The Cat Thief

I can't quite remember if I found this book at a jumble sale, or car boot. Its called "The Cat Thief" and its illustrated by William Stobbs. (Written by Joan Cass.) To be honest, I'd never heard of William Stobbs, but if you do a quick bit of research you'll discover that in the 1950s, 60s and 70s he was a prolific and well respected illustrator who even won the prestigious Kate Greenaway medal back in 1959 for another title, "Kashtanka and a Bundle of Ballads". He also taught at Maidstone and the London College of Printing. Its seems to be harder and harder these days to find quality items at boot sales and the like, but I'll definitely keep my eyes peeled for more William Stobbs. I'd particularly like to find "The Little White Hen" or  "The Adventures of The Wuffle".

Bubble Houses

One of my favourite TV programmes when I was a child was Barbapapa. And one of the best things about Barbapapa was the self-build Barbapapa house that they built after the squat they were living in got demolished. Anyone else remember that? I would have loved one of those houses then and still would, truth be told, but it wouldn't go down well with the planners,or so I'm led to believe.

Whist looking on t'internet the other day for cheapo accommodation in France I stumbled across this place - not particularly cheapo, mind you. Its called museumotel and its near Strasbourg.

Surely the Barbas must have had a hand in the design of this place! I'd love to go and stay here. Since finding this one, I've researched a few other bubble houses , the most famous is probably Palais Bulles. Think Barbapapa meets James Bond!

Veg Out!

Here's a sneak preview of the endpapers of the children's book I've been working on. Its called "Grandpa's Garden" and it will be out in the spring. I will of course remind everyone to rush out to the bookshop when it comes out! In the meantime, get down to your allotments and dig for victory!

Pictures by Chinese Children

If I asked children at primary school to draw me a picture I think I’d probably get a few pirate ships, aliens or fluffy kittens. If you’d asked the same thing in 1970s China you might have got rather different results. How about a nice drawing of “Peasant Uncles delivering grain to the State"

or perhaps this picture entitled “Lets all criticize Lin Piao and Confucius.”

Maybe I should ask the kids to do me picture of the Euro Zone debt crisis... could be interesting! I picked up this book from a charity shop and it’s a catalogue from a 1970s exhibition of Chinese childrens art. The images are a remarkable documentation of life in China at that time. The political propaganda is very evident throughout, and it’s quite amusing to look at it now as it is so extreme it comes across as, well, a little bit bonkers. The bottom picture has the title "We sing "The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution is Fine." Personally, I don't think there's anything wrong with "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." There is of course a more serious aspect to all that brainwashing, but I don’t want to get too heavy. Some of the pictures actually makes me question whether they were by children at all, because although they are admittedly done in a naïve style ,they have a sophistication that seems far more adult. I suppose in a country as large as China you would get your fair share of prodigies. Maybe the whole thing is part of the propaganda. I’m not sure it really ultimately matters to me though, as I like them for what they are regardless of the age of the person who did them.

Tootles the Taxi

Hey, Tootles, take me back to the 1950s, it looks nice there! The streets are clean, the houses well-kept, there's nice little shops on the high street, not a Tesco's Metro or a Chelsea Tractor in sight, PLUS people come and deliver buns to your door! Hurrah!
I had this book when I was little (in the 70s) and I'm not sure if this is the exact same copy or whether this one came from a boot sale or somewhere. Both our boys have enjoyed having it read to them despite it being old fashioned - of course that's exactly why I like it. There's something very charming about these nicely executed illustrations of 1950s utopia. I am sure I hardly need to say that it was published by ladybird books, as the format is so recognisable.
Vintage ladybird books now have quite a following and are collectable. If you like these books check out these particularly cool plasters. Worth getting injured for, I reckon!

My Five Senses by Aliki

This not a new acquisition - I think I got it from a jumble sale many years ago . I keep coming back to it. The limited palette of the screen printing works really well. Sometimes its good to be restricted by something then you just work with what you've got rather than having endless permutations and making lots decisions about the way things should look. I looked to see if you can get it on amazon and its been re-vamped. Not nearly so nice now.