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Fog Hounds, Wind Cat, Sea Mice

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BfK No. 105 - July 1997

Cover Story
This issue’s cover is from the gift edition of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory illustrated by Quentin Blake and with design and typography by Peter Campbell. The successful collaboration between Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake has played an important part in the popularity of Dahl’s work over the last fifteen years. Blake’s unmistakable artwork truly complements Dahl’s writing. His economical, amiable, illustrative style balances out Dahl’s often expansive language. And the liveliness, humour and pathos of the drawings offer a softer side to Dahl’s sometimes gloriously grotesque, sometimes cruel descriptions of his characters.

Thanks to Penguin Children’s Books for their help in producing this July cover which commemorates the thirty years anniversary of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’s first UK publication.

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Fog Hounds, Wind Cat, Sea Mice

Joan Aiken
 Peter Bailey
(Hodder Children's Books)
96pp, 978-0340681305, RRP £9.99, Hardcover
8-10 Junior/Middle
Buy "Fog Hounds, Wind Cat, Sea Mice (Hodder story book)" on Amazon

Three elegantly crafted short stories resonant with meaning which dexterously weave magic into everyday matters and the everyday into magic. The old king is dying and his menacing Fog Hounds which 'flow over the ground as the wind itself', haunt Tad's dreams. What is the significance of the ring of tea leaves round the rim of Tad's cup and why do the hounds seek him out? Lukey's aunt who lives next door to unpleasant neighbours from Bournemouth, has given up being a witch - 'with all the private health insurance schemes nobody these days needs witches', she tells Lukey whom she suspects, when the neighbours' house disappears, of inheriting the family habit. Hella must wait until she is twelve before picking the fruit from the plum tree planted for her by her lost sailor father. When the sea draws back to let her pass, the adult reader can only gasp at the audacity of Aiken's literary references (Greek myths, the Old Testament) so seamlessly incorporated into her casually conversational, beautifully structured text.

Bailey's sensitive pen and ink illustrations with cross hatching complement the moods of these stories well.

Reviewer: 
Rosemary Stones
5
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