Stella & Rose's Books

One of the delights of working in a bookshop is helping customers to find 'old friends', those books they remember from childhood. Since coming to work in Rose's Books I too have been reunited with old friends and have reread books of my childhood. One author I remember well is Noel Streatfeild so when a collection of her books came our way, it was a good excuse to become reacquainted with 'old friends'!

Noel Streatfeild was born on Christmas Eve in 1895 in Sussex where her father was curate. Her great grandmother was the prison reformer, Elizabeth Fry. She didn't particularly enjoy school and her father was asked to remove her from Hastings and St. Leonards College. During the first world war Noel worked in the kitchens at a hospital for wounded soldiers and, later, as a munitions worker at Woolwich Arsenal. After the war Noel entered the Academy of Dramatic Art and trained as an actress. Her career came to an end following a tour ofAustralia in 1929. While she was on this tour her father died and she was unable to get home in time for the funeral. Disillusioned with acting she chose to pursue a new career.

Goblin Market - a familiar title but a poem that I knew only from my interest in the books illustrated by Arthur Rackham, of which Goblin Market is one. Having decided to write an article featuring this book I thought perhaps I'd better read the poem in its entirety. And what a surprise awaited me!

Goblins - the very word conjures up images of fairy tales, mythical little creatures, magical happenings. Goblin Market, published in 1862 and the longest of Christina Rossetti's poems, has enjoyed a reputation as one of the finest of children's poems and indeed Christina herself insisted that it was simply a fairy tale. However, the sensuous language used in the lengthy descriptive passages does give a somewhat different impression. But more of that later...

They say you're without honour or faith,but what more could they have asked?Did you not fulfil unto death the sworn duty with which you were tasked?

Legion Captain Borelli, to his Legionnaires who died at the siege of Thuyen Quang in 1885.

Established in 1831 by the French king Louis Philippe, The French Foreign Legion (or in French: Légion étrangère, L.E.) is a military service wing of the French army, unique because it was exclusively created for foreign nationals willing to serve in the French armed forces. The direct reason for this was that foreigners were forbidden to serve in the French Army after the 1830 July Revolution, so the foreign legion was created to allow the government a way around this restriction.

Anybody who loves fairies will have no doubt heard of and enjoyed the series of flower fairies books written and illustrated by Cicely Mary Barker. Her images, being so lifelike yet so comforting, can't fail to touch your heart.

Cicely was born in 1895 in Croydon, London, and spent most of her life there. Because of ill health she was educated at home and, encouraged by a supportive family and assisted by membership of the Croydon Art Society, largely taught herself to draw and paint. She was only sixteen when she had her first work, A Set of Postcards , accepted for publication and from that time she devoted her career to painting.

A recently published book in comparison to many in our shop, 'Edmond Went Far Away' is a short tale of a young boy's Big Adventure to 'another land', far away from his home.

It was the pictures that drew me to the book initially - beautiful bright colour illustrations by well loved illustrator Michael Foreman.

Edmond is a young boy who lives on a farm, and is fortunate enough to call all the farmyard animals his friends. As he decides to go on his journey 'far away', first he has to say goodbye to all his friends on the way; the ducks, the pig, the Jersey cows, Ned the horse and so on. To each of them he says "I am going far away"; each animal replies in its own way; "Quack-away"; "Oink-away"; "Moo-wary Mooway"; "Neigh-away".

Life was different in the years immediately after World War II. Rationing was the norm, and you had to wait for everything. Although we had a daily newspaper, my brother and I were not allowed to have a regular subscription to a comic, such as ' Beano' or ' Dandy', and had to buy copies with our extremely limited pocket money, if we could not beg, borrow or....

Even so, there was a corner shop nearby by which sold old copies of comics, and it was there that I found I preferred to read titles like 'Adventure', 'Hotspur', 'Rover' and, my favourite, 'Wizard'.

So you can just imagine our amazement that we were actually allowed to subscribe to a new comic that hit the news stands in April 1950. As a comic it was perfect. We so looked forward to it that issue No. 6 was actually torn in half as my brother and I struggled to read it first. Although we saved each copy as it came, they eventually all disappeared, as such items do, which was a pity as they would be worth a small fortune today.

What is a Duck Decoy? I thought it was a wooden or plastic duck used to entice wildfowl so they can be shot - yes, that's what they are today, but in Victorian times they were something very different. The Duck Decoys that are the subject of Payne-Gallwey’s book were very large traps covering several acres and during a season from December to March they were capable of taking 5,000 or more birds!

