'The All Africa Wildlife Express': a delightful addition to your child's bookshelf

Where would a group of African animals reimagined in the colours of an acid trip go for a party?

According to the characters in Rosamund Halden and Tony Pinchuck's latest children's book, The All Africa Wildlife Express, the Hotel Splendide is the best place on the continent to shake a leg.

Primarily a writer of young adult fiction, Halden teamed up with Pinchuck after being captivated by his prints of African animals rendered in unusual colours.

"Normally you have a story, finish the story then you get the illustrator to illustrate. This was topsy turvy. I wove the story around what he felt like artistically," she said describing how the project evolved from writing a few lines for a series of prints into a whole story that required Pinchuck to create the prints before she added the words.

"What's interesting about writing for young children, for example when you read books like The Gruffalo, is they seem simple," she said.

"They're actually much more difficult because you're trying to fit a whole story into very few words... and because it's in rhyming couplets, the rhythm is very important."

• 'The All Africa Wildlife Express' by Rosamund Haden, illustrated by Tony Pinchuck is available on tafelberg.com

• This article was originally published in the Times.