The Animalympics – review

Animal magic: The Animalympics

The Animalympics by Hackney-based writer Julia Griffin and illustrator Hendrik Wittkopf is a wonderfully spun rhyming tale, inside the pages of a colourfully imagined children’s picture book.

Set in London, the story follows a group of animals who are fed up with the stinky pollution and rubbish of the city. In the hope of bettering the place, and with good old Fox at the helm, they plan to do “something big. A party! A feast! A sporting shindig!”

This can mean only one thing – the Animalympics.

The Queen, brilliantly realised by Wittkopf with a towering crown falling down over her eyes (and legs rather squat from the weight of it), is apprehensive that such an event could cause more congestion in her capital city. But Fox, being the sly old thing that he is, sends out a message to all the world’s creatures: “Please come to our Games. They’ll be fast, wild and free. London’s the top place for a creature to be.” (Environmentalists may snigger).

And so, disregarding ‘queenie’, a series of fantastically imagined sporting events take place, from Vole Vaulting outside the Tate Modern to ‘scratching and grooming’ down Savile Row. With its many recognisable landmarks and quips about dog poo and traffic, the layers of humour in this book will please both a young and mature readership.

However, this is not to be mistaken for one of those annoying children’s books that are really aimed at adults. It draws from the classics, such as Dr Seuss and other books in rhyme, and any possible grown-up subtexts remain subtle.

Wittkopf’s colourful collage-style illustrations of hamsters running loops on the London Eye bring the surreal and bizarre to life. His scratchy line-drawn creatures evoke the work of Quentin Blake, with a psychedelic undertone.

If there is a moral for everyone here, it is that nature often knows best. And for those of us a little older and bored by the glut of rather serious Olympic-related literature, The Animalympics offers both a droll and entertaining breather.

Julia Griffin and Hendrik Wittkopf will be at The Book Box, Chatsworth Road E5 on 21 January 2012.

The Animalympics
By Julia Griffin and Hendrik Wittkopf
Publisher: Clapton Commons 2011
£7.99