Entertainment

‘Billie Eilish is somewhat of a kindred spirit’, says Oliver Jeffers

The award-winning artist is set to read a book from Belfast author Oliver Jeffers on CBeebies

Billie Eilish is set to read a book from NI author Oliver Jeffers on CBeebies
Billie Eilish is set to read a book from NI author Oliver Jeffers on CBeebies (Image: BBC)
By Sophie Clarke

Acclaimed Belfast author and illustrator Oliver Jeffers has said it is “wonderful” that multiple Academy and Grammy Award-winning artist Billie Eilish will read his book This Moose Belongs to Me on CBeebies Bedtime Story on Friday night.

Speaking to The Irish News Jeffers said: “It’s a wonderful thing that someone like Billie has chosen a book like This Moose Belongs to Me. The more people that are exposed to literature at a young age the better.”

Jeffers is widely known for his children’s picture books, with many of them being translated into multiple languages and winning various awards.

This Moose Belongs to Me, which was released in 2012 and featured on the New York Times best seller list tells the tale of a little boy called Wilfred who says he owns a very big moose called Marcel.

Most of the time Marcel is very obedient, but one day, while deep in the woods, someone else claims the moose as their own, and Wilfred learns an important lesson.

Eilish will tell young viewers: “We need to look after beautiful, wild creatures like Marcel, but we also need to let them do their own thing.

“My favourite thing in the world as a child was a bedtime story and I would be upset if I didn’t get one. I had a lot and I loved them all.”

This is not Jeffers’s first brush with an A-lister. In 2013 he illustrated the vinyl cover (a drawing of Nelson Mandela) for the U2 song Ordinary Love and two years later contributed video content to the band’s Innocence + Experience Tour, creating the chalk drawings and collages for the ‘innocence’ act of the show.

“It’s a particular honour that Billie is doing this as somewhat of a kindred spirit, somebody who is championing the idea of natural responsibility, and providing an access point for people to think of their role in a future world,” he adds.

“This is what a lot of my world speaks to, so it’s terrific.”

Reading a CBeebies story has become a rite of passage for stars with previous readers including Tom Hardy, Jack Black, Melissa McCarthy, Kate Winslet and Steve Carell.

CBeebies Bedtime Story is on each weekday at 6.50pm on CBeebies and BBC iPlayer.