L is for London In 1908 as she was coming to the end of her run of classic children’s stories, E. Nesbit produced a remarkable poem that showed off some deeply held political beliefs that had been bubbling under in her work. Jesus in London was ‘a furious little poem. Like when Woodie Guthrie wrote … Continue reading
R is for Russia ‘Let me teach a child for four years and the seed I’d have sewn could never be destroyed.’ So said Lenin shortly after the revolution of 1917. From the start the intention was to mould young minds to become model Communist citizens. Enthusiastically taking up the challenge were a group of artists following … Continue reading
Growing up I was always drawn to fiction, the more fantastical and unbelievable the story the better. So it’s been interesting to see the tastes and interests of my own children develop over the past few years. In the case of my son it’s been a journey of discovery. Unless it features a man in … Continue reading
A is for Alderley Edge. Throughout his life Alan Garner has drawn on the landscape and legends of Alderley Edge, the place that has been home to his family for many, many generations. It has become more than just a dramatic backdrop though, its hills, rivers and most of all its stones have become the defining character of his writing, providing a link throughout his stories, and a connection with the deep history of the area. Continue reading
I avoided the books of Alan Garner as a child. A 1970s Armada Lion edition copy of Elidor sat on my shelf, always taunting me. It might have been the threat of Tolkien-esque high fantasy suggested by its cover that put me off, or maybe, just maybe the sense of dread that permeated its pages … Continue reading
W is for Warsaw. ‘Neither Germans nor communists will keep me from a fish steak this Christmas Eve.’ ‘What does German look like?’ Lucja asked. ‘Like a communist’, Grandpa Feliks said crossly. ‘But with better boots.’ If you’re after an original, heartwarming Christmas book without the usual turkey or trimmings, then look no further than … Continue reading
K is for the island of Klovharu. Tove Jansson would have been 100 this week, an event that provoked a huge outpouring of affection. Much of this has to do, of course, with her timeless Moomin stories, but there’s another part of her life, an idea, that has proven to be just as enticing to … Continue reading
P is for Paris. This is one of the most unusual children’s books you’ll ever read. Some might say it’s more than a children’s book; a piece of micro modernism to file alongside James Joyce’s Ulysses or a junior Bout de Soufflé. Zazie dans le Métro is all these things, it is also the sort … Continue reading
S is for St. Ives. “What I want,” Laura declared,”is to have a life packed with excitement like some of the characters in my books.” The series of adventures starring pre-teen detective Laura Marlin have been described as ‘Nancy Drew meets the Famous Five’. Certainly its got all the ingredients of a mid 20th century … Continue reading
N is for New York. Sometimes a book can get weighed down by its cultural baggage, The Snowy Day more than most. In 1962 New Yorker Ezra Jack Keats produced one of the first children’s books with a black protagonist. At first it was hailed as a landmark in publishing, but as time went by … Continue reading
T is for Thule, Greenland. As I impatiently wait for the second volume of Pippi Longstocking comics to come out, I thought I’d dig a little further into the back catalogue of the artistic genius behind them, Ingrid Vang Nyman. Having completed the first Pippi book in 1945, Vang Nyman teamed up with her cousin … Continue reading
H is for Hemingford Grey. As I’m sitting on a train crawling past flooded fields and impassible roads it strikes me that there’s no more fitting book to be reading this Christmas than Lucy M. Boston’s The Children of Green Knowe. The weather plays a central role in the book, the plot turning on a … Continue reading
G is for Gloucester. Beatrix Potter’s tale of a poor tailor who is saved from penury by a bunch of nimble fingered pests gave me a real Christmas flashback. I hadn’t heard the story since it was read to me at Primary School, but re-reading it today I was struck by just how mythic the … Continue reading
