On the backs of envelopes…
Panoramic view…
William wasn’t impressed by the scenic view of London from the restaurant at the top of the building in West London. A frosted laminate obscured his view until he cleverly found an opening. He claimed he could see a castle, a church and a pigeon. To make matters worse, they had run out of hot chocolate and the apple juice was pear and apple juice which is worse than an unsatisfactory view of a capital city.
Are you going to eat that, William?
Eyes to the front…
My friend’s school exercise book looks at home on the school desk.
How to dance from memory…
Gillian Rubinstein’s picture book Hooray For The Cafe Karaoke has a lot of odd characters in it – and there is plenty of dancing happening in it too. Plus amateur singing.
A notebook from that time includes a few drawings dance-related.
Almost like the one in the book.
Don’t walk...
Look both ways.
I remember that…
I had Twisties and a coke, and we stopped and played pool on the way home.
Preliminaries…
“I really feel sorry for people who think things like soap dishes or mirrors or Coke bottles are ugly, because they're surrounded by things like that all day long, and it must make them miserable.” Robert Rauschenberg
New Edition of Sherlock Holmes now out…
A new edition of Conan Doyle’s The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes is published by Alma Books. There are a few illustrations on the chapter openings too. I was never a fan of Sherlock Holmes until I read The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes when I was illustrating it. My favourite story in this collection is The Greek Interpreter.
Next stop, Betjeman Poetry Prize announcement…
This afternoon, the Betjeman Poetry Prize 2018 was announced at St Pancras Station. The prize is for poets aged 10-13 years old and all the poems were impressive. The theme for the poems is Place. This year’s winner is Ide Crawford (aged 12) whose poem The Moors stood out to me from all the poems read by the finalists. She read her poem so well too. I also especially liked the first poem read by Sadhbh Barclay Ni Dhaighre who read his in Irish Gaelic and English: “And in that valley, there is a little yellow house, and my heart is in that house.” And he travelled all the way from Ireland to read it in the middle of a busy train station with blaring announcements and the Eurostar screeching to a stop next to the stage. Remember: if you notice anything unusual, report it to a member of staff.
The winner is the girl standing with the big smile on her face.
At home with Hubert Horatio…
Lauren Child’s new illustrated Hubert Horatio novel is out now. Not only does it have a ping pong table in it, there’s a talking hot dog, an Italy-shaped swimming pool, an interpretive dance routine and a Chelsea bun. Where I come from, Chelsea Buns are known as Boston Buns, but it makes no difference as they taste the same. Lauren is very good at mysteries, but she can also make a mystery very funny and you need to use your brain a bit at the same time. The book is brimming with illustrations – one on every page, which is good value for a novel.
