ADVERTORIAL

“But I didn’t even know I could tell that story?” was my daughter’s bemused response, while watching back the 40-second animation we have created to launch The Super Yummies, a lovely new range of snacks from the Cow & Gate family, for toddlers from aged 12+ months, containing only naturally occurring salt and sugar.

Celebrating the wonder of storytelling, the brief of the project was to make a film demonstrating how play and meaningful family-time can inform learning outside of more formal, prescribed learning systems – while experiencing how new flavours can be incorporated into even the fussiest of eaters’ daily routine, out and about.

“When chameleons change their appearance, do they still like the same breakfast?”

So it was that my five-year-old daughter, Rosa, and I set out on a special day, just the two of us, which would form the basis of ‘If a Parsnip Was an Animal’: a series of drawings and conversations inspired by what we saw, tasted and heard.

After umm-ing and ahh-ing, and establishing that a day out with Spiderman was not on the menu (harsh life-lessons), we settled on London Zoo. Having managed to sneak out unnoticed by my two-year-old who at this point was busy insisting his father “GET IN!” to a 5cm-long toy plane in the living room, while the 5-month-old baby squawked on the mat, my daughter and I headed out.

It was a busy morning eyeing up kangaroos, lizards, buffalo and butterflies – stopping briefly to refuel, while considering pressing questions such as “when chameleons change their appearance do they still like the same breakfast?” – before heading home to mull it all over. Taking our cue from some of the flavours in a packet of The Super Yummies ‘slices’, I asked Rosa: “If a parsnip was an animal, what animal would it be?”

This film is a lovely reminder of the power of a child’s imagination – and the unerring fact that a five-year-old always has the last word

So began a 30-minute journey from our dining table through the brilliantly bonkers mind of an excited five-year-old… Through an enchanted forest populated by unicorns, flying tigers, and superhero treasure (naturally). As we talked, Rosa drew elements of what she described in a series of pictures, which formed the basis of an animation later brought to life by The Super Yummies team. The result, we hope, is a lovely reminder of the power of a child’s imagination (and the unerring fact that a five-year-old always has the last word). 

Follow on Facebook: @TheSuperYummiescowandgate.co.uk

More in Features

By , 6th November 2023
Features
My new literary suspense THE END OF SUMMER announced in The Bookseller

From book to screen

By , 28th February 2023
Features
Free resources and tips for would be screenwriters, from a complete novice - and some professionals - as I navigate the process of adapting my novels for TV and film

Observer New Review Q&A

By , 22nd March 2022
Features
An interview with Stephanie Merritt about Edith and Kim, the perils of writing about family, and why female spies often get overlooked

Researching Edith and Kim

By , 17th November 2021
Features
From a compendium of stories about life at the Bauhaus to a Modernist memoir by the founder of the iconic Isokon, here are some of the books that inspired my forthcoming novel

Book festivals 2021

By , 19th August 2021
Features
From a celebration of the life of John le Carré at Cheltenham to an exploration of women and crime in Chiswick, please join me at one of the following events, across the country (and the internet!)