Kipper

Story

Kipper is tidying his basket. His toys are falling apart and his blanket is smelly but without them his basket is uncomfortable. Kipper decides he must find himself somewhere else to sleep.

Why we chose it

Kipper is a hugely popular picture book and television character, fondly remembered by many who grew up in the 1990s.

Where it came from

Kipper makes his first appearance in The Blue Balloon (1998) before going on to star in a series of adventures of his own. Author Mick Inkpen has said that children can see themselves in Kipper – although he is a dog, he does the kind of things that children do, or want to do.

Where it went next

An animated television series based on the characters ran from 1997 to 2000 with Kipper voiced by Martin Clunes. It won a BAFTA award for best children’s animation.

Kipper himself featured on a Royal Mail stamp in 2006.

Associated stories

There are a number of stories about Kipper including Kipper’s Birthday in which he tries to make his own cake, Kipper’s Snowy Day in which he discovers the joy of rolling downhill in snow, Kipper’s Toybox where he finds that something has been nibbling a hole in his box, and Kipper’s New Pet in which he buys a hamster for a friend but falls in love with it himself.

Mike Inkpen wrote a number of other picture books including the Wibbly Pig stories, Penguin Small, Lullabyhullabaloo, Threadbear, One Bear at Bedtime, Gumboot’s Chocolately Day, The Great Pet Sale,and Billy’s Beetle.

More recently he has written the Zoe and Beans stories with his daughter, Chloe.