Christopher Nibble

Product Information

Draw a map of Dandeville, showing Christopher’s house, the library, Daisy Chain Hill and other places mentioned in the story. Could you use a key to show the different places?

In the next story, then, Christopher would surely be encouraging the residents of Dandeville to help him in his next environmentally-friendly quest, whatever that might be… Christopher Nibble loves munching dandelion leaves. And he's not alone. All the guinea pigs in Dandeville eat dandelion leaves for breakfast, lunch and dinner. But no-one seems to do anything when the dandelions begin to dwindle. They just carry on munching. In fact the guinea pigs of Dandeville are heading for eco-disaster . . . Author and illustrator Charlotte Middleton introduces the wonderful Christopher Nibble’s latest eco-adventure! Using a poem as a model is a super way to scaffold children’s own writing and, of course, Roger McGough’s Sound Collector would be a perfect poem to enjoy and use to create your own class poem together. Think of positive words that Christopher might use to describe dandelions and negative words to describe cabbages!

Recommended for you...

Christopher Nibble is a cute story, with some collage embedded into the illustrations, about patience, environmental sustainability, and of course, the beauty of dandelions (which I mentioned my love for in an earlier book post). You could create an aerial map of Dandeville or become town planners and build a scale model of key landmarks in the town. What types of shops would there be? What other facilities might they have? We know there is a library and a restaurant. Let children choose where Christopher’s house would be, where they think Daisy Chain Hill is or the football pitch where Christopher loves to play. It’s Christmas Eve, and having tumbled to earth through the night sky, Elva sets out on a journey to find her best friend – a little girl she hasn’t even met yet. Has the lost present got what it takes to find her way through the cold winter night? Will she arrive in time for Christmas morning? Will Elva be everything the little girl wished for. Christopher’s Christmas Topsy Turvy Theatre have turned Christopher Nibble into magical life in this entertaining, humorous theatre show. The home town of Dandeville, is a beautifully crafted stage set, with patchwork hills, a miniature café , a library and plenty of delicious dandelion leaves . There’s music, dancing and singing for all. My daughter (age 4) was very keen to watch two consecutive shows! I couldn’t be more delighted with the adaptation of my story. “ At one point in the story, ‘the worst thing imaginable happened?’. Could you use this sentence as the starting point for a brand new story about a different animal (or a person)?

What other types of food do guinea pigs like to eat? Could you plan a meal for them (with or without dandelions!)? Charlotte Middleton’s illustrations are superb and have such a sense of humor which makes them so engaging for children. I love the snapshot of what happens in the town when the dandelions run out, as the local restaurant menus need to be changed, with sold out signs everywhere and new varieties of products being introduced in their place; what appears to be beetroot jam and carrot juice! Look at the book titles in the illustration of the library. Can you write a story based on one of these titles? I would probably have bought this book just for its title; Christopher Nibble in a tale of dandelion derring- do! Just the mention of derring -do and the mental image of a brave young guinea pig on an adventure and, sadly, I was hooked. Pleasingly, once you open the book it does not disappoint. It will delight your KS1 pupils and keep them engaged in cross curricular literacy for weeks on end. From the company who brought you The Lost Present…A Christmas Adventure! comes a new wintery tale for the whole family to share.Katie and all of the other children around the world have just received the news that every child fears…Christmas is…CANCELLED! Why not create an entire restaurant area in the classroom complete with table cloths, place settings, menus and a specials board? The children could roleplay the heyday of dandelions and be assigned individual roles, such as waiter, cook, maitre d’, and a whole range of different types of customer. Then it will be all change as the dandelions run out and the class could set about creating new menus using all of the vegetables they don’t like. The tale is an allegory of consumerism which can be explored with the children. The environmental theme can be further developed by using other books; Where the Forest Meets the Sea by Jeannie Baker, One World by Michael Foreman and Sally and the Limpet by Simon James would be some of my favourites. 5. Christopher to the rescue! It takes a lot of ‘willpower’ for Christopher to stop himself from eating the last dandelion. What is willpower? How can it help us?

But when their crawly comrades disappear without a trace the gardening guinea pigs swap their trowels for magnifying glasses and turn detective! Christopher’s Christmas is written especially for children aged 2-7 and their families and is a Makaton Friendly performance. Told using beautiful puppets and stunning scenery, Christopher’s Christmas is a collaboration between the creator of Christopher Nibble, Charlotte Middleton, and Claire Alizon Hills of Topsy Turvy Theatre.The guinea pigs like to ‘munch’ and ‘nibble’ the dandelions. How many words can you think of to describe how we can eat?

Written and illustrated by Charlotte Middleton and adapted for the stage by Claire Alizon Hills, Topsy Turvy Theatre, the company who brought you Ruby Flew Too! and Isabel’s Well, proudly present the charming Christopher Nibble in a tale of dandelion daring-do!So what for the next tale of Christopher Nibble? So far Christopher’s world has been about the natural cycle of life. His home town Dandeville is a very green and harmonious world and Christopher likes to help keep it that way. Written especially for children aged 2-7 (and their big people too) and told with Topsy Turvy Theatre’s own blend of energetic storytelling, handmade puppets, original music and stunning scenery, Christopher Nibble is an uplifting story of one guinea pig’s selfless undertaking to help halt the disappearance of the delicious dandelion forever!