Wonder World: Interview with ‘Wonders Under the Moon’ author Tai Snaith

While we’re all laying in bed on balmy summer or windy winter nights, there’s a heck of a lot of action going on under that everchanging moon. In fact, when the moon is out, party animals are getting festive and making plenty of (often subtle) noise.

One human who has been motivated to study and research these night-time ninjas is Melbourne-based author Tai Snaith.

So fascinated has Tai been with all manner of late-night biters and bloodsuckers, slimeballs, and other slippery characters, she has put together a book that looks at their fascinating habits, habitats, and fantastical features.

Wonders Under the Moon is a delightfully illustrated field guide for all aspiring explorers, artists, environmentalists and taxonomists, and follows Tai’s first book on a similar subject of what animals do while we’re not watching, Wonders Under the Sun.

Here, Cream chats with Tai about all things that get up to no good (and some good!) while we’re busy snoozing through dreamland.

Interview by Antonino Tati

As a city-based artist and author, what made you shift focus from urban to rural in studying creatures of the night?

I grew up in the country and have always spent time in the bush. As a kid in the country you have a sharper awareness of the environment around you, and I wanted to bring this kind of attention to kids in the city.

Did you always love animals growing up? And what pets did you have?

Yes, I was a huge fan of pets and animals. I used to collect all sorts of creatures and build them ‘habitats’. At one stage I had about seven large fish tanks with everything from tadpoles to lizards, slugs, snails, even a wild rabbit. I also grew up riding horses and showing cattle, so you could say I was surrounded by more animals than humans!

Do you have a menagerie of pets today?

A modest one! We have a cat and a large dog and a bluetongue lizard.

“I like to say they are more of an ‘artist’s field guide’ than strict non-fiction books.”

I understand you’ve written and illustrated eight picture books to date; that’s quite a feat. Do you write and illustrate organically and then piece it all together to form your books?

I usually start with an idea that comes to me in some fit of inspiration and I become obsessed with it. The last two are a pair – Wonders Under the Sun came first and Under the Moon naturally followed. These two are a bit different as they are based in research and facts and a lot truer to reality. But I still like to put my own flavour into them, I like to say they are more of an ‘artist’s field guide’ than a strict non-fiction books.

They go way beyond being picture books. With ‘Wonders Under the Moon’, I learnt so many fascinating things about animals that I have been familiar, and so many wonderful creatures that were introduced to me through reading it. What were your main sources of information and inspiration for the content of the book?

My curiosity takes me in all directions! The internet, of course, but also things I have seen on travels and in other books. I’m initially attracted to creatures I want to draw and then I learn about others that have fascinating habits and stories. I also love words! I have always been drawn to the collective nouns for animals, so I really wanted to include a few of these. A ‘busyness of ferrets’ and an ‘eclipse of moths’ are two I learnt whilst writing this book.

The illustrations are just stunning. Do you draw and paint from studying photographs of these wonders?

Yes, I work from numerous source images that I find on the internet mainly. I draw the parts of each animal seperately, then paint them, then cut them out and build them! I’m really a sculptor more than an illustrator.

What can we humans learn from some of these amazing creatures? Say, from a wise owl, or a wild boar? What behaviour or nuance might we adopt from them?

I think the way that animals act on instinct and listen to instinct is incredible, and humans have kind of lost that ability. The way that animals work to their strength is very impressive. For example, owls have learnt to use minimal movement and to fly as silently as possible because they actually pin-point their prey from listening rather than looking, and have incredible hearing and precision. I also love the way animals are not greedy – they only hunt for what they need and that way the ecosystem stays in balance [whereas] humans have become delusional with greed.

Will your next book be about animalia?

I have no idea, but at the moment I am working on a large public sculpture of three giant echidnas!

Tai Snaith’s Wonders Under the Moon and Wonders Under the Sun are published by Thames & Hudson, RRP $29.99 each, available in quality bookstores.