Chris Riddell in War of Words with John Lewis over Moz Likeness

Author and illustrator Chris Riddell got into a little Twitter spat last week with retailer John Lewis over the Moz character from the new advertising campaign, and a week on it’s still rumbling on as the ever witty and creative Chris Riddell continues with a stream of monster talk.

The former children’s laureate, Riddell, pointed out that Moz the Monster bears a striking similarity to Mr Underbed, his own monster character. Riddell then went on to show blow by blow how the stories are almost identical, and even the monsters bear a striking resemblance.

It all started on 16th November with this tweet from Riddell, accusing John Lewis of ‘helping themselves to his monster’

Pretty soon The Guardian and other major news outlets waded into the row:

By the following day a spokesman from John Lewis came forward to say that ‘our story is utterly different to Chris Riddell’s’, calling the monster under the bed ‘a universal tale that has been told many times over many years’

Then The Observer waded in, seemingly on side of the author and illustrator, ‘stating that Lewis’s Moz was under my bed years ago’

Since then Riddell has been ribbing John Lewis in what could be considered to be a lighthearted way, but there’s no denying there’s a serious undertone to all of this.

Many are now calling for everyone to support Chris Riddell by buying his Mr Underbed books and his other creations for their children this Christmas.

In a year when the book industry has been plagued with accusations of celebrity authors pushing children’s authors out of the market, we can’t help but feel that a corporation who can afford the biggest advertising campaign that Britain sees every Christmas, could at least spend a little more money on research!

What do you think?

Mr Underbed US
Mr Underbed UK