One of the great strengths of books about boats is their ability to show human drama on the largest of all possible canvases, whilst simultaneously focussing on the tiniest details of life at sea. Shackleton’s Journey by William Grill turns this dual function into an art form. This is the story of Ernest Shackleton’s … Continue reading
As if I didn’t have enough blooming work to do, I’ve been asked by the man at tygertale.com to do something called a blog post. At first I thought he wanted me to read my letters on the lavvy, but apparently it’s to do with the internet.
Guest post by Father Christmas. Continue reading
Michael Foreman’s very first picture book as both author and illustrator, the Perfect Present had originated as a story for the Christmas issue of the Observer magazine. This was the early 1960s, a time of innovation in children’s illustrated books which happily overlapped with the creation of newspaper Sunday supplements. It was an ideal launch … Continue reading
We last met Roger Duvoisin’s Santa as he rampaged around the streets of New York, like a festive Charles Bronson, wreaking revenge on what he called ‘false Santas’; tearing fake beards from their faces and sending the tottering pile of scalps back to the North pole in his sleigh. Now it’s Easter, and Santa’s in … Continue reading
During the 1960s and early 1970s, Raymond Briggs laboured over several books and two massive treasuries containing countless fairy Tales and nursery rhymes, creating one of the most complete visual libraries of Mother Goose and Co. by a single artist. It’s not difficult to see why these often outlandish poems and songs might appeal to someone with Briggs’ … Continue reading
‘This is Pancake day,’ said the Professor, taking his four pairs of spectacles off, and getting them just as mixed up as he usually got his five pairs. ‘It is a festival that is inclined to die out, because although people like pancakes they won’t trouble to cook them. Too much trouble. Too much mess. … Continue reading
Raymond Briggs was good friends with the legendary Puffin Books editor Kaye Webb. Despite his reputation for being more grumpy than Father Christmas he found himself sucked into Kaye’s world of Puffin Club outings and general merriment. Kaye was a force of nature, and used her special skills of persuasion on many authors to obtain … Continue reading
A novelty tie in of a much loved children’s book normally means a poorly stitched soft toy stapled to the front cover, or perhaps a collection of screen grabs taken from a lacklustre animated movie with text written by somebody in the publicity department. In the case of the Fungus the Bogeyman: The Plop-Up Book, … Continue reading
We went out for one of our little new year’s traditions this morning, breaking the tedium of the New Year’s restock and raiding the supermarket shelves for cut price Annuals. Steering the children skilfully away from a Flappy Birds cash in, we came away with the old reliable Beano Book and a reprint of some … Continue reading
After two years and 55 advent blog posts I'm finally get round to writing about Raymond Briggs’ The Snowman. I’ve kind of been avoiding the book. It's not because I don’t like it, but rather that I’ve always thought, what more is there to say about a book that everybody knows inside out and back … Continue reading
We all love receiving a good book at Christmas, particularly one with a heart warming message full of goodwill and the spirit of the season. Pity then the children of the 19th century, who instead of cosying up on the sofa with mummy, daddy and the Snowman were sent packing to their draughty nursery with … Continue reading
‘This is Pancake day,’ said the Professor, taking his four pairs of spectacles off, and getting them just as mixed up as he usually got his five pairs. ‘It is a festival that is inclined to die out, because although people like pancakes they won’t trouble to cook them. Too much trouble. Too much mess. … Continue reading
What a wretched January that’s been. Mild, wet and endlessly boggy. It’s at this time of year that we really need something to cheer us up, but Christmas has already blown its load and all we’ve got to look forward to is a drab February that isn’t even offering up any pancakes this year. The … Continue reading
You didn’t think I could get through an entire Advent without a bit of Raymond Briggs did you? This time last year we met the thoroughly working class Father Christmas as he grumbled his way round the ultimate night shift. A right Blooming Christmas it might have been, but there were signs that the rest … Continue reading
You know that bit in Raymond Briggs' Father Christmas when the old grump is dragging his sack across the roofs of a terrace of houses. Some of the windows below him are radiating amazing warm light, suggesting the sort of Christmas Eve excitement that Father Christmas will never be party to. Did you ever wonder … Continue reading
I grew up in the 1980s, a child of Thatcher raised to loathe the monstrous metal mother. Not that I needed much prompting, her regular appearances on TV were enough to send me scuttling behind the sofa. But to make sure I stayed on message, my parents bought me a children's book on the subject: … Continue reading
Here’s a little curio from the Raymond Briggs Treasury, the Champion Books, a series of six non fiction titles covering the crowning achievements of great figures from the 20th Century. Briggs rarely touched non-fiction subjects, though as we saw with Sledges to the Rescue he was constantly drawing on his own family history. In 1967 … Continue reading
After Raymond Briggs left art college in 1957 he took his portfolio to Oxford University Press where he was asked by editor Mabel George 'How do you feel about fairies?' Biting his tongue and suppressing his art school cool he replied 'Yes, fairies, lovely'. Briggs soon discovered that Fairy tales and nursery rhymes were, 'the … Continue reading
What did you expect to find behind the last door? The baby Jesus? No. Like all good advent calendars it has to be Father Christmas – and not just any Father Christmas. Raymond Briggs’ 1973 picture book is my absolute favourite Christmas book. I ritually re-read it every year and get something new from it … Continue reading
This little gem arrived in the post just as the past week’s snow finally began to melt and the head fell off our snowman, crushing the small family of snowdogs in the process. The irony was lost on my distraught children but we have fortunately been able to console ourselves reading Raymond Briggs’ very first … Continue reading
I wrote a few months ago about some of the groundbreaking children's book apps that are taking the whole reading experience in wonderful new directions. A brief visit to the app store over the weekend provided some great new examples for Christmas. There are countless cheapo retellings of A Christmas Carol and The Night Before … Continue reading
Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without a bit of that old Raymond Briggs magic – Snowmen, Snowdogs, Father Christmas on the bog, that sort of thing. Well you won’t find any of them in The Christmas Book. This marvellous collection from 1968 was put together by James Reeves, with numerous black and white Briggs illustrations. … Continue reading
Original Bad Girl Goldilocks wasn’t always so young. The first written version by Robert Southey describes her variously as an impudent, foul-mouthed, ugly, dirty, vagrant old woman who needed locking up. The Goldilocks handed down to Raymond Briggs for inclusion in the 1972 Fairy Tale Treasury was the one written by Flora Annie Steele in … Continue reading
