Pirates, shipwrecks, voyages into the unknown, floods and mysterious strangers. Boats provide a useful function in children’s books. Over the next few months I’ll be writing about my fifty favourite adventures about boats. From fantastical nautical epics to salty graphic yarns, we’ll see how these stories form a central strand of children’s literature, and also … Continue reading
Ed Vere is back with a new series of picture books about a scrap of a black kitten called Max. The second book, Max at Night, was published this month in which the kitten turns superhero, fearlessly prowling the city at night. Ed’s picture books draw on classic comic book action and have bold graphic design elements, so I was interested to find out about the books that shaped him as an author. 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
I love a good cover version. Twist and Shout by the Beatles. Light my Fire by Mae West. Tragedy by Same Difference. In publishing it’s a bit easier to ‘make a book your own.’ You don’t have to go to the trouble of actually re-writing the bugger, just pop it in a new jacket and … Continue reading
