As A Christmas Gift from Bob hits our screens, one German superfan is celebrating her newfound place in the story of the famous cat.
Hanover resident Ester Inga Oppermann’s crochet tribute to James Bowen and Street Cat Bob – lovingly called Little James and Little Bob – caught the imagination of the film’s promoters Lionsgate UK, and so she is now producing promotional social media posts for the movie.
“I’m very excited and it’s crazy for me,” Ester told The Big Issue. “When the movie poster came out, I posted a picture on Instagram with Little James and Little Bob in front of the poster. I tagged Lionsgate UK on the picture and they called me back to say they wanted to have a collaboration with me with some pictures from Little James and Little Bob.”
Ester first heard of Street Cat Bob back in 2013 when she saw a review of the first book about the legendary feline in a German cat magazine. When she picked up the book, she was immediately hooked on James’s story of how he turned his life around with the help of a ginger cat and The Big Issue.
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“I bought the book and couldn’t put it down,” she said. “This book opens your mind. [It makes you think about the fact that] if you are on the streets, and no one was looking at you, it’s like you are invisible. And this touched me very much. So, every time I’m in London, I always buy The Big Issue. And I always have a chat with the vendor.”
In 2015, James and Bob came to Germany for a book signing. Ester wanted to do something special for them, and so she persuaded her best friend’s mum, Gaby Wadewitz Gross, to make her idea for a tribute into a woollen reality.