Tag Mark Burgess

Winnie-the-Pooh at the Palace

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Winnie-the-Pooh at the Palace
Jeanne Willis and Mark Burgess
Macmillan Children’s Books

Jeanne Willis’s carefully crafted rhyming text, based on the rhyme of A.A.Milne’s Buckingham Palace poem, tells what happens when Christopher Robin and Pooh embark on an excursion, destination that same palace.

When they depart the train it’s pouring with rain, soaking the sentries and prompting Pooh Bear’s comment, “That must be why they keep changing the guard.” But then the rain turns to snow and they ponder the possibility of gaining entrance to the palace. However the royal butler sends them away telling the two would-be visitors that the King is busy with ‘Royal Affairs’.

Instead Christopher Robin and Pooh Bear embark on a snowball fight, once the Bear’s misunderstanding is cleared up. Before very long though, the snow worsens and as tea is contemplated, who should appear with a sledge? It’s Piglet. Christopher Robin just happens to have some string in his pocket and soon, holding tight, the three whizz off through the ever thickening snow heading straight towards a frozen lake. As they hit the bank the sleigh-riders tumble off.

But where is Pooh Bear? Piglet spies a pair of feet protruding from a snow-pile and out comes the Bear, a crown atop his head. Suddenly they have the perfect reason to return to the palace. Will they gain admission this time I wonder and will Pooh Bear finally have his favourite food?

Despite the weather conditions, Jeanne Willis’ story has all the warmth of the original books as well as the gentle humour. Mark Burgess too, shows respect to Shepard’s original style in his watercolour illustrations.

Winnie-the-Pooh and Me

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Winnie-the-Pooh and Me
Jeanne Willis and Mark Burgess
Macmillan Children’s Books

Inspired by A.A. Milne and E.H. Shepard, author Jeanne Willis and artist Mark Burgess have created a new story featuring the favourite classic characters, the inspiration being Milne’s poem Us Two from Now We Are Six, which is printed before this book’s title page.

We join Pooh and Christopher Robin one fine day as they head off on a tricycle and endeavour to discover which of their friends – a ‘what’ or ‘who’ – is following them. It definitely isn’t Kanga and Roo; they are sailing a boat, bound for Timbuktu. Nor is it Rabbit – the maths doesn’t add up, so what about Owl? He’s certainly at home

and he does offer a couple of suggestions, one regarding possible followers and the other concerning Pooh’s favourite food.

Off they go again further into the Hundred Acre Wood, intent on getting rid of pursuers: but is that possible? Perhaps Eeyore has the answer …

Jean Willis’ rhyming narrative with repeat refrains, together with Mark Burgess’s delightful illustrations that include all of Winnie and Christopher’s friends in one way or another, make this sequel one that will captivate both adult readers aloud and young children to whom the characters may perhaps be new.

Classic Inspirations: Once There Was a Bear / The Little Prince

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Once There Was a Bear
Jane Riordan, illustrated by Mark Burgess
Farshore

To celebrate the 95th anniversary of A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner, having previously written two standalone Pooh books, Jane Riordan has created a prequel collection of ten stories, again in the style of Milne. It takes readers back to where it all began, when Pooh was bought in Harrods as a gift for baby Christopher Robin. Using a similar style to that of E.H. Shepard, Mark Burgess illustrates each episode with panache depicting Pooh and his friends Eeyore, Rabbit, Piglet, Kanga, Roo, Owl and Tigger.
The original Pooh books have an enduring appeal for those who met them first as children; however this one has a charm of its own with many of the adventures taking place outside of Hundred Acre Wood. I loved the museum outing wherein dinosaur skeletons with their ‘bothersome long words’ for names prove unusual ladders for a bear to climb upon.

This is definitely worth getting hold of if, like this reviewer, you’re a fan of Pooh et al.

The Little Prince
Louise Greig and Sara Massini
Farshore

Award-winning author and poet Louise Greig has adapted Antoine de Saint- Exupéry’s classic as a picture book for a younger audience than the original novella: it’s illustrated by Sara Massini who has also won many awards. The result is a thing of beauty, mysterious and poetic both verbally and visually.

I’m not sure whether the stranded pilot’s encounter with a little prince who visits neighbouring planets will appeal to children; its enigmatic nature will certainly provoke much thought and lots of questions for, as the author says, ‘What is hidden is beautiful.’ That in itself is well worth exploring.