Adam Roberts

Side project

Marshall & Henry are Best Friends

Years before we were married, my (now) wife joked that it would be easy to write a children’s book, and to prove the point she made up a story on the spot. Unbeknownst to her, I recorded every word. 10 years later I surprised her by making the book real and gifting it to our son for his first birthday.

Illustration · Photoshop · 2021

The cover: Marshall the meerkat looks up at Henry the giraffe under the title Marshall & Henry are Best Friends. Written by E, illustrated by A.The dedication page, mostly white, reading “For J”, with a small grasshopper in the corner.
A wide savanna under a pale sun: antelope, zebras, a rhino, two giraffes, an elephant, a lion, a hippo in the water and a grasshopper on a rock in the foreground.
Marshall the meerkat runs into the jungle to hide while his friend counts against a tree. Text: One day, Marshall the meerkat and his friends were playing Hide & Seek in the jungle. It was Marshall’s turn to hide, and he knew a great hiding place just around the bend.
Henry the giraffe, a monkey and an elephant under a tree. Text: Nearby, Henry the giraffe and his friends were playing their favourite game, I Spy. Henry loved to play, since he was so tall and could see lots of things.
Marshall presses himself against a rock, not noticing the giraffe legs beside him. Text: By the time his friend counted to ten, Marshall was almost at his hiding place. He was moving very quietly, so he wouldn’t be found. Suddenly…
A voice booms “I spy something green!” from high above. Marshall, startled, looks up at Henry the giraffe and asks what he is doing.
Henry explains I Spy. Marshall, who is small, can only see things close to the ground: a bush, the grass, a flower stem. Each guess gets a “Nope” or “Keep guessing!”
Henry laughs: it was old Owl’s tree, high up. Marshall is upset that he cannot see that from down there, so Henry offers to try Marshall’s game, and Marshall explains Hide & Seek.
Marshall counts to ten with his eyes closed against a tree trunk while Henry tiptoes off to hide. Just in time, Henry finds the perfect spot.
“…TEN!” Henry is “hiding” with his head in a small bush, the rest of him entirely visible. Marshall is confused. Henry asks how he is supposed to hide with legs and a neck so long.
Henry walks one way and Marshall the other. Text: Henry the giraffe and Marshall the meerkat were not playing very well together. Deciding that they were too different to be friends, they went their separate ways.
Next morning, old Owl wakes Henry in his bed: her egg has fallen from the nest and he is the only animal tall enough to reach. At the tree, Henry cannot get a grip on the egg with his mouth. Owl flies off for help.
Marshall is brushing his teeth at the pond when Owl swoops overhead: his hands are good for digging, so he must come and help put the egg back. Marshall follows.
Back at the tree, Henry watches Owl fly in with the small meerkat from the day before. “Oh, it’s you,” he says coldly.
Owl urges the two to work together. Looking at each other, they realise it: Henry is tall enough to reach the nest, and Marshall’s hands can hold the egg. Marshall picks it up and asks for a boost.
Henry lowers his neck to the ground so Marshall can climb on, then stands to his full height so Marshall can place the egg back in Owl’s nest.
“Bravo, you two!” Owl applauds. Henry admits they can work together; Marshall says it was fun and wishes there was a game like that. Owl, in her glasses, has an idea: have you two ever heard of…
“…basketball?” Henry, with Marshall on his head holding the ball, faces the elephant with a rhino between them, a monkey on its back, and Owl refereeing above. Two hoops hang from the trees.
THE END. The grasshopper sits on top of a basketball on the savanna.

That’s the whole book. If you’d like the pages at full size, the PDF is here.

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