Poet, artist, philosopher and interesting fellow
- Giles Andreae's description of Edward Monkton.

Edward Monkton is an alter ego of card designer Giles Andreae, creator of the Purple Ronnie greetings card series The Interesting Thoughts of Edward Monkton. The cards, books and various paraphernalia in the series form an ever-growing collection of random thoughts, ideas and observations of common, everyday things. Generally, the author takes an innocent object and creates an analogy referring to life, love, happiness or peace.

Interestingly, however, one of the most famous characters is The Penguin of Death:

1.He is strangely attractive due to his enigmatic smile. 2. He can kill you in any one of 412 ways.

Edward Monkton combines childish, simplistic drawings with short, often rhyming, phrases which are funny or thoughtful.

Characters

This is by no means a definitive list, especially as the author is constantly creating new characters and commenting on new areas of life.

• The Penguin of Death – A homicidal but alluring penguin with a bulging repertoire of ways to murder someone. Edward Monkton's book tells the story of the final plot, method 412. A website known as 'the big penguin project' was created by two fans in an attempt to list all 412 methods. Edward Monkton himself describes the website as 'florid'.

• The Pig of Happiness – A wonderfully happy pig, tired of the everyday life where all pigs are contented yet never ecstatic, this pig has broken the mould and wants to remind you of all the things that should make you happy as well.

• The Sheep of Destiny – There is a specific reason why this sheep is smiling. He is smiling, always, because he can see your future. This makes him very happy.

• The Lady and the Chocolate – A lovely lady tries in vain to resist the temptation of the chocolate. After an enlightening discussion she discovers that the chocolate's very raison d'être is, in fact, to be eaten.

• The Rock Pig – Not stated to be a relation of the Pig of Happiness, the Rock Pig wears a leather jacket and cannot stand classical, pop, techno or dance. For him, there is only rock.

• The Friends – These two friends, 'Friend A' and 'Friend B' have an intimate connection, they are able to understand each other in ways that no one else can, they are able to communicate through thought or body language. Edward Monkton suggests a few reasons why this could be.

• The Zen Dog – Cool, calm and collected, the Zen Dog is not bothered by anything. He lets the waters of life take him along for the ride.

• The 'Madness' Hamsters – Edward Monkton reveals how these apparently cute little creatures are not so innocent after all. In fact, during the night they sneak into your room and steal your brain.

• The Butterfly of Freedom – This is an individual and free-thinking little butterfly, who refuses to follow the crowd.

Important Concepts

• Life – Edward Monkton's opinion is that life is somewhat confusing, but inherently interesting, exciting and wonderfully fun to think about. Life, he says is unknown, unpredictable and bizarre. He also suggests it has a child-like quality about it to the end.

• Are you normal? – Considering his deep analysis of life, it is unsurprising that Edward Monkton answers this question succinctly and in the negative.

• Laws of straightness – A decree that everything must be kept in order. There is no hope for those who reject the law.

• Let us be lovely – A small group of people decide to forsake money and fame in order to be kind, friendly and just a little bit silly.

Other Places You Can Find Edward Monkton

Today, The Interesting Thoughts of Edward Monkton are much more than just greetings cards. There are many items available including key rings, mouse mats, t-shirts, coasters, passport covers, bags and calendars. Also, iGoogle has an Edward Monkton theme in its artists section.