The Great Cheese Robbery: How Daddy Elephant empowers your kids

Development work: The Great Cheese Robbery by Tim Warnes (Little Tiger Press, 2015) | Illustration © 2014 by Tim Warnes

 I thought I’d share another picture book on the theme of fear, this time one of my own: The Great Cheese Robbery (Little Tiger Press 2015). 

I checked through my files and found the earliest draft of Cheese Robbery. It’s simply titled: ‘elephant & mouse’. At the top is written my synopsis:

 

This is the story of a little elephant who is scared of lots of things and a much bigger elephant who isn’t scared of anything - well, almost nothing... 

*squeak*

 

Fear (as so expertly portrayed in last week’s recommendation) plays a part in everyone’s lives - whether you are big (like Daddy Elephant) or small (like Patrick).

And when you’re small, there’s plenty to be scared of! 

 

Patrick [Elephant] was scared of lots of things, like the dark, ghosties, bees, and the fluff you find under the sofa.

But Daddy Elephant (who ‘was as big and as strong as a tractor… wasn’t scared of anything.’

 

Or so he’d like everyone to believe…

 

Development work: The Great Cheese Robbery by Tim Warnes (Little Tiger Press, 2015) | Illustration © 2014 by Tim Warnes

 

Because Daddy Elephant had a secret fear.

 

One afternoon there was a squeak at the door.,

” Look, Daddy,” gasped Patrick. “A teeny-tiny elephant!”

‘That’s not an elephant,” cried Daddy.

“IT’S A M-M-M-MOUSE!

 

From The Great Cheese Robbery by Tim Warnes (Little Tiger Press, 2015) | Illustration © 2015 by Tim Warnes

 

With bare-faced cheek, a mouse called Cornelius J. Parker (believe it or not, the name just popped into my head!) turns up at the elephants’ house.

Patrick is wide-eyed and innocent. Rather than being spelt out in the text, this is demonstrated by his words and actions.

For example, Patrick mistakes the visitor for a minuscule elephant. 

When the mouse announces that he’s from the Cheese Inspection Council, Daddy stammers, “W-w-we haven’t got any.” Patrick corrects him: “Yes we have,” said Patrick helpfully, “in the fridge. I’ll show you.” When Cornelius realises he’s hit the cheese jackpot, he calls for backup.

 

From The Great Cheese Robbery by Tim Warnes (Little Tiger Press, 2015) | Illustration © 2015 by Tim Warnes

 

Seeing the burglar mice struggling with the fridge, Patrick runs to their aid. (“Don’t worry - I’ll help!”)

Dear sweet little Patrick. So young and naive!

And all the while, poor old Daddy Elephant cowers and trembles behind the sofa - paralysed with fear.

(By the way, you know the old saying, that elephants are afraid of mice? It dates back to the Roman philosopher Pliny, the Elder. Way back in A.D. 77, he began ‘the impressively persistent rumor’ that elephants hate mice and rats above all other creatures. The team on Mythbusters tested the claim. Their result was inconclusive - it could be that their test subject was afraid of the mouse. Or felt empathy and was concerned about squashing it underfoot. Either way, the elephant certainly avoided the mouse.)

Here’s how I came up with the idea of burglar mice: By doodling! I’d been noodling with the concept (around elephants being scared of mice) for several years. By chance, I ended up doodling in a John Lewis catalogue. There was a cupboard that looked a little like a safe - so I sketched some mice trying to break into it. That was the spark of inspiration I needed!

 

Development work: The Great Cheese Robbery by Tim Warnes (Little Tiger Press, 2015) | Illustration © 2013 by Tim Warnes

 

Reading The Great Cheese Robbery today (6 years after publication) makes me smile! One reviewer described it as a delightfully offbeat and slyly funny story’, while Booktrust wrote:

 

This comical story … will delight young readers and is sure to raise a giggle with adults too.

 

Humour is an effective way of addressing complex ideas and presenting significant issues to children in a non-threatening - and FUN - way! I have to be honest, though - I didn’t set out to write such a funny story. But under the direction of my excellent editor, I hammed up the action. I made it as slapstick (and therefore as non-threatening) as I could. (Without her suggestions, this would have been a very different story indeed.) In her notes to an early draft, the editor advised me to make Cornelius hammier so there’d be no ambiguity about his intentions. Her suggestion was for me to show this ‘both visually and verbally’. First, they pinch the cheese - then everything! Gradually, the ‘capers of the mice could get more and more outrageous’ and more slapstick. She was right: by making the bad guys cartoony and comic, they became non-threatening.

Speaking of fun - do you remember the Where’s Wally books (or Waldo for US readers)? Well, I needed a way of differentiating the three key mice (Cornelius J. Parker and his head goons, Manchego and Mascarpone) from the crowd of fellow burglar mice. So in a direct nod to Wally/Waldo, Manchego wears a red and white striped bobble hat. Mascarpone wears a blue polka dot bandana on his head. Spotting them among ‘the throngs of felonious mice’ becomes a game in itself and supports your child’s visual literacy.

