Children's Books - Classic Children's Fantasy

This is the last post on children's fantasy and I'll be covering here some old classics.

Firstly John Masefield's Midnight Folk. John Masefield was Poet Laureate from 1930 to his death in 1967.

Eric Linklater's Wind On The Moon is another old style fantasy which was briefly reviewed in the Curiousity section of Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine in 2003.

Two odd children's books - The Hunting of Wilberforce Pike by Molly Lefebure about a cat thief who snatches cats off the streets to be made into fur coats and draws upon himself the ire of the Power Station gang - a mysterious cat underworld who seek revenge. Bottersnikes & Gumbles by S A Wakefield is an Australian children's book with a great cover.

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster is quite famous and needs no introduction. A very unusual fantasy indeed. The illustrations in this Armada Lion edition are by Jules Feiffer.

Two favorite books from my childhood were A Traveller In Time by Alison Uttley and The Little Bookroom by Eleanor Farjeon. The first is a ghost story and the second is a collection of short stories.

The Adventures of Uncle Lubin was written and illustrated by W Heath Robinson. I need say no more.

I've left the best to last - Ronald Searle's extremely funny How To Be Topp.

The Private Life of the Gerund Click for larger view

Coming next - Science Fiction!

Art Books - Heath Robinson

Here for your delectation are two large books on Heath Robinson’s life and work. and a large format paperback, Men That Might Have Been that I acquired back in the early 1970s. I discovered the work of Heath Robinson some years previous to these publications and was at the time charmed by his eccentric machines and humorous cartoons.

The following picture is one of my favourites – it’s so absurd it makes me laugh every time I look at it.

Heath Robinson sounds as if he’d have been a great guy to know and he liked cats. Here is a photo of Heath Robinson and his cat called Saturday Morning from the book Heath Robinson - Artist & Comic Genius.

And The Men That Might Have Been...

Men That Might Have Been	The Wiggulozoa roaming the lonely seas of Ohmycene Age