Author:Joseph Jacobs
One of the great nineteenth-century folklorists, Joseph Jacobs collected stories from oral sources and made scholarly notes on their origin, but he deliberately recorded them in a plain and direct style which he thought suitable for children and which makes them 'supremely tellable'. First published in 1890, his famous collection includes all the well-known tales, such as JACK AND THE BEANSTALK and DICK WHITTINGTON, as well as British variants of stories common to many cultures. The illustrations by John Batten are taken from the first edition.
John Agard is a very exciting poet
—— TESA fast-moving and totally absorbing adventure story
—— Books for KeepsThe drawing together of two children has hardly been done better since The Secret Garden
—— Growing PointHe's funny, clever, nimble and moving. Above all, his poetic generosity refuses to consider serious subjects as out of bounds just because he's writing for a young audience.
—— Evening Standard