Once Upon a Pickup Time

Ben hates being the last to get picked up from kindergarten. Every single day.

Then one pick-up time, Ben comes up with a terrifically tall tale about why his dad can’t collect him sooner: because he’s busy ruling over a huge kingdom, of course — full of treasure, snake-monsters, knights and robbers. Soon all the children want to stay later at pick-up time to hear Ben’s fantastic tale…

This picture book is a perfect pick for little ones to share at story time with all the fantastic fathers, uncles, brothers, and grandads in their lives — on Father’s Day — and beyond.

We chat to author Johanna Lindemann and illustrator Mareike Ammersken, the creatives behind Once Upon a Pickup Time, to learn about the inspiration behind this fun story.

What inspired you to create this story?

Johanna: When my daughters were in kindergarten, I was fascinated by how important pick-up time was to all the children. They did not care about designer clothes or status symbols — what really mattered was when a child was picked up. And the hardest thing for a child was being the last one left. One day, my husband forgot to pick up our youngest daughter. When he finally arrived, she was devastated because all the other children had already gone home. That moment became the inspiration for this story.

What’s your favourite illustration in the book and why?

Mareike: My favourite illustrations in this book are the page with the snakes and also the one with the dad standing in the fantasy-grocery-store, bracing himself for the funny customers. Those are my favourite, because the snakes were so much fun to illustrate, with all those windings and twists and the confident dad, scanning them all!

A little detail for the non-German readers: the snake illustration has a meaning you might not be aware of. When we wait in a queue in Germany, we call it waiting in a “snake” so that’s why I came up with the image of the dad scanning the snakes!

Also, the store itself has so many details. It was fun to create and fill all the shelves! And I loved bringing the different characters to life and imagining who would go to this fantasy grocery store. It was very funny but challenging too. 

What did you most connect with in the story and how did that come out in your illustration work? 

Mareike: I loved the idea the story brought to my illustration desk: the imagination of Ben, and his father with an average job, describing it in the most interesting and fantastic way possible. This was the powerful message at the heart of the story for me: the imagination has no limits!

So as I created the illustrations I thought about my own childhood and tried to not limit my thoughts. I was keen to let my imagination run free! One thing I was particularly happy about was that in my illustrations the thief could be a horse (it wasn’t part of the story). I was so surprised and happy that Carlsen Verlag (who first published the book in German) loved that idea and went with it. I really love to think outside of the box but the concepts I come up with don’t always fit the story. I’m so glad my idea worked here!

What’s your favourite moment or character in the book?

Johanna: Because I truly believe in happy endings, my favourite moment is the one — spoiler alert! — when Ben’s dad arrives and Ben becomes the first child to be picked up, simply because he told such a wonderful story.

Do you have any amusing pickup time stories from your own family life?

Johanna: Oh, we had plenty of funny pickup stories, but this one felt quite hard at the time: When my older daughter was three, she used to cry furiously whenever I came to pick her up in the summertime. Everyone would stare at me, but the truth was that she simply loved her kindergarten so much. They had a wild garden in the middle of Berlin, and she hated leaving to go home with me. During that time, I really learned to let go of shame.

Mareike: A little amusing story of a pick-up time of my own is from when I was a kid in the kindergarten. It was the same 25 years ago, as it is today: back then there was a group of children who needed to catch the bus. They always had to go a little bit earlier than everyone else who was being collected. So we all screamed and shouted: THE BUS KIDS- The BUS KIDS!!!!! so they could catch it and the rest of us had a little bit more time. This helped to inspire me to illustrate the screaming of the children’s names in the book.

What’s the tallest tale you ever told when you were growing up?

Mareike: As a child, I actually made up surprisingly few wild stories, because I always felt like I had to tell the truth. Instead, I had a huge imagination for moods, images, and inner worlds. I could spend hours disappearing into drawings, thoughts, or daydreams, but making up elaborate stories to fool other people never came naturally to me. Maybe my imagination has always been more visual and emotional than loud and performative!

Johanna: Oh, my whole childhood was one big tall tale. I lived constantly in my imagination, believing I could communicate with rain showers, rest in the arms of powerful dragons, and invent bizarre herbal potions in my little witch’s kitchen!

I also used to tell everyone that I would one day find the legendary “Nibelungen” treasure — and I carried out several serious excavations in my parents’ garden.

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About the creatives

Johanna Lindemann has been telling stories for over twenty years. She has worked in advertising and film but especially loves writing for children so she can see their eyes light up when they hear her stories. Johanna’s picture books include One Christmas in Our Building. She lives near Bremen, Germany with her husband and two daughters.

Mareike Ammersken is a children’s illustrator with a background in early childhood education and a Masters in illustration. She has illustrated numerous books for children. Mareike lives with her husband and their dog in Luneburg, Germany.

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