Please discover under a visitor put up from the creator of Larry at Number 10
As a budding kids’s e-book creator, I used to be at all times informed to keep away from writing about cats and canine. “It’s been completed to loss of life,” cried many a literary agent and e-book writer.
But being a cat mum to a really naughty ragdoll kitten referred to as Boots – I believed I had a crafty concept. And anyway, this was no abnormal cat and canine.
I’ve at all times been fascinated by Larry the Cat – he appeared to radiate star high quality and purr-sonality. Every image, each photobomb, pigeongate and mousegate – the press and the good British public lapped up Larry’s mischievous antics like cats with an enormous bowl of cream.
There are in fact different well-known Whitehall cats – there may be Gladstone on the Treasury and Palmerston on the Foreign & Commonwealth Office who’re each in my e-book.
My conundrum was I nonetheless didn’t have a full image e-book story.That was till Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his spouse Carrie bought a Welsh rescue pet referred to as Dilyn.
Purr-fect, I believed to myself, I now have an excellent concept for a e-book. A Meow-vellous cat and canine tail that goes a little bit like this:
Pawsome Larry is Top Cat at 10 Downing Street – that was till his Boss the Prime Minister bought a pet referred to as Dilyn. Larry is chief mouser, head of pawtrolling and champion window ledge sitter (clearly that is for surveillance purr-poses and NOT catnapping. He can be the hero of the mouse catching scoreboard – fairly frankly Gladstone and Palmerston’s mousing makes an attempt are paw-thetic! Larry is im-purr-tant – I imply what paw-sible job can rat-iculous Dilyn do – Chief Sausage Catcher – Purr-lease! Larry has his whiskers put out of joint and plans to place Dilyn within the doghouse however then CATASTROPHE a cat-burglar breaks in and catnapps Larry. Can dozy Dilyn who spends his days guzzling sausage strings, chasing his tail and pooping in plant pots save the day? And if he does will Larry give him his apaw-logies.
I had a whole lot of enjoyable scripting this e-book and collaborating with the great illustrator Dave Hill. Dave introduced all of the characters in my e-book to life marvellously.
Battersea Dogs and Cats Home the place Larry the Cat was a rescue had been very supportive and useful in my writing journey as had been Friends of Animals Wales who rescued Dilyn.
I knew that Larry was a preferred cat once I first launched into my quest to jot down about him, however I had no concept till the e-book was printed simply how far Larry’s stardom reached. Our Larry is a UK National Treasure, however I additionally began receiving messages about my e-book from all around the world! It was additionally a really particular yr to launch my e-book as 2021 marked Larry’s 10th yr in workplace.
It is uncommon for characters in a kids s image e-book to be actual and I via this was fairly a novel idea. When a toddler is being learn my e-book, I’d think about it’s somewhat charming to them that these characters exist in the identical world as they do. I despatched a replica of my e-book to Boris and Carrie for Wilfred as I believed it might be beautiful as a toddler to have an image e-book learn to you the place your dad cat and canine are all characters in it. I had a beautiful response from the Number 10 press workplace. They did open up to me that really Larry and Dilyn would not have such a strained relationship. Although I’m wondering if so now because the press lately reported that Dilyn has been sneaking to Larry’s meals bowl within the evening and consuming his meals! Whiskers at Dawn!
I’d love to jot down a comply with as much as Larry at Number 10 as he’s such a incredible character to jot down about. I’ve a number of concepts in my head so watch this house.
Larry at Number 10 is accessible from amazon and all good bookshops.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Larry-at-Number-Elizabeth-Radcliffe/dp/180046178X
