The Oxford Book of Story Poems
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Cover Story
The March cover of BfK features Dilly the Dinosaur who is 10 years old this year. Her author, Tony Bradman, is the subject of our Authorgraph this month. We are grateful to Reed Books for their help in reproducing this illustration from Susan Hellard's original artwork.
The Oxford Book of Story Poems
Stevie Smith's 10-line evocation of a fairy forest encounter during which centuries pass in the time it takes to sing a song is an apt opener to this magically enthralling and handsomely presented volume. Classics like 'Jabberwocky', 'La Belle Dame sans Merci' and the 'Forsaken Merman' are interleaved with more recent tales by Patten, Rosen, Causley and McGough (PC Plod vs the Dale Street Dog Strangler) in a collection ranging from stately sagas to highly concentrated miniatures, all telling wonderful stories. The illustrations, contributed by 14 different artists, are similarly rich and varied, and include Charles Keeping's haunting drawings for 'The Lady of Shalott' and 'The Highwayman'.