 

From The Great Cheese Robbery by Tim Warnes (Little Tiger Press, 2015) | Illustration © 2015 by Tim Warnes

 

In addition to the essential bandit mask, Cornelius himself sports a suit and bowler hat (selected from the start from his rack of disguises).

 

From The Great Cheese Robbery by Tim Warnes (Little Tiger Press, 2015) | Illustration © 2015 by Tim Warnes

 

So it’s not just the fridge the marauding mice steal - but the telly, the phone, the fish (in their bowl), the biscuits, the lamp - even Patrick’s toys! Poor Patrick gets increasingly concerned.

 

“But they’re mine!” [said Patrick.]

“Sorry, kid. Boss said to take the lot!”

 

From The Great Cheese Robbery by Tim Warnes (Little Tiger Press, 2015) | Illustration © 2015 by Tim Warnes

 

The story finally reaches a crisis point. The mice lift up the sofa (complete with Daddy Elephant perched precariously on top)!

 

Daddy Elephant gave a little whimper as the mice cheered …

“STOP! THAT’S MY DADDY!” Patrick shouted in his biggest, strongest voice. But the mice took no notice.

 

I love the next spread. Mummy Elephant arrives home - and just in the nick of time. The mice are stopped in their tracks, and Patrick’s relief (as he sheds a little tear) is palpable.

 

“What’s going on here?” [asks Mummy Elephant.]

‘We’re from the Cheese Inspection Council, Madam. Please step aside.”

“Put my husband down OR ELSE!” shouted Mummy Elephant.

Everybody froze.

Cornelius narrowed his eyes.

“Or else, what?”

 

From The Great Cheese Robbery by Tim Warnes (Little Tiger Press, 2015) | Illustration © 2015 by Tim Warnes

 

‘[Mummy Elephant] needs to put them in their place and stop them in their tracks’, wrote my editor. ‘She is a formidable woman. And her trumpet should be swift and merciless!’

And indeed it is - with a mighty PRRRRRRRPPP! she sends those naughty mice flying!

I find it too swift. If I’m honest, I find the ending of Cheese Robbery (although ultimately satisfying) a little abrupt. I tried (in vain) to persuade the publisher to allow me a few extra pages. But additional pages are like gold dust, and Mummy Elephant’s trumpet is necessarily ‘swift and merciless’!

However, as the UK's largest children's reading charity, Booktrust, noted - Cheese Robbery conveys the ‘important message that mummies can be brave and strong as well as daddies’. 

The final spread warms my heart!

The Elephant family are reunited on the sofa. Patrick is snuggled between his parents, whose trunks are gently entwined.

 

“The truth is, Patrick,” said Mummy Elephant, “everyone’s afraid of something - even your big old dad!”

 

As we learnt from last week’s Story Worth Sharing, Me and My Fear, this is an important message for children to hear. It reminds our kids that it’s okay to be afraid.

It’s normal.

And that’s empowering. (For the record, my secret fear is of earthworms!)

 

“But he’s still the biggest, strongest elephant around,” said Patrick.

“I am,” smiled Daddy proudly. “But when it comes to mice … Mummy’s the bravest!”

One last thing.

The hand-lettered cover typeface (which I adore) is by the book’s talented designer, Genevieve Webster. She is co-creator of Rastamouse - and a lot of fun! Perhaps that’s where some of the book’s mischievous energy came from?

STORIES WORTH SHARING: The Great Cheese Robbery by Tim Warnes

Good to Read because:

It’s ‘a delightfully offbeat and slyly funny story’ that ‘delivers the gentle message: it’s okay to be scared sometimes.’

It’s brilliant fun to read aloud in a variety of silly voices!

It supports your child’s visual literacy - with its use of speech bubbles and the game of Spot the Mice: Cornelius, Manchego and Mascarpone!

GOOD TO READ

Picture books with unexpected visitors

A Bedtime for Bear - Bonny Becker and Kady MacDonald Denton

The Bear - Raymond Briggs

Lost and Found - Oliver Jeffers

The Cat in the Hat by Dr Seuss

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From The Great Cheese Robbery by Tim Warnes (Little Tiger Press, 2015) | Illustration © 2015 by Tim Warnes

‘Warnes puts his special brand of mischief and mayhem into this clever, comical story’

- The Clitheroe Advertiser and Times 

‘a really funny read to make you [and your kids] laugh’

- Diapers and daydreams Buy US Buy UK* I EARN COMMISSION FROM THESE LINKS #AD/AFFSOURCESThe Great Cheese Robbery by Tim Warnes (Little Tiger Press, 2015) The Great Cheese Robbery (BookTrust.org.uk) Book Review: Love, adventure and mischief are a gift for Mother’s Day (The Clitheroe Advertiser and Times, Pam Norfolk 25 february 2015) The Great Cheese Robbery by Tim Warnes (Little Tiger Press) (Read it Daddy, 12 February 2015) The Great Cheese Robbery (Books for Keeps)Related articlesFighting Fear with Picture Books A Little Bit Worried Owl Babies © 2021 BY TIM WARNES(UNLESS OTHERWISE ATTRIBUTED)****USE OF THIRD PARTY COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL FALLS UNDER FAIR USE/FAIR DEALING PRACTICE.