There is a page in The Tiger Who Came to Tea that remains alive and resonant for many people.
As you know, just after the tiger has been round and eaten and drunk everything, even all the water from the tap, the dad comes home. Given the situation, there’s only one thing for it. Eating out!
(I’ve always liked the father’s well-tailored checked suit, incidentally. Though that’s not the relevant takeaway here, I grant you).
So, out they go, on to a street where the dusk is gathering and the lights in the shop fronts glow and the street lamps are just coming on. The genius of Judith Kerr is understanding what this moment means to a child. The family are heading out! They’re breaking the norm and in that half-light there is promise and excitement. It jumps from the page.
It’s this very real sense of innocent joy that stays with so many of us, the part we look forward to sharing with our own children.
And it’s this page that I thought of last week with the new Covid restrictions.