The story is about what appears to be a monkey (though it is not made explicit) named Mr. Big, who due to his size, is assumed by others to be scary. This results in Mr. Big feeling lonely and isolated which ultimately leads him to take up piano playing which he is very talented at. Upon hearing the music across the city, everyone begins to wander who can possibly be playing such beautiful music. Once it is revealed to the others that it is in fact the 'scary' Mr.Big, their perceptions of him change and the story ends with Mr. Big not at all lonely, but instead happy and surrounded with friends. What is empathy? ‘T he ability to understand and experience the feelings of others, and to respond in helpful ways.’

Vere has worked with the Britten Sinfonia and the Neil Cowley Trio to stage live concerts for schools and family audiences. With the Britten Sinfonia, adaptations of Mr Big and Max the Brave have been staged in concerts which bring together live drawing and classical music, the most recent at The Barbican Centre. The concerts were devised with and presented by Hannah Conway.Vere’s core message – that being big (or in some way different) is not scary – is delivered with a light touch, notes The Book Bag: ‘The person who looks different has the same feelings as everyone else. Inside we are all the same.’ It’s an important lesson for kids to learn and a theme covered in a few of my own books (including DANGEROUS! and Boris Starts School). Meaning Mr Big– as with many of my recommendations – is a great way to teach your child empathy. Ed worked with CLPE toco-createthe award winning Power of Picturesprogrammewhich encourages visual literacy in primary schooleducation andhas received major funding from the Arts Council, EEF & RSA.You can read an article in The Guardian relating to this work here . This book was initially unknown to me, but is a favorite of my very fussy four year old nephew, so I decided to give it a go. The book itself is aimed at early years readers and this is reflected in the simplistic and minimal text, however the book is engaging and in my view appealing due to the large, vivid illustrations and comical but meaningful plot.

This story is based on Mr big who is bigger in size compared to everyone else. Even though he is big everywhere he goes everyone runs away from him as they see someone big and scary, therefore Mr big inside felt very small and lonely from inside. One day Mr big was walking past a shop and noticed a piano in the window, he felt it looked all alone just like him so he decided to buy it and take it home. Mr Big began to play the piano thinking of all the things that made him sad, he played and played. Everyone in the neighbourhood could hear the beautiful music and wondered where it was coming from; people came from all over town every night to listen to the beautiful music. However Mr big was still alone and sad, until one morning when he received his first ever letter to the pianist. The letter read thank you for your beautiful music, everyone has been listening to your music and who are you? Leading to an invitation to come and join their band at the blue note. The story went on as Mr big joined the band and everyone had a great time and at last everyone could see the real Mr big ending with Mr big having loads of fans and having no time to be alone which is just the way he likes it.Vere describes the book as 'a painted and written travelogue, a journey of discovery, it aims to engender a love of nature in a world increasingly disconnected from it. The book will discuss issues around freedom, conservation and what we can do to create a world in which wildlife thrives, rather than perishes.' The book aims to properly discuss the issues at hand and consequently is aimed at a wide-ranging audience from 8 year-old to adult. Vere worked with CLPE to co-create the Power of Pictures, a 12-week scheme in which author/illustrators teach teachers about writing techniques. Ed also works on many projects related to his books . . . from speaking at festivals fromRio to Mexico toKerala, tocurating festival experiences in the UK, tolive drawing onstage at The Barbican Centrealongside the Britten Sinfonia, and atThe Wigmore hall withthe Neil Cowley Trio.