By Kylie Howard, Editors Victoria Events Officer
Andy Griffiths is one of Australia’s best-known and well-loved children’s authors. His works include the famous Just! series and the probably even-more-famous Treehouse series. We were very lucky to be joined by Andy and his editor – and wife – Jill Griffiths, following the Editors Victoria 2025 Annual Branch Meeting on 13 August 2025. They chatted about their work and their working relationship with our communications officer, Cecile Shanahan.
Andy and Jill met in 1996 when Jill edited Andy’s first children’s book, Just tricking! A good rapport and a shared love of comedy (think Monty Python, The Young Ones and Seinfeld) led to a lasting professional and personal collaboration.
Andy spoke about how Jill came to play an integral part in bringing his books to life. He recalled that when working on that first book, Jill read the first 3 pages and told him, “That’s just throat-clearing.” She then pointed to a spot on the page and said, “This is where the story starts.” Andy quickly recognised the importance of Jill’s guidance. “She would make it 10 times funnier.”
While Andy said that he is driven to write and create, Jill’s interest lies in the process of writing and the structuring and shaping of a story. She’ll remind Andy that sometimes it’s better – and often, funnier – to let the child infer something hilarious without explicitly stating it. A child’s idea of a “disgusting” bodily function is more likely to entertain them than the word that describes it.
Andy’s latest book – edited by Jill, of course – YOU & ME and the peanut butter beast (Pan Macmillan), was published in August this year.
Andy and Jill were such generous and engaging guests. If you missed this entertaining and interesting conversation, the recording is available to purchase via the IPEd website until Sunday 30 November 2025.