THE BIGGEST STORY

When Errol’s mother is too busy to tell him a story, she convinces him that he can make up and tell one himself.

After a few jumping jacks and a headstand in the garden, Errol’s big story begins. Word quickly spreads about his project, and soon Errol, with brown skin and cottony black hair like his mom’s, finds himself surrounded by talking ants and cats, sheep who perform aerial stunts, animals escaped from a wildlife park, and even two time-traveling dinosaurs—all eager to be included as characters in his story. After she finishes her work with the plumbing, Errol’s mom comes to the garden to listen to the story he’s been working on, which includes all of the animals in the backyard—but she doesn’t seem to be able to see them. While Errol is telling the story, the illustrations move from full-page, fairly soft-focus bleeds to sequentially paneled cartoons with dialogue balloons and sound effects like those found in comic books. (Readers in the U.S. will note that a cat character in Errol’s story wields what it calls a “catapult”—the British term for a slingshot, which may require a bit of explanation from adults.) After the story ends, prompts are provided to encourage readers to make up their own stories.

A nifty way to encourage imaginative play and storytelling.