The word Decoy derives from the Dutch 'endekooy' or 'Duck Cage' and this provides an excellent idea of how the Decoy worked. The early and simplest Decoys were tunnels or cages into which the ducks were attracted by food and then trapped by dropping a 'door' to close the entrance. By the end of the eighteenth century and in the early nineteenth century, probably the peak of Decoy usage, they were very much larger and sophisticated devices. Most owners at the time kept the details of their Decoys a closely guarded secret and, in some cases, went to great lengths to keep them hidden from the public by, for example, building a huge moat.

This is a book I have long admired for the delightfully detailed full colour illustrations of anthropomorphic cats. So much so that I have finally bought my own copy and am now endeavoring to add the further eight works to my collection.

Much-loved for her innovative depictions of cats, Susan Herbert's witty subject matter has been an enormous publishing success and has gained her a reputation as the world's most instantly recognizable cat artist.

Born in 1945, Susan Herbert did not undergo any formal artistic training before embarking on a career as an artist. Her first job was working at the box office for the Royal Shakespeare Company and during this time, described by Susan Herbert as filled with 'hideous part-time jobs', she used her spare moments to draw and paint as often as she could.

Paris is a special place for me as it was where I spent my honeymoon, Montmartre to be precise, in February. Paris is a beautiful city any time of the year, but for me Paris is a Winter’s Day.

Through his beautiful watercolours David Gentleman has managed to capture the real feel of Paris, its people and buildings, old and new.

He starts his ‘watercolour’ journey on the Seine, in particular the bridges of Paris, remarking: ‘Parisian life flows as easily across it as along it. It is well used and carefully looked after, and it is a source of great beauty.’

Dick King-Smith's Countryside Treasury has something for everyone.Dick King-Smith wrote a number of children's books, many featuring animals but probably the best known is The Sheep-Pig which was adapted into the 1995 film 'Babe'. For this treasury Dick King-Smith selected poetry and prose 'a combination of contemporary and traditional classics to produce a joyful celebration of the countryside past and present'.

The illustrations in this book are byChristian Birmingham and what delightful illustrations they are. He captures the essence of the stories and poems superbly and if I could include every illustration in this article I would because it is so difficult to select my favourite ones.

George Walker was the son of William Walker, a successful Leeds businessman. He was born in May 1781 at Killingbeck Hall, Seacroft near Leeds.

He was educated in York and then went on to become an artist, initially concentrating on local and rural life.

In 1814, he was commissioned by a local bookseller to produce a series of paintings known as The Costume of Yorkshire. Here we are given glimpses of the occupations, dress and life of the labouring classes in Yorkshire at the time. Just a few of the many featured occupations and ways of life include: 'The Dog Breaker', 'Lowkers', 'The Cranberry Girl', 'Rape Threshing', 'Sea Bathing', 'Whalebone Scrapers', 'Thirty-Third Regiment', 'Woman Spinning', 'Hawking', 'Factory Children' and 'Leech Finders'.

If you like to pick your own blackberries, make your own pickles or create a meal out of the most basic of ingredients you will love this book!

The ideology of the book is in parts very similar to that of modern cookeryauthors such as Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Nigel Slater. It's all about using plain and simple ingredients and making the most out of what you have - something that was natural to those of the 1800's because many of the exotic imports we have in the supermarkets today just weren't available. It's a way of thinking some of us have chosen to return to and some of us have been forced into by the current economic climate.

I will admit that Mabel Lucie Attwell is my favourite illustrator of children's books. So, it is only natural that I feature another of her books for my 'featured book' article (previously I selected Bunty and the Boo-Boos). There are a couple of little books which we have in stock at the moment that are illustrated by Mabel Lucie Attwell and are in Valentine & Sons “Golden Thoughts” Booklets series. I am sure that these little books get 'lost' among the larger books in our cabinets. They are such delicate little things that we have to put them out of the way of sticky fingers, behind locked glass doors.

"Comforting Thoughts" contains the cutest colour illustrations featuring Attwell's delightful chubby children which accompany the most comforting little verses (written by Attwell) which I can only imagine are meant to (and indeed do) cheer up the depressed soul. For example:

'Once upon a time there was a little girl called Cinderella...'

The enchanting story of Cinderella is weaved through the childhood of generations of children regardless of culture or language. What young girl did not dream of wearing sparkling gowns and dancing with a prince who would instantly fall eternally in love with her and whisk her off to his castle? The ending is perfect... 'And so Cinderella and the prince lived happily ever after.''

