Stella & Rose's Books

Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There was first published in December 1871 and is the sequel to Alice's Adventures In Wonderland (1865), by author Lewis Carroll.

Alice Through the Looking Glass - John Tenniel, Tony Ross & Helen Oxenbury  

Alice again enters a fantastical and nonsensical world, but is this the Wonderland that she happened upon once a lazy dream ago, when she followed the White rabbit down that hole?  This time it is snowing outside so she is playing inside with two kittens, a black one called Kitty and a white one called Snowdrop, so this is quite different to the sunny day when she entered Wonderland previously.  But again, we see the 'dream' quality - is this a prerequisite for entering fantastical and wondrous worlds?  “Alice was sitting curled up in a corner of the great armchair, half talking to herself and half asleep”.

(Published on 15th Feb 2024) Read full article

This is a book filled with beautiful photographs showcasing the work both at home and abroad of the gardens and public places designed by Thomas Mawson.

Thomas Mawson / Front Cover  

This is the first full biography of Thomas Hayton Mawson (1861 – 1933) and charts his successes from Cumbria to Greece and the Civic Art he designed such as Hanley Park near Stoke on Trent.

In the early twentieth century he was the most sought-after garden and landscape designer of the day and could name crowned heads of Europe among his clients.

(Published on 15th Jan 2024) Read full article

I chose this lovely book as the picture on the cover reminded me of when I used to live in Kent.  It is about landscape artist Stanley Roy Badmin of whom, I imagine, some of you may have heard.  His works have appeared on greeting cards, calendars, in copies of the Readers Digest and Radio Times magazines and much more.

The book has been written by Chris Beetles, a London art dealer, who has put together 44 of the artist’s watercolours plus some etchings.  Chris Beetles has been a leading authority on S.R. Badmin for the past thirty years and the book provides an informative history of Badmin’s career and his development as a prominent etcher and fine artist.

(Published on 13th Dec 2023) Read full article

Written and illustrated by Ul De Rico and published in 1996, this is the sequel to The Rainbow Goblins which was published in 1978.

It is a children’s book (probably for older children unlike its predecessor) and the story is about the White Goblin who was banished by his brothers, the Rainbow Goblins, and lives in a world of snow and ice.  After learning of his brothers’ ignominious death, he wonders, “who am I to be thrust out of the beautiful, coloured world” and goes on a very selfish colour-drinking rampage.  He greedily catches, licks and sucks every colour he can reach.  He then self-righteously decides that he is now the ruler of the world and descends into the Cave City and persuades the Cave Goblins (living in peace, harmony and happiness at this point) to help him build gigantic buildings and cities.

(Published on 15th Nov 2023) Read full article

Scenes of Commerce by Land and Sea by Rev. Isaac Taylor

So, I was browsing the Natural History section in our Special Book Room on our website and this title caught my eye. That looks interesting I thought, especially when I saw the subtitle “Where Does It Come From? Answered”. And indeed, it is interesting!

Published almost 200 hundred years ago in 1839 by John Harris, leading British publisher of illustrated books and fiction from 1801 to 1839, this book has 396 pages including an index and 66 black and white engravings. Let’s take a look inside…

(Published on 14th Oct 2023) Read full article

A few years ago I went to a talk given by Matthew Rice at the Cheltenham Literature Festival. The talk was about describing architecture and the language we use to do so. He said it is not enough, or indeed accurate, to describe something we see as that ‘twiddly bit on top of the curved thing below the window’ - we need to learn the language! So, there is a language for everything from Bricklaying to Churches and Cathedrals. It felt quite revelatory at the time but also quite obvious. The talk was excellent by the way, and I am now the proud owner of Rice’s Church Primer.

(Published on 14th Sep 2023) Read full article

I’m new to Fred J. Hando’s books, but I instantly loved his interesting prose and writing style. Fred J. Hando (23rd March 1888- 17th February 1970) was from Newport, Wales, and a head teacher, artist and writer on the Monmouthshire and Gwent area. The main aim of his numerous books and newspaper articles was to “persuade readers to see the little places of a shy county.” 

A prolific writer of the local area, I would now follow him anywhere given a chance, even if just around the corner, because he would make it interesting, weaving a story from the history of the area that would make me see the view in a completely different way.

(Published on 14th Aug 2023) Read full article

Familiar Garden Flowers by Shirley Hibberd, Illustrated by F. Edward Hulme

Having lived in a flat for most of my adult life I am now very much enjoying having a garden and learning about different plants and what they do and don’t like.

This set of books really appealed to me when I first saw it.  It is so attractive to look at – both the covers of each book and the beautiful chromolithographic plates of the garden flowers (200 in total!).

The books look at the different variety of plants that can be found in a typical English garden and offer detailed descriptions and a history of each plant as well as tips on how to plant, propagate, maintain etc.

(Published on 14th Jul 2023) Read full article

Like many of my age, I grew up reading Enid Blyton. For most of my childhood, my parents made the decision not to have a TV in the house. Although this was an unpopular decision with myself and my siblings, I look back with admiration as it meant we were moved to use our time in other (more constructive?) ways. Living in rural Mid-Wales, this meant spending a lot of time outside, but it also meant reading – a lot of reading!

My earliest memories of reading include Malcolm Saville, Arthur Ransome, Ladybird books, as well as lots of non-fiction such as Usborne books on nature. But probably the largest number of books in our home library were written by Enid Blyton.

(Published on 14th Jun 2023) Read full article

Seven Years with Samantha by Clive Ball

Front Cover / Leaving Dover

 

This is an intriguing title as the cover shows an old vintage car in the desert. Samantha is Clive’s 1929 Austin Seven which he had rebuilt. It had a 750cc engine and did 40mph. He set off from Dover in 1965 and ended up doing one of the longest journeys ever undertaken in such an old car, extending to a total of 48,000 miles. I’m sure this record has been surpassed many times since but in 1965 this was some achievement.

