It was loosely based on my own Class 1 photo, taken (well) over twenty years ago, but which was such a significant thing for me at the time that I have clearly carried it around in my head ever since. Some people habitually doodle flowers or dogs or hearts; I find myself drawing all manner of class photos without even knowing that they were in my head.
Recently a friend's six-year-old son came for lunch at our house. He noticed my original class photograph lying on a table and was fascinated. He immediately saw it as representing a whole society of people, rather than having the 'there's a generic picture of a bunch of small kids' reaction an adult would probably have. He started asking, "Who did this boy play with the most?" and "Why is this girl a bit grumpy?" and, with most relish, "Who was the naughtiest person in the class?" There was one boy in our class who was irrepressibly naughty, but naughty in a very joyful way, without any meanness in him. He was definitely the inspiration for the naughty pig in my story.
And here is the final class photo from the end of the book.
