Bypass
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Cover Story
The cover of this issue is a design incorporating illustrations from four books illustrated by the subject of our Authorgraph, Ian Beck. The top left illustration is from Five Little Ducks (Orchard), the top right from Poppy and Pip's Picnic (to be published Autumn '97 by HarperCollins), the bottom left from The Owl and the Pussy-cat (Transworld) and the bottom right from Home Before Dark (to be published September '97 by Scholastic). Ian Beck's Picture Book (Hippo) is reviewed in this issue.
Beck talks to BfK's interviewer, Julia Eccleshare, also in this issue. His distinctive decorative style with its sensitive pen line and cross hatching has a nostalgic but sometimes also a surreal quality - he describes it as 'a look that is floating, strong and wistful all at the same time'.
Thanks to Orchard, HarperCollins, Transworld and Scholastic for their help in producing this composite cover.
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Bypass
Masters' work is always topical - Roadkill dealt with the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust and Bypass, despite its rather prosaic title, plunges eloquently into the very contemporary issues of motorway protests. Masters' stance has the Earth itself as one of the most effective protesters. 'The Earth Fights Back' - a metaphorical slogan adopted by the eco-warriors - soon becomes literal as police and those persecuting the bypass protest movement are swallowed by the Earth's crust to vanish forever. The narrative is typically warp-speed but never sacrifices effective characterisation in its race towards a finale. Perhaps some incidents are a little excessive: the early and feebly engineered death of Kathy's father - but Masters almost always succeeds in sweeping the reader along and communicating his views with considerable power.
