Meal One

Ivor Cutler has died. This is what I know best about Ivor Cutler: the book Meal One, which I read to my children. It begins so:

One morning, Helbert woke with a plum in his mouth. He pulled it out and held it between his fingers for a good look: it was purple and juicy.

"Who put it in my mouth while I was asleep?" he wondered.

"Me!" shouted his mum, stretching her head out from under the bed with a great grin on her lips. "Hello, Mum!" he smiled.

Helbert and his mum were great pals. They played football, fighting, ate fish and chips and pickled onions with their fingers, and dug holes.

And here is how the book ends:

Helbert slept in his bed. Suddenly he woke with nothing in his mouth. "Who put nothing in my mouth?" he wondered.

"Me!" shouted his mum, standing by the door in a shining pinafore. "Come on Helbert, my beautiful son, meal one is served!"

And she carried Helbert MacHerbert downstairs to the kitchen for his breakfast.

Great illustrations by Helen Oxenbury.