Claude

CLAUDE at Bedtime

2012-02-29T12:13:00.000-08:00

Well, would you look at that!

Sir Bobblysock and I have just had this lovely photo sent to us on Twitter of our book CLAUDE at the CIRCUS being shared at bedtime. It was sent to us by the lovely Michelle (@michlan) who is RAWTHER keen on us it seems. She strikes us as the sort of lady we would enjoy having a nice cup of tea and a sit down with.

Talking of Twitter, make sure you follow us on there: @CLAUDE_and_SirB

Happy Valentine's Day

2012-02-14T02:48:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day from Me, CLAUDE and Sir Bobblysock!

xxx

Up for an award, if you please!

2012-02-10T03:08:00.000-08:00

Good Gracious! We are up for an award!

Our first adventure, Claude in the City, is shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Award!

When we found out Sir Bobblysock was beside himself and he's still as high as a kite. So am I. I've had to break into my Emergency Juicy Bone Baguette to keep my blood sugar up and Sir Bobblysock has had one cup of tea after another.

The winners are announced on 28th March in London so I'll be dusting off my smarted beret and Sir Bobblysock's going to have his roots done specially for the occasion.

We do love a party!

Yet another happy (beret-wearing) reader!

2012-02-10T03:03:00.000-08:00

Look at this lovely young lady! Doesn't she look lovely with her beret worn at the correct regulation jaunty angle!

This little Claude fan is none other than Mya (aka Chickpea) whose clever mummy Teri won a copy of our new book "Claude at the Circus" when it came out last month.

Thank you Teri for sending us this picture. Sir Bobblysock's going to look out a nice frame for it and put it in pride of place on his desk so he can look at it whilst he writes his autobiography.

The competition was run on Twitter where we have our own twitter account ( @CLAUDE_and_SirB) and our friend Alex T. Smith is also on there too (@Alex_T_Smith). Why not join us all and have a chinwag?

THE GREAT CLAUDE ART COMPETITION!

2012-01-23T07:19:00.000-08:00

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*Toodle- ooooo <--- FANFARE!*

It gives me (and Claude and Sir Bobblysock) great pleasure to announce an exciting competition!

I am busily working on the next three Claude adventures and on the last page of each book we would like to feature a piece of child's artwork in the new 'Friends of Claude' section. We did this in the new book CLAUDE AT THE CIRCUS and you can see the lucky contributor here. (Thank you Lovely Poppy!)

So... click on the image above for all the details. You could download it if you like and put it up in your school or library or local bookshop.

I can't wait to see what you go and I will also throw in a signed copy of the book with your/ your child's artwork in when the books publish over the next 18 months!

GOOD LUCK!

Claude in Bologna

2011-03-29T02:19:00.001-07:00

Ooh look at this! Claude's gone to Italy!

This week it's all go in Bologna as children's book publishers from all over the world gather for the Bologna Children's Book Fair. Here's a picture that Claude's very good friend Alison Eldred took of Claude relaxing and smiling everso politely with Hodder Children's Books publishing director, the lovely Anne McNeil.

Claude likes Anne very much. Not only does she keep chickens ( thumbs up from Claude) but she also helped Claude out from Mr. and Mrs. Shineyshoes' kitchen and into the bookshops.

Thank you Anne!

Another happy reader!

2011-03-15T13:09:00.000-07:00

Claude and Sir Bobblysock were THRILLED to receive this picture of the lovely Nevaeh (ballet dancer extraordinaire and all round good egg) giving CLAUDE IN THE CITY the thumbs up!

Thumbs up right back at you, kiddo!

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Big thank you to Nevaeh's mummy Sophie and daddy Scott for sending the picture to Claude HQ

Claude discovers DISCOVER

2011-03-14T09:19:00.001-07:00

What a busy weekend Claude and Sir Bobblysock this week!

Early on Saturday morning, while Mr. and Mrs. Shineyshoes were out doing their shopping, Claude and Sir Bobblysock decided to go DISCOVER Children's Story Centre to watch Alex T Smith do the very first event for the book CLAUDE IN THE CITY.

Claude packed his suitcase with things to entertain Sir Bobblysock on the train (this included a magazine - 'Snazzy Sock Monthly', a juicy bone baguette and a dog spotter's handbook incase there were any exciting dogs to spot)....

