Maybe I should be concerned when the boundary between fiction and reality seems to blur. Remember that little squirrel from a couple of earlier posts? Well, right now I really do feel as though I need to have a word with him. So anyway… um… I’ve decided to just go with it…
Ahem! Excuse me.
Yes, my little rodent friend. What have you been up to, may I ask?
At Ingatestone and Fryerning C of E Primary School, Miss Marshall’s class had an uninvited visitor.
Have you been nibbling things you shouldn’t?
Me? Well, I suppose I have been a bit busy with other things. In fact I was just drawing this illustration for the official Dick King-Smith website, (not yet live, but you can see some tweets here), when I heard about Miss Marshall’s rodent visitor.
B&W ink illustration of ‘The School Mouse’ for Dick King-Smith’s website
What a coincidence, I thought. So I told Miss Marshall about Flora, the intelligent rodent from Dick King-Smith’s book, The School Mouse. In return, Miss Marshall showed me some of the amazing creative homework her class had done on the theme of rodents.
Beautifully imaginative written work, a fabulous model of a squirrel and even rodent-themed cakes!
Could I fit that cheeky Ingatestone squirrel into one of my stories? Well that set me thinking about you again, my little squirrel friend.
Oh dear. I’ve kept you waiting a long time, haven’t I?
We’ll see…
If there are, they’ll only be fictional pens, OK?
This little story post made me smile… thank you for sharing it.
The creatures we create for books can become very real to us, which is how they gain their ‘life’ when drawn.
Ahh, bless! How cute is that little guy?! Hope you find a home for them soon, with plenty of pens in the meantime to keep him happily chewing!