it was so much fun to make up the scenes, write the dialogue and then see how Shane’s illustrations brought the scenes to life. It’s so funny to see Elliot land in the swimming pool!

A Writing Prompt based on the book

In Great Big Softie, Elliot barges into a gift shop, grabs food from the churros van then causes a gigantic splash at the pool.

If you had to write scenes that show three places where a monster causes trouble, where would those places be and what would your monster do?