We caught up with Matt Hunt to explore the inspiration and creative process behind his delightful new picture book, How to Find a Yeti, published by Nosy Crow, and to discover how he brought this mischievous, snowy adventure to life.

What inspired the story of How to Find a Yeti?

Well, it was the yeti himself. I can’t quite remember what inspired me to draw him, but I liked how gruff and mischievous he looked. He was big but friendly looking, and it all went from there.

Talk me through your process, did the words come first? Or the pictures?

It always varies, but once I had that first sketch of a giant yeti next to a tiny boy then I started to imagine what the story might be. It’s fun to write from a child perspective and imagine what they might be thinking, so I thought the boy being a self proclaimed yeti expert, trying to be the first person to ever find a yeti would be quite funny!

The Yeti itself is so iconic in folklore, how did you go about depicting it in your own style?

Well, I thought I’d make my yeti massive! I wanted him to blend into his snowy environment really well so he needed white fur. I really enjoyed using pastels to draw the yeti, there’s a nice softness to the texture and it helped to camouflage him when he’s ‘hiding’ from the boy.

He doesn’t talk in the book so it was a nice challenge to show his personality through the way he looks and his facial expressions.

Which is your favourite spread and why?

That’s a tough one! It might be the one where the boy and Milo are walking towards the forest to start their search for the yeti. I really liked drawing the snowy landscape, and if you look closely at the trees, you might just spot him.

Or the spread where we get a first glance of the yetis massive purple feet . . .

What do you hope children take away from reading How to Find a Yeti, beyond the fun of searching?

Maybe a sense of exploration. Pack a bag and go find some yetis!

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How to Find a Yeti is out now in the UK, get your copy here!

To work with Matt, get in touch with his agent Nicky Lander here.