One of the 100 best children’s books of the 21st century, SF Said’s Varjak Paw follows the adventures of a Mesopotamian Blue cat as he escapes his stultifying purebred family to find his way in the world. The books are bountifully illustrated by Dave McKean, an artist previously best known for his work with Neil … Continue reading
One of the many pleasures of reading classic Christmas books is the way they open a window into the past in an especially vivid way. More than just present another idealised vision of Victorian festivities, the best of them can highlight the small details and forgotten language of Christmas’s past. As Piers Torday’s delightful stage … Continue reading
1823 is where it really began for illustrated children’s books in Britain; with the first publication of tales from the Brothers Grimm in English, illustrated by George Cruikshank – a man who had found fame drawing pictures of the Prince Regent blowing off. There had been publications for children before Grimms’ Fairy Tales; publishers … Continue reading
‘Lyra barged open the door, dragged her rickety chair to the window, flung wide the casement, and scrambled out. There was a lead-lined stone gutter a foot wide just below the window, and once she was standing in that, she turned and clambered up over the rough tiles until she stood on the topmost ridge … Continue reading
Two more things I love about the seaside: Weird attractions and twice hourly puppet shows starting at a quarter past and a quarter to the hour. Neil Gaiman delivers both of these in the Comical Tragedy, or Tragical Comedy of Mr. Punch. The story takes place in, what Morrissey would describe as the seaside … Continue reading
As I am currently obsessing over how to begin a story, I recently came back to one of my all time favourite opening chapters for inspiration. In How Nobody Came to the Graveyard, from The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman pulls off one of the most thrilling, disturbing opening sequences in children's literature. Gaiman sets out … Continue reading
I ummed and aahed for a long time about which Quentin Blake book to include in the advent calendar. Although he never produced a Christmas story with Roald Dahl (as if), he has brought his own unique take to many other seasonal tales, from A Christmas Carol to Michael Morpurgo’s nativity story, On Angel Wings. … Continue reading
I had meant to write a piece about one of my favourite artists, Edward Gorey and his work of the Treehorn trilogy. But on re-reading I remembered there was something else that I really loved about the books – the exquisite writing and boundless imagination of their author, Florence Parry Heide. In the Shrinking of Treehorn … Continue reading
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