I'll tell you a story about Jackanory And now my story's begun I'll tell you another about Jack and his brother And now my story's done. The whole of May and June seems to have been taken up with child minding small children above and beyond my normal shifts, and an important part of this is Grandma reading a story book. How fortunate we are that books of all kinds are easily available. The grandchildren have a wide range of books, many new, but some that belonged to their mummy and auntie, and some even belonged to me. Some story books endure and never go out of fashion, some last only a generation. This month I am looking at story books for children, their authors and illustrators. The success of so many books is the marriage between an author and an illustrator, although some authors illustrate their own stories. Would we love Winnie the Pooh so much if we did not have E H Sheppard's endearing illustrations of the little fat bear and his friends? A A Milne [1882 - 1956] on the left and E H Shepard [1879 - 1976] on the right, both felt that the success of Pooh overshadowed their other works. Milne of course wrote poetry and the "When we were very young" and "Now we are six" books. Shepard also illustrated "The Wind in the Willows" by Kenneth Graham, but you can never see an image of Pooh without remembering the story by Milne, or hear the story read without imagining the image drawn by Shepard. They are part of the same story, words and pictures. The poem, very much of its era, "Vespers" by A A Milne was set to music in a rather lovely if sentimental setting - Little Boy kneels at the foot of the bed, Droops on the little hands little gold head. Hush! Hush! Whisper who dares! Christopher Robin is saying his prayers. Everything about the image this conjurs up is of a time now long gone. I often thought Christopher Robin was a rather indulged child. However the story of Winnie the Pooh does not start and end with A A Milne and E H Shepard. Winnie's story has been given another dimension by author Lindsay Mattick and illustrator Sophie Blackall. Lindsay has written "Finding Winnie - the real story of the bear who inspired Winnie the Pooh". This is a children's books which tells the true story of her great grandfather in World War One who had rescued an orphan bear in his home country, Canada, and named it after Winnipeg his home town, and how the bear came to London and was gifted to London Zoo where it was visited by the real Christopher Robin Milne. Of course story books reflect the culture, time and fashions of what ever generation they served, and some are quickly out of date. Out of my five grandchildren, three are of mixed race, and I would cringe now if they read some of the books I read years ago. Whether it is gender stereotype or racial prejudice or attitudes to servants, they are consigned to the back of the cupboard. I cannot remember my mother reading story books to me. She probably did, but I don't know what they were. I do remember her teaching me to read from this book. It was old fashioned then! Goodness knows where she got it from. As it used the term "Mama" I knew it was old when I was learning to read! But at school I went on to read the Dick and Dora books with their dog Nip and cat Fluff. I don't think many schools had Dick and Dora, most favouring Janet and John. And once I could read for myself, well I have never stopped since. Two authoresses dominated my early reading. One I will not read to my grandchildren, the other I will selectively. On the left is Enid Blyton -[1897 - 1968], so well known and so well read from Noddy and Big Ears on to the Famous Five, that I do not need to explain more. When you re-read her books as an adult some of her social prejudices are not acceptable now. On the right is Alison Uttley [1884 - 1976], who was also a strange character, but her stories of Little Grey Rabbit have lasted and have been reprinted. Margaret Tempest [1892 - 1982], on the left, specialised in drawing animals as people. Alison Uttley was a gifted writer but very odd person. She hated Enid Blyton who was a near neighbour, and hated being compared to Beatrix Potter. But having been born on a farm, and written a semi- autobiographical book called "The Country Child", I could identify with her writing both in her children's books and collections of essays about country life. I was quite surprised to find that the Little Grey Rabbit books have been reprinted and my grandchildren enjoy them. This is my own copy of Peter Rabbit from when I was a child, then my children had a collection, and now the next generation has as well. Beatrix Potter [ 1866 - 1943] needs no introduction, and she did not need an illustrator either, being a very gifted artist, who also knew just how many words to fit alongside each picture. A wonderful