“‘Is it that shed over there?’ said Robbie.
‘The very same,’ said the camel.
‘Look at it!’ said Ropey. ‘It’s falling to bits! If that’s Christmas, it must be a shambles.’
‘I think it looks nice and cosy,’ said Rupert.
‘Come on,’ said Robbie. ‘We’ll take a closer look.'”
From the new picture book by myself and Mollie Macgregor-Kinnis.
“‘Once,’ said the camel, ‘I lived in a beautiful palace, in a hot country full of elegant palm trees. Now my master the King drags me here against my will, and he leaves me shivering in this field of snow, while he goes to take a look inside a shed! A lowly shed! He who once reclined on a throne of gold! And all because of Christmas!'”
From the new picture book by myself and Mollie Macgregor-Kinnis.
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“Then they saw a camel.
‘Excuse me, Mr Camel,’ said Robbie. ‘Do you know anything about Christmas?’
‘Don’t talk to me about Christmas,’ said the camel. ‘I hate Christmas.’
‘There you are!’ said Ropey.
‘How can you hate it?’ said Rupert. ‘It’s the best thing ever!'”
The fifth picture from The Christmas Robins, the new picture book by myself and Mollie Macgregor-Kinnis.
“‘I can’t go on!’ said Ropey. ‘I’m ill. Look how red my breast’s gone.’
‘It’s supposed to be like that,’ said Robbie.
‘Is it?’
‘Of course it is! That’s how people know we’re robins!’
‘That’s how we look so smart and cheerful!’ exclaimed Rupert.
‘Cheerful!’ said Ropey. ‘Cheerful he says! What about my thin legs? Look how thin my legs are! Who can be cheerful with legs like these?'”
From The Christmas Robins, the new picture book by myself and Mollie Macgregor-Kinnis.
http://drhairy.org/index.php/dr-hairys-research-podcasts
Dr David Hindmarsh and Julian Le Saux discuss articles from the BMJ:
“They came to a crow.
‘Can you tell us where to find Christmas?’ said Robbie.
‘Find what?’ said the crow.
‘Christmas!’ said Rupert. ‘It’s the next big thing! It’s going to be terrific!’
‘Never heard of it,’ said the crow.
‘I told you it was hopeless,’ said Ropey.”
The second picture from ‘The Christmas Robins’, by myself and Mollie Macgregor-Kinnis.
I’m transferring some of my Flash work from about 15-20 years ago onto video, as Flash won’t be supported by any of the internet browsers from the end of this year. ‘Chicks’ is the story of a chick choir, and one chick in particular who insists on singing an unnecessary solo.
You can find the video on IGTV, or on YouTube at https://youtu.be/ApjpjKl0-_w
“Three robins were marching through the snow: Robbie, Rupert and Ropey.
‘Come along!’ said Robbie. ‘Hurry up! We’ve got to find Christmas!’
‘Super!’ said Rupert. ‘Christmas sounds smashing!’
‘My legs hurt and I’m freezing!’ said Ropey robin. ‘Slow down a bit. We’ll never find it anyway.'”
The first picture from ‘The Christmas Robins’, by myself and Mollie Macgregor-Kinnis.
A.R.T. (which stands for Artists Responding To…) is ‘a free online Zine which uses creative depictions and literature to highlight current world issues’. It’s run by Polly Bates. The first issue goes online tomorrow (https://www.artistsrespondingto.co.uk), and I’m very pleased to be in it, with an environmentalist prose poem called ‘Bees’, and also ‘The Apocalypse’, the final episode in my cycle of fourteen sceptical Mystery Plays, ‘The Doubter’s Mysteries’ (http://edwardpicot.com/mysteries).
Instagram and Facebook: @artistsrespondingto Twitter: @artistsrespond
I’m transferring some of my Flash work from about 15-20 years ago onto video, as Flash won’t be supported by any of the internet browsers from the end of this year. ‘Linesland’ is the scary tale of a game of noughts and crosses that gets invaded by a Scribble Monster from the planet Scribble.