Why Would I Create Life in Lockdown?

When people first see the title, I completely understand why some react negatively. I knew before I even created the book that it would be controversial, and I spent a long time deciding whether it was the right idea.

The inspiration came from the response to my earlier British-themed colouring books, particularly my council estate book. It showed me that people enjoyed colouring books based on relatable experiences and shared memories, so I began thinking about other moments that many of us had lived through together.

I also knew that if I was going to create a lockdown colouring book, it couldn't be about COVID itself.

I wasn't going to include politics, medical subjects, or revisiting the pain and trauma that so many people experienced. I'm absolutely not trying to minimise what people went through, and I completely understand that many people would rather forget that period altogether.

That's why I spent a long time thinking about the pages that belonged in the book.

The focus was always on the everyday moments that millions of us shared—queueing outside supermarkets, video calls with family, home workouts, baking banana bread, panic buying toilet roll, Zoom meetings, and all the other strange routines that became part of daily life.

Like millions of other people, I lived through lockdown too. I also worked on the frontline throughout the pandemic, so I understand why it's such a sensitive subject.

I knew some people would disagree with the book before they ever opened it, and I accepted that. But I also believed there was a respectful way to capture a unique moment in history through the ordinary experiences that connected so many of us.

Twenty years from now, I think many people will look back and remember just how surreal that period of life really was. That's what this book is about—not the pandemic itself, but the shared moments that became part of everyday life during it.