Right: Illustration by Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone in 'Dean's Gift Book of Fairy Tales'

The tale starts with a young girl whose mother has died. Her father remarries a woman who already has two young daughters. The daughters are bad tempered and jealous of Cinderella's beauty and kind nature. The ugly sisters make Cinderella do all the work in the house and finally she is made to sleep by the hearth, hence the name Cinderella (or Cinders). One day a royal invite comes from the palace for all the ladies of the kingdom to attend a grand ball. Poor Cinderella helps her sisters ready themselves for the ball, but then, when her sisters have left, she cries as if her heart would break. If only she could go to the ball!

This time of year gives me the opportunity to combine two things that give me a great deal of pleasure: firstly Christmas is on the way and I have for many years collected Christmas Tree ornaments, decorating the tree, or should I say trees, with the delights gathered over what I must confess is becoming a lengthy life and is already occupying too many of my waking hours. And secondly, working as I do for Stella Books permits me to combine my love of the festive season with a delight in illustrated books.

I have chosen as an example a current stock item - Christmas Tales of Flanders. This profusely illustrated volume contains Fables and legendsfrom Flanders and Brabant, tales loved by children of all ages throughoutBelgium.

As anybody who knows me will testify, I enjoy my food, both eating and cooking. So it will be no surprise that I have chosen this as my featured book.

The Victorian age saw the rise of the middle classes and their desire for the refined things in life and there were a plethora of people to help them achieve this.

Celebrity chefs are by no means a modern phenomenon; Alexis Soyer, Isabella Beeton and Eliza Acton, all had books published on how to buy and cook food. They also gave advice to the emerging middle classes on household management. Entertaining at home was not just a matter of eating, it was equally important for business and social contacts as well.

The Boo-Boos? What kind of weird characters does the name Boo-Boos conjure up in your mind? If I didn't know what the Boo-Boos were, I guess I would say that they were some kind of nasty monsters that come out from under the bed at night time! BUT I'd be wrong!

The Boo-Boos are the creation of Mabel Lucie Attwell. They are a cheery, chubby, not at all scary, group of 'do-gooding' elves or pixies, dressed in green suits and led by a crown-wearing king.

I have always been a fan of Attwell but until recently had not actually seen one of the Boo-Boo books in the flesh as they are quite scarce little books. So, while we had a copy in stock, I thought I would take a quick look at "Bunty and the Boo-Boos" (the first in the series of six books) and find out what it is all about. What a strange little story it is but I can imagine it makes a very good bedtime story for little ones.

Whilst pondering which book from our 41,000+ stock I could write about for our 'featured book' article this month, I happened to glance up at the shelf in front of me and there was 'Brushes & Bayonets' by Lucinda Gosling, calling to me.

This is a book of Cartoons, Sketches and Paintings ofWorld War I. Not being particularly interested in World War I (I never was a fan of history), it must have been the 'Cartoons, Sketches and Paintings' part of the title that caught my eye, as well as the dimensions of the book - it is large (9.75" high x 12" across) and heavy (1.5kg).

'It is often said that a picture is worth a thousand words, but during World War I newspaper illustrations were worth far more, not only conveying the news to anxious families at home but also entertaining the troops on the front line and lifting the spirits of a nation at war. This thematic collection of 250 illustrations taken from the archives of the Illustrated London News includes the whole range of magazine and newspaper imagery, from light-hearted strip cartoons and line drawings, through political comment to poignant sketches and paintings. The selection features well-known illustrators, such as Bruce Bairnsfather, W. Heath Robinson and Fortunino Matania, lesser-known artists and also illustrations by men in the trenches. A valuable source for historians (that word again!), many of these illustrations are published for the first time in 90 years, and together they are a unique, bittersweet portrayal of the Great War.' *

Like the writer of this book I came across the Necropolis railway quite by accident. A few years ago we took all our Railway books to the Signal Box at Tintern Old Station, to set up a temporary Railway bookshop for a couple of weeks. 

Whilst displaying the books, I came across a chapter in a book about the London Necropolis Railway - before then I had never given it a thought as to what happened to the dead of London.

The London Necropolis railway was established for two main reasons, a growing London population and a lack of burial space. The railway enabled the dead of London to be quickly and efficiently transported to new burial grounds far outside the city, in Surrey.

If you like mice you'll love Brambly Hedge! Brambly Hedge can be found on the other side of the stream across the field - maybe close to you. Here if you look carefully you may spot a wisp of smoke or see a flight of stairs going up into a tree trunk. For it is in this place that a community of mice has made their home.

The first Brambly Hedge books - Spring Story, Summer Story, Autumn Storyand Winter Story - appeared in 1980. They are written and illustrated by Jill Barklem. Their production followed five years research by Jill. Her love of natural history and interest in rural crafts shines through in the beautiful illustrations and fine details of the stories.