There were TWO workshops and Claude and Sir Bobblysock went to both as they didn't have anything else to do and Sir Bobblysock wanted to keep an eye on everything.

Here (above) is a picture a very nice person called Michelle ( who works here) took of Claude listening intently to what Alex T Smith was talking about and trying not to blush with embarrassment over the picture on the board of himself and Sir Bobblysock dancing in their underpants with an alien...

After the events, Alex T Smith signed some books and talked to the very nice children about Claude and looked at their drawing which were SPLENDID.

This little girl is called Juliette and her pictures were marvelous. Sir Bobblysock thought that they were better than Alex T Smith's....

All in all it was a very nice day and everyone enjoyed themselves very much.

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Claude, Sir Bobblysock and Alex T Smith would like to say a great big thank you to everyone who came to the events and all the lovely people at Discover as well as Michelle at Arena and Alison Eldred who helped out and made sure everything went smoothly.

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Catching up on reviews and Alex T Smith

2011-03-07T09:39:00.001-08:00

Another picture by Sir Bobblysock

It was mentioned in an earlier post that Claude and Sir Bobblysock have been busy. Their first book hit the shops, they've been busy supervising the production of their second (Claude on Holiday) not to mention making sure their friend Alex T Smith gets a shift on with all the pictures for their THIRD adventure ( Claude at the Circus) so that it's ready to be published next January.

As you can imagine it's been tough on them both and a LOT of time has been spent having long lie downs in darkened rooms with cucumber slices over their eyes and soothing music being piped into their ears....

Well, they managed to rouse themselves enough to meet up with Alex T Smith and have a nice glass of lemonade and look over all the lovely things people have been saying about CLAUDE in the CITY:

(Click the links to read the full reviews)

Richard and Judy

Celebs, book enthusiasts and Nice People:

"It's highly illustrated and also very funny (parents will enjoy it)"

Bookbag:

"Fantastic illustrations that fit perfectly with this funny story. A wonderful book that I think grown ups will love as much as children! *****"

Booktrust:

"A witty story and stylish illustrations."

Literary Chick

"I loved everything about this book."

Library Mice:

"Lovers of the quirky, behold, this one is for you! This new series by newcomer author/illustrator Alex T. Smith is absolutely brilliant"

Anne Booth:

‎'Claude in the City' by Alex T. Smith is one of those books which makes people of all ages laugh. the illustrations are FAB the story BRILL..." *****

Reviewer on Amazon.co.uk

"We can't wait for the next Claude book to come out in the summer and have pre-ordered it. In the meantime I suspect that Claude in the City will be read over and over again. Well done and thank you Alex T Smith!" *****

And finally...

The brilliant NEW BOOK SNIFFER Site has an interview with Alex T. Smith's three dogs AND a sneaky look at Claude's second adventure 'CLAUDE on HOLIDAY"

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Remember if you are a fan of Claude and Sir Bobblysock you can join their facebook fan page where you can send in a see fan art, get exclusive updates and news and chat to other nice people who enjoy berets, socks and adventures.

And there's more news:

2011-03-07T09:35:00.001-08:00

Claude and Sir Boblysock were just mooching around London the other day when they happened to wander into the ENORMOUS Waterstone's on Piccadilly. They pootled up to the children's book floor and look what they found!

Their book at number two in the chart there! How exciting!

They couldn't resist taking a photo. Whilst they were there they had a flick through the book at number 10 - Fantastic Frankie and the Brain Drain Machine- which has been illustrated by their friend Alex T Smith.

Claude and Sir Bobblysock like the story very much, but were disappointed to find they weren't in any of the illustrations...

Busy Times for Claude and Sir Bobblysock

2011-03-07T09:27:00.001-08:00

Well, well, well... Claude and Sir Bobblysock HAVE been busy!

Just over a month ago their VERY FIRST book - CLAUDE in the CITY was published by the lovely people at Hodder Children's books. As if that wasn't exciting enough, the book was chosen by some very clever and famous people called Richard and Judy to be in their very first children's book club! Hooray!

Above are some very dodgy photos taken by Sir Bobblysock ( who isn't much of a photographer) of the book being featured on the instore branding at WH Smith. Looks very nice doesn't it?!