collection of children's books which has stood the test of time. Michael Bond [ 1926 - 2017] also created a character who has stood the test of time - Paddington. He emerged from darkest Peru in 1958 and there were several illustrators, about half a dozen, before more recent publications favoured a television version of the bear. In contrast to some other children's authors I think it rather wordy for small children, and probably best read yourself when you are older. However, I do read it at bed time. (To the children I hasten to say, not for my benefit!) Roger Hargreaves [1935 - 1988] illustrated his own books in the series of Mr Men and Little Misses. These were collected by my own daughters, and the one above was bought for a very specific reason. The stories were a bit surreal and had a dark edge to them, but nevertheless the next generation have taken to them. How times change. The Rev W Awdry [ 1911 - 1997] created the Thomas the Tank Engine books, superbly illustrated by John T Kenney [1911 - 1972] but by the time my children were little it had made the transition to the television and the book on the right, which belonged to my girls, had illustrations from the television series. The stories are just the same, and now another generation enjoys them. Judith Kerr is another writer whose story books have bridged generations. Those who enjoyed the books as children and are now parents retell her simple tales. Judith Kerr [1923 - 2019] escaped with her family from Nazi Germany and wrote a book for older children "When Hitler stole Pink Rabbit" about the Second World War. She illustrated her own books, written for her own children, and based Mog and all his adventures on her own cat who sat on her knee when she was drawing. A succesful partnership between a writer and illustrator is Janet and Allan Ahlberg. Allan born 1938 is still with us, but sadly Janet born 1944 died in 1994. Each Peach Pear Plum, I spy Tom Thumb .... uses rhyme and alliteration to make the story memorable, and the pictures include characters that you have to find on each page. Peepo is about a baby with a peephole in each page to see what is coming next. This book rather annoys me because even though it was published in 1981 the illustrations, by his wife Janet, are so terribly old fashioned. Everything is out of the 1940s or 1950s, clip mats and a tin bath in front of the fire. The Grandmother is an old crone ... I hate her and call her the great, great grandmother - but evidently the book is based on Allan Ahlberg's own childhood experiences! Allan Ahlberg has written many children's books and used other illustrators. The best loved is the Happy Family Series, my children loved them, and now the next generation do too. An surprising hit with the current grandchildren is the Topsy and Tim series, first read by my own children. These were written and illustrated by Jean and Gareth Adamson, husband and wife. These are originals. Didn't my children keep them nice and clean! Topsy and Tim have now moved on to television and can be found on that channel called Cbeebies. "Channel 202 Grandma" the children constantly remind me. Don't let them have the remote control! So what is new? And will the most recent additions to the bookshelf stand the test of time? I think they will. This is the most successful author and illustrator partnership in the bookshops. Julia Donaldson and Alex Scheffler. My goodness I know these books off by heart. Julia Donaldson has an amazing gift in rhythm, rhyme, repetition and vocabulary. Her subject range is amazing, and her rhyming stories and characters are memorable so that we repeat the stories endlessly.
Julia Donaldson, born 1948, is still publishing books by the dozen. She was the Children's Laureate 2011 - 2013, has 184 books to her name, was awarded MBE and OBE and writes for the Oxford Reading Tree scheme which teaches phonics. The Gruffalo, which we know off by heart and repeat when we are walking in the woods, was evidently based on a Chinese folk tale. Alex Scheffler was born 1957 in Hamburg, but studied art in the UK and USA. His first collaboration with Julia Donaldson was for "A Squash and a Squeeze" which Julia had first written as a song. His clear and colourful illustrations perfectly complement her stories. Don't ever think that books will go out of fashion when books of this quality are being published for the children of today. I hope that this has made you remember some books that you have cherished and read to yourself or read out loud. Reading a book is the greatest shared activity you can do with a small child. I will have another look back at books of old and delve into the backs of cupboards and book shelves.
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January 2024
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