(Published on 14th May 2023) Read full article

‘Now We Are Six’ was first published in 1927 and is the third title in the Pooh bear quartet, after 'When We Were Very Young' (1924), 'Winnie-the-Pooh' (1926) and before 'The House At Pooh Corner' (1928).  It is the second in the series that is a collection of poetry and rhymes for children and contains a total of 35 different poems – some more well-known than others. Perhaps this is partly why some say that this is their least favourite book of the four.

(Published on 14th Apr 2023) Read full article

The Big Book of Fables Edited by Walter Jerrold and Illustrated by Charles Robinson

Walter Jerrold has chosen the fables and edited this Big Book of Fables which was first published in 1912 (although, of course, the fables themselves are much older). Jerrold was a writer and newspaper editor. He spent much of his time in London, starting out as a clerk in a newspaper counting house and going on to become deputy editor of The Observer.

(Published on 15th Mar 2023) Read full article

Floor Games by H.G.Wells

Famous for his science fiction novels, now regarded as classics, H.G. Wells is not so well-known as an author of children’s books. In fact Wells wrote several books for younger children including ‘The Adventures of Tommy’ (1929), ‘Little Wars’ (1913) and this little book ‘Floor Games’, published in 1911.

(Published on 15th Feb 2023) Read full article

Photographic Memories Series – The Francis Frith Collection

The Photographic Memories Series is just one of a staggering twelve series of books that feature the famous black and white photographs from the Francis Frith collection.  Photographic Memories presents 310 titles of various counties, cities and areas in the UK, with photos showcasing these areas prior to the 1960s. 

How did this series come about?

Francis Frith (1822-1898) was born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire and turned out to be a multi-talented man.  He was a devout Quaker, attending Quaker schools in Ackworth and Birmingham.  Frith was also a highly successful, if somewhat diverse businessman, who started out in the cutlery business and went on to establish a wholesale grocery business in Liverpool. 

(Published on 15th Jan 2023) Read full article

The First Blue Peter Annual

The first Blue Peter annual was published in 1964 by Lutterworth Press, it is a distillation of the programme in book form.In the first annual we meet presenters Valerie Singleton and Christopher Trace, we also meet Petra the first Blue Peter dog, there is a visit to the Blue Peter studio, a story by Oliver Postgate, how to make sweets, building a sledge, making a miniature garden, a song illustrated by Peter Firmin, it is a lovely reminder of childhood.

(Published on 15th Dec 2022) Read full article

Zozo (or Curious George) by H.A. & Margret Rey

Curious George has become one of the most loved and recognizable characters from children’s literature. His stories are so popular that they have never been out of print since their first published date in the early 1940s.

Despite being a monkey, George is never pictured with a tail – something I hadn’t really registered until I was researching for this article.  George is described as a ‘good little monkey, and always very curious’.  I wonder how many people know that the first British edition of Curious George was actually entitled “Zozo” so as not to associate King George VI with a monkey!  The British edition was first published in 1942 and later reprinted with edited text and the new title which everyone has come to know and love.

(Published on 15th Nov 2022) Read full article

Hans Andersen’s Fairy Tales Illustrated by W.Heath Robinson published by Folio Society

A fairy tale or fairytale is an instance of folklore in the form of a short story. Such stories usually include mythical creatures such as fairies, elves, giants, unicorns, and goblins. Magic or enchantments are also often involved.

Book & Slipcase / Hans Chrisitan Andersen (Wiki)  

Hans Christian Andersen was a Danish author best remembered for his literary fairy tales which he wrote between 1835 and 1872. He wrote a total of 156 stories across nine volumes which were translated into more than 125 languages.

(Published on 14th Oct 2022) Read full article

Up River - The Song of the Esk written and illustrated by Darren Woodhead

This book caught my eye on the shelf because on front and back of the dustwrapper are beautiful watercolour paintings, on the front a singing male blackcap and on the back a winter woodland scene.

Front Cover / Back Cover  

On reading the introduction what impressed me most was, firstly, the fact that the artist never uses white paint, instead he allows the white paper to shine through his paintings. To me that seems like painting in the negative – working all around the aspects of the picture that are to remain white. Secondly, all these pieces of artwork were completed directly from life while the artist was observing the subject in its natural environment. As many artists paint from photographs I found this to be exceptionally intriguing – how was this achieved when live subjects actually move?

(Published on 14th Sep 2022) Read full article

The Observer’s Book of British Birds by S. Vere Benson

Stephana Vere Benson.  It seems people are not sure if Stephana was her name as she never published it as such on the title page.  The Misses Benson began the Bird-Lovers’ League firstly amongst their friends and neighbours and subsequently it grew to more than thirty thousand members worldwide over the next fourteen years.

This book was first published in 1937 and is the first of the Observer’s Series.  There are at least 15 different dust wrapper variations for the book, published by Frederick Warne and Co. Ltd. Some with only minor changes. The book was revised in 1952, 1956, 1960, 1965 and 1972. The book contains one bird per page, making it an excellent reference guide.

(Published on 14th Aug 2022) Read full article

I was a rat! (or The Scarlet Slippers) by Philip Pullman

Are you at all familiar with the story of Cinderella?

And do you, by chance, remember the part of that tale where Cinderella’s fairy godmother turns up and helps her fulfil her wish to go the ball and meet Prince Charming?

Six white mice turned into horses to pull the carriage which had previously been a pumpkin. The old guard dog was magically changed into the carriage driver and two rats were transformed into page boys, ready to escort Cinderella to her destiny.

(Published on 14th Jul 2022) Read full article