If you haven't read 'Claude in the City' yet, and think you might quite like to, why not pop along to your nearest WH Smith and take advantage of their special Richard and Just promotion - Buy one book and get another for £1! Sir Bobblysock has done this and has a nice pile of books to read when he's having one of his long lie downs!

Claude meets Junior Magazine...

2011-01-12T03:22:00.001-08:00

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Well, this IS EXCITING!

Junior magazine have a lovely article all about Claude (and Sir Bobblysock) in there latest issue which is out now in the shops and on sale until Feb 4th!

Thank you Junior Magazine!

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You can read the article above by clicking on the image and zooming in and you can read the full interview here.

Merry Christmas from Claude and Sir Bobblysock!

2010-12-17T02:22:00.000-08:00

Hodder, the lovely bunch of people who are publishing the books all about Claude and Sir Bobblysock, have produced a lovely, all singing, all dancing, eCard.

Take a look here!

Claude and Sir Bobblysck would also just like to wish you all a VERY Merry Christmas full of excitement and fun. Claude is hoping for a new beret and a space ship. Sir Bobblysock is hoping for five minutes peace. What are YOU hoping for this Christmas?!

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And if you are looking for a new treat to look forward to in the new year why not pre-order the first two Claude books here? And here?

Claude's got (FAN) mail!

2010-12-13T05:44:00.000-08:00

Some very nice school children got to have a sneaky peek at the first Claude book and sent Claude and Sir Bobblysock these lovely portraits!

Thank you nice school children!

CLAUDE and the Christmas Trees

2010-12-08T10:11:00.001-08:00

The other day, whilst his owners Mr and Mrs Shineyshoes, were at work, Claude decided to go on an adventure.

“I think I will go to the Garden Centre!’ he said, and he did.

Sir Bobblysock tagged along too as he felt there was only so much lazing about on the sofa in your dressing gown eating Turkish Delight one can do of a morning.

So the pair set off...

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Mr. Boxhedge’s Garden Centre was tremendously busy when they got there. People were dashing about everywhere and every one of them seemed to be carrying a real tree. Claude and Sir Bobblysock had never seen anything like it before and were terribly confused.

Claude looked around and spotted a friendly looking man flinging a big conifer over his shoulder whilst his friend dithered over several boxes of glittery baubles.

‘Excuse me,’ said Claude, ever so politely, ‘But what is going on?’

At first, the man didn’t hear him properly because he had a pine cone wedged in his ear, but after Claude had helped him remove it, he was very happy to answer Claude’s question.

‘This is a Christmas tree,‘ said the man helpfully pointing at the tree, ‘We are buying it and taking it home to put up in our living room and we’ll decorate it with sparkly lights and these glittery baubles.’

At this, the man’s friend waved the box of baubles she had decided upon and showed off the box of lights she had tucked under her armpit.

Claude thought that all of this sounded like a very strange thing to be doing, but of course as soon as Sir Bobblysock had seen the glittery baubles, he wanted to have his own set and a Christmas tree to go with it.

Sir Bobblysock was Claude’s best friend in the whole world and he didn’t like to disappoint him (it brought on one of his headaches if he got upset), so he fished around in his beret to see if he had brought any money with him.

Eventually, after several minutes scrabbling about in his hat and removing his emergency bone baguette, a tea pot, several wrinkled conkers and small trumpet, he found his piggy bank. He gave it a good shake, but all that fell out was some fluff, an old boiled sweet and a few coins which were certainly not enough to buy a real Christmas tree.

Sir Bobblysock looked dreadfully sad. He went all limp and mournful like a damp chicken.

‘I know!’ said Claude as a good idea pinged into his head, ‘There’s enough money here to buy a box of baubles. Let’s buy some and take them home with us. There’s bound to be something in Mr and Mrs Shineyshoes’ house we can decorate!’

Sir Bobblysock thought this was a wonderful idea and lost his limpness immediately!

So Claude bought the baubles and the two friends dashed home as quickly as they could, both feeling very excited indeed.

Back at home, Claude and Sir Bobblysock looked everywhere for something to hang the baubles from, but as hard as they looked they couldn’t find anything. Certainly nothing as lovely as a real Christmas tree!

It was while they were having their afternoon cup of tea and slice of cake (today the cake was a raspberry pavlova) that Claude noticed for the first time that there were several trees in the back garden and that some of them would be perfect for the baubles to dangle from.

