Books 01 May 2008 08:18 am
Matilda
– As I mentioned on a past writing, I’m a fan of the poems of Hillaire Belloc. I posted some pages from his Bestiary, and I have a second book of poems, his Cautionary Tales for Children. a British publication, includes many gems. I’d like to share my favorite of these. As a matter of fact, we animated this poem as part of a double video, Nonsense & Lullabies, back in the 90′s. (Someday I’ll share some of that artwork. It was beautifully designed in house by Jason McDonald.)
A bit of info about Belloc:
He graduated from Oxford, then served in Parliament.
After graduating from Oxford, Hilaire Belloc served in Parliament. Disatisfied with public office, he left the House of Commons and wrote extensively during the first World War. He wrote in many different styles and forms. Many of his children’s poems are whimsical but quite dark.
B.T.B. was the signature of Basil Templeton Blackwood.He met Belloc at Oxford and was killed in action in 1917. Blackwood was a solicitor who illustrated several of Belloc’s books.
(Click any image to enlarge and read it properly.)______
on 01 May 2008 at 8:59 am 1.Tim Rauch said …
I loved the bestiary, and I love these. What bizarre stories and images!
on 01 May 2008 at 11:33 am 2.Todd Jacobsen said …
This reminds me of “Struwwelpeter,” a German collection of short stories about children who misbehave and/or are generally unruly. Each of the stories has a rather untimely ending.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Struwwelpeter
on 01 May 2008 at 3:49 pm 3.Luke Farookhi said …
This reminds me very much of Edward Lear, who illustrated and (I think) wrote a number of weird and wonderful limericks, among other things.
I remember loving these sort of stories as a child – much more than those portraying children as innocent, pure-hearted cherubs. Roald Dahl’s stories were often in much the same marvelously savage style – with children who could be just as bloodthirsty as adults.
on 03 May 2008 at 3:37 pm 4.Eddie Fitzgerald said …
Great cartooning! There’s a school of artists who drew like this. I wish who started it.