Interview: Minky Stapleton talks about winning the NZ Booklovers Best Cover Junior Fiction Award 2026

Minky Stapleton is a multi-faceted illustrator with a range of styles, all with a dash of humour. An award-winning Art Director and Creative Director originally from Johannesburg, Minky gave up advertising to follow her first love, illustration. She now resides in Auckland, where she balances illustration projects with running classes for kids on how to design scary monsters. Minky has illustrated many titles from hilarious picture books to historical fiction and high-energy, heavily illustrated junior fiction.

Congratulations on winning the NZ Booklovers Best Cover Junior Fiction Award 2026. Can you tell us a little about The Terrible Trio, the winning cover?

That cover was such a collaboration across three continents. It was definitely teamwork, with a lot of input from the Scholastic teams here, in Australia and in the US. There were so many different iterations of this cover but I do think we ended up with the best possible version. Each book also has three different covers in total across all the territories! 

How did you work with Swapna Haddow, the author?

Lynette Evans from Scholastic asked Swapna to write this series, then approached me separately to see if I would design and illustrate it. Swapna and I only met each other after the first book was done, but her sense of humour really resonates with me, and after three books, I’m intimately acquainted with her hysterical writing style and crazy side quests.

Can you tell us about your approach to the illustrations and how you created the winning cover?

I approach these books quite methodically, to be honest, as it takes a lot of precision planning upfront. And then while I’m illustrating, I also have to keep the world that’s established in my head and not drop any balls. When it comes to the illustration, though, I try to keep it simple and focus on the reading flow.

What did you enjoy the most about doing the illustrations?

 I like big exaggerated expressions - children connect through emotion after all. They also love humour so I try and milk each scene for what it’s worth.

What do you think children will enjoy about the illustrations?

I think kids will enjoy the illustrations for that reason, but I also add in some small jokes that they’ll find on their second read.

What did you do to celebrate finishing this book?

I did three of these books back-to-back and was even dreaming about the trio in my sleep by the end. It was quite a punishing pace, and I felt like one of those ultra-marathon runners crossing the finish line after I finished book three. So I was elated and happy to have a weekend (and a life) to myself again!

What is next on the agenda?

Currently, I have just finished book two of the Keith and the Kitten series and have a few more scheduled for the rest of the year. Funnily enough, 24-page books are now a breeze after the 200-page marathons of The Terrible Trio books!

Scholastic NZ