Quickly he and Sir Bobblysock gobbled the last of their meringue, drained their teacups and dashed outside to try and bring one of the trees into the living room.

Well, they pushed and they heaved and the pulled and they struggled, but they just could not shift any of the trees at all!

It was as if they were rooted to the ground or something...

Sir Bobblysock was starting to get one of his headaches, so Claude knew he had to think of something fast. It was then that he had an idea so good, it made all his previous Good Ideas seem rather silly indeed.

‘If we can’t bring a tree inside to the living room,‘ he said whilst waggling his ears proudly and excitedly, ‘Why don’t we bring the living room outside to the trees?!’

Sir Bobblysock was rarely speechless, but what Claude had just said left him so that all he could do was stand in the snow with his mouth hanging open.

‘Come on!’ said Claude, marching back into the house, ‘Let’s get cracking!’

So Sir Bobblysock bounced after Claude and they started work...

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Over the next two hours, 112 Waggy Avenue ( where Claude lived) was buzzing with activity.

Together Claude and Sir Bobblysock worked themselves into a frenzy carrying all the furniture from the living room out into the garden.

Out came the sofa and the armchairs!

Out came the pouffe and the sideboard!

Out came all the nicknacks and the fireplace!

Even the flying duck ornaments came out and were hammered into a tree trunk.

Sir Bobblysock and Claude made sure that everything was just right, so that it looked for all the world as if the living room had been magically picked up and placed into the garden.

Once they were happy with the furniture, the two friends set about decorating.

The box of baubles didn’t go very far so Claude raided all the cupboards and drawers for anything he could find that could dangle and look festive.

He found quite a lot and came out into the garden with armfuls of cutlery, jewelry and even some of Mr and Mrs Shineyshoes’ shiniest shoes.

Sir Bobblysock, who was feeling rather tired now, sat in an armchair and supervised Claude hanging all the ornaments. It took quite a time, but the effect was marvelous.

But suddenly, the grandfather clock started to chime in it’s new position by the flower bed - it was almost time for Mr and Mrs Shineyshoes to get home from work!

Luckily, everything was just about finished so Claude (who was now also exhausted) quickly ran into the kitchen, grabbed his cosy bed, hauled it out into the garden and positioned it in front of the fireplace which had been strewn with forks, baubles and a couple of pairs of well polished brogues.

He leapt in, tucked his beret under the pillow and snuggled down under the cover and immediately fell asleep.

He was just in time too as at that very moment, Mr and Mrs Shineyshoes walked through the front door.

‘Goodness me!’ said Mr Shineyshoes in surprise, ‘All of our furniture seems to be in the garden!’

“I say! So it does!’ said Mrs Shineyshoes, ‘ And it looks as if someone has been tying all my jewels to it, and our cutlery!’

“And our shiniest shoes!’ said Mr Shineyshoes.

‘But whoever could have done it?’ asked Mrs Shineyshoes stepping out into the garden, ‘Do you think perhaps Claude had something to do with it?’

Mr Shineyshoes stepped out into the garden too and laughed a hearty laugh.

‘HA!HA!HA!’ he laughed, ‘ I don’t think Claude did all of this,’ he said, ‘Look - he’s fast asleep in his bed!’

But even though he was fast asleep, Claude couldn’t help smiling a little smile to himself at a job very well done!

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Claude and Sir Boblysock have fun in the snow...

2010-12-03T08:52:00.000-08:00

Claude and Sir Bobblysock have been playing in the snow.

It was rather deep in places...

Claude built a snowman. It took hours to make...

Sir Bobblysock made one too. He just slapped it up in a couple of minutes...

Afterwards Claude and Sir Bobblysock warmed themselves up in front of the fire. Sir Bobblysock had to have one of his long lie downs with a couple of teabags on his eyelids.

Claude in the Snow

2010-12-02T06:49:00.001-08:00

It has been snowing and Claude has decided to put some food out for the birds.

Sir Bobblysock thought that this would be a good opportunity to use his hostess trolley, but it had a wobbly wheel...

Sir Bobblysock: Amateur Photographer

2010-12-02T03:30:00.000-08:00

Sir Bobblysock has got himself a camera....

Look out for more amazing pictures soon!