Poet and author Michael Rosen and Hampstead-based illustrator Helen Oxenbury will publish their timely story exclusively in next week’s The Big Issue.
Pax: A Festive Tale follows a family living on the breadline, whose cat Pax ventures out into the cold when they are unable to afford his food.
Little Evie and her mum then head out on a Christmas quest to find their beloved pet – highlighting the brutal reality endured by 3.8 million Brits who can’t afford to to stay warm, clean and fed.
Rosen and Oxenbury published their classic book about a family who find a bear in a cave back in 1989. It has sold more than 14 million copies.
They reunited earlier this year with a new picture book Oh Dear, Look What I’ve Got!
Hot on the heels of their successful collaboration they decided to create their third story together for the social enterprise magazine – which helps homeless people to earn an income.
Rosen, a former Children’s Laureate, who lives in Muswell Hill, said: “The Big Issue do exceptional work enabling their homeless and vulnerable vendors to have some stability by selling the magazine.
“So, I do the thing that I can do to support them, which is to write a seasonal story alongside a wonderful illustration by Helen Oxenbury capturing the poignancy of Pax: A Festive Tale.
“I love Helen’s vision to illustrate the story from the perspective of ‘we’ the viewer, looking in ‘over the shoulder’ of what the mum and daughter see through the window.”
Helen Oxenbury, who has twice won the Kate Greenaway Medal for her own books, said: “I was delighted when I read Michael’s poignant story to be able to contribute to the wonderful work of the Big Issue.
“Michael’s story felt so in step with The Big Issue, especially at this time of year. I immediately felt that the emotion was the characters on the outside in the cold looking in.
“Michael’s only request was could the cat please be black? And as that’s the only visual note he has ever asked of me in over 30 years, of course, I have made Pax a black cat – as I know that Michael has two cats – who are mostly black!”
According to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, rates of destitution in the UK have more than doubled since 2017 and they predict more than one million children will be experiencing poverty this Christmas.
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Paul McNamee, UK Editor of Big Issue, said: “This is a remarkable, ultimately heart-warming story from Michael. To have him and Helen team up again to create something so unique for Big Issue is a wonderful Christmas gift.
“We’re hugely grateful. Pax and Evie’s story feels right at home in our pages. It’s the story of the kind of struggle so many people face every day, but it also shows that hope carries.”
You can read Pax: A Festive Tale by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury exclusively in next week’s Big Issue, out Monday December 8.
Oh Dear, Look What I’ve Got! by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury is out now, published by Walker Books £12.99.
