—
Tiny the Giant was a giant, he was,
and a giant needs big things to eat.
So from under the tree by the old fish pond
he licked his lips at the Moon.
‘I WILL EAT THE MOON!’ he roared.
He roared and he jumped
and he jumped and he roared
but up in the sky, like a fat piece of pie,
the Moon let out a laugh.
‘You look very small, almost too small to see.
Go away little giant, and don’t roar at me.’
But that just made Tiny roar all the more.
Tiny the Giant tried to jump to the Moon…
…but the Moon was to far away.
‘I will eat, I will eat, I will eat you ALL up,’
the giant roared at the Moon.
‘You can eat my grass!’ mooed a cow.
Giants eat dragons
and giants drink seas
but giants don’t eat grass.
Tiny the Giant wanted the Moon
but the Moon was too far away.
‘I WILL EAT THE MOON!’
The Moon looked fat and the Moon looked plump
but the Moon was too far away.
‘You look very small, almost too small to see.
Go away, little giant, and don’t roar at me.’
Down in the dumps
and down on the ground,
Tiny the Giant thought hard.
A hungry giant can think big thoughts
and Tiny knew what to do.
With his giant fists pumping
and his giant legs jumping,
Tiny climbed the tree.
‘I will eat, I will eat, I will eat you all up!’
The Moon just laughed and the branches shook,
and a squirrel came to look.
‘You can eat my acorns!’ squealed the squirrel.
Giants eat mountains
and giants drink storms
but they don’t eat acorns
and they don’t eat grass
so Tiny the Giant climbed higher.
He wanted the Moon, the fat creamy Moon
but he still couldn’t quite reach.
‘I WILL EAT THE MOON!’
Way up high in the dark dark sky,
the Moon laughed once again.
‘You’re still very small, almost too small to see.
Go away, little giant, and don’t roar at me.’
‘I will eat, I will eat, I will eat you all up!’
But though the pond was below him
and the tree was beside him,
the Moon was still out of reach.
Something, however, was not…
From just up above a chatter was heard,
a spluttering chittering chatter.
‘You can eat my bananas!’ muttered the monkey.
Giants eat cities
and giants drink sunlight
but they don’t eat bananas
they don’t eat acorns
and they really don’t eat grass.
Tiny the Giant wanted the Moon,
and only the Moon would do.
But that was a long way off.
Tiny looked up…
…then Tiny looked down.
Everything was a long way off.
The ground, the Moon,
breakfast, lunch and dinner –
all were a long way off.
Tiny the Giant wanted the Moon on a plate,
and a giant gets what he wants.
But to get to the Moon, Tiny had to climb higher.
And higher…
…and higher.
He climbed so high the leaves grew thick
and Tiny saw nothing but tree.
‘I will eat, I will eat, I will eat you all up,’
roared Tiny the Giant once more.
‘You can eat my mice!’ hooted the owl.
Giants eat planets
and giants drink fire
but they don’t eat mice
they don’t eat bananas,
they don’t eat acorns
and giants never eat grass.
Tiny the Giant wanted the Moon
and only the Moon would do.
So he had just one thing to say…
‘I WILL EAT THE MOON!’
But no matter how high Tiny could climb,
the Moon could climb even higher.
‘You’re still very small,
almost too small to see.
Go away, little giant,
you can’t eat me.’
So Tiny the Giant sat down.
Then Tiny the Giant felt hungry,
and Tiny the Giant felt lonely,
and Tiny the Giant felt the branch… snap.
With a creak and a crack and a snap and a whack,
Tiny the Giant fell down.
Past the owl, Tiny tumbled.
Past the monkey, Tiny flew.
Past the squirrel, Tiny sped.
Down from the tree towards the old fish pond,
Tiny dropped like a stone.
And as his giant arms waved
and his giant legs flailed,
Tiny saw the Moon.
There in the depths of the old fish pond,
Tiny saw the Moon looking up.
‘I will eat, I will eat, I will eat you all up…’
‘I WILL EAT THE MOON!’
And with a splish
and a splash
he came to a stop
and Tiny the Giant looked down.
And in the swish
and the swosh
of the old fish pond,
the Moon was not to be found.
‘I ATE THE MOON!’ he roared.
—
Did you enjoy the story? You can buy it in a beautiful paperback edition now. Illustrated throughout by Nicola Anderson.
Illustration courtesy of, and copyright, Nicola Anderson. Follow her on Twitter.