BOOKS OF WONDER THE
Robert Ingpen
CHILDREN’S CLASSICS
Robert Ingpen entertains at the exhibition of his art for The Wind in the Willows held at the Seven Stories gallery in Newcastle
photo courtesy North News and Pictures
BOOKS OF WONDER THE
Robert Ingpen
CHILDREN’S CLASSICS
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n her eloquent profile of robert ingpen, Elizabeth Hammill referred to Robert as a ‘keeper of the imagination’. His astonishing creative vision and his sparkling visual interpretation of these diverse imaginary worlds has certainly delighted a new generation of children who are discovering these classic works for the first time. His illustrations also warmly remind older readers of a tradition of book illustrating from the golden age of N.C. Wyeth and Arthur Rackham. When we started out on this project almost ten years ago we did not expect to witness the completion of so many titles and for the collection to be taken up so successfully by publishers throughout the world. It is hugely satisfying to know that someone in Baltimore and, say, Novgorod, might simultaneously be reading our edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to a child. And this is old fashioned publishing – unabridged editions, beautifully designed and printed and each with accompanying notes about the author for context. There is no need for any new technology gizmos, just the solid book and a series style all illustrated by just the one artist providing a compelling reason to build a first library of classics. Such is the power of the written word allied to Robert’s illustrations that this series will itself be recognised as a classic enterprise for years to come. Meanwhile we have all our copublishers around the world to thank for their participation and support of these titles. We continue to add titles and find new territories and we can expect to reach even more young readers who will be inspired by the Wizard of Aus. Colin Webb
Peter Pan and Wendy J.M. Barrie
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obert ingpen’s beautiful illustrations breathe new life into this most famous of modern fairy stories. This classic tale of a boy who wouldn’t grow up has retained its popularity since publication, first as a play and then as a novel in 1911. Following his death in 1937, J.M. Barrie left his royalties in perpetuity to Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital and this magnificent new edition was published to commemorate the centenary of first publication and to continue as a fundraiser. Robert first attempted illustrating this classic when he was only seven years old and, remarkably, still has his early drawings. The mature work demonstrated in this, his first classic of the series, captivates the reader as they embark upon the astonishing adventures of Peter Pan and Wendy, the Lost Boys, the mischievous fairy Tinkerbell and the notorious Captain Hook.
Illustrations: 70 colour and b&w Price: £14.99 Extent: 216pp Format: 235 x 195mm Binding: Hardback Territory: Australia & New Zealand (Walker); China (Jieli); Denmark (Carlsen); Germany (Knesebeck); Greece (Patakis); North America (Sterling); Poland (Buchmann); Russia (Atticus); Spain (Blume); Sweden (Forma); United Kingdom (Templar)
Treasure Island Robert Louis Stevenson ‘In Treasure Island Stevenson wrote one of the great books of all time, an enduring masterpiece, and my favourite too. No edition has ever been better illustrated than this. Ingpen’s drawings are utterly compelling.’ – Michael Morpurgo
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his classic tale of pirates, treasure and swashbuckling action on the high seas is the archetypal ripping yarn and continues to excite readers of all ages. Set on the west coast of England, sometime in the eighteenth century, our narrator is an innkeeper’s son, Jim Hawkins. An old buccaneer, Billy Bones, arrives at the inn with a map showing the way to Captain Flint’s treasure, but he is closely followed by a group of dastardly pirates under the command of the ominous Blind Pew. Jim, in an act of bravery and cunning gets hold of the map, delivers it to Squire Trelawney, and together they set off for Treasure Island in the Squire’s schooner. Among the crew lurks the treacherous Long John Silver who is determined to keep the treasure for himself and through a series of enthralling adventures they arrive on Treasure Island with the marooned Ben Gunn and ever closer to the treasure itself. Robert Ingpen has let his imagination loose on this breathtaking adventure, bringing the unforgettable characters to life as never before. As he has said: ‘It’s one of the greatest stories of all time. If a child can get to chapter four and not be scared to death by Blind Pew tapping on the door of the Admiral Benbow Inn, they’ll read for life!’
Illustrations: 70 colour and b&w Price: £14.99 Extent: 192pp Format: 235 x 195mm Binding: Hardback Territory: Australia & New Zealand (Walker); Denmark (Carlsen); Greece (Patakis); Korea (Better Books, Co.); North America (Sterling); Russia (Atticus); Spain (Blume); Sweden (Forma); United Kingdom (Templar)
The Jungle Book Rudyard Kipling
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imply and beautifully written, The Jungle Book remains a sublime classic work of children’s literature. The story of Mowgli, the man-cub who is brought up by wolves in the Indian jungle, is one of the greatest literary myths ever created. As he embarks on a series of thrilling escapades, Mowgli encounters such unforgettable creatures as Bagheera, the graceful black panther, and Shere Khan, the tiger with the blazing eyes. Other animal stories range from the simple heroism found in ‘Rikki-tikki-tavi’ to the macabre comedy of ‘The Undertakers’. A rich and complex fable of animal and human life, Kipling’s enduring tale dazzles the imagination with its astonishing descriptive powers and lively sense of adventure. It has inspired Robert Ingpen to achieve some of his most magical depictions of wildlife in this new edition. Mowgli and the creatures of the jungle are brought to life as never before although as Robert says: ‘I have tried to tread as lightly as I can with my images and hope I have left enough space for the reader to continue to make the adventure that Kipling created for us during his time in India.’
Illustrations: 70 colour and b&w Price: £14.99 Extent: 192pp Format: 235 x 195mm Binding: Hardback Territory: Australia & New Zealand (Walker); Belgium (C. de Vries-Brouwers); China (Jieli); Denmark (Carlsen); Greece (Patakis); North America (Sterling); Poland (Buchmann); Romania (Litera); Russia (Atticus); Spain (Blume); Sweden (Forma); United Kingdom (Templar)
The Wind in the Willows Kenneth Grahame ‘Every brush-stroke of his beautifullyconceived illustrations is a tribute to what is going on in the story. There are grand double-page panoramic spreads at the start of each chapter (the curving stream for “The River Bank”, the cosy interior of “Dulce Domum”), there are full-page plates (Turner’s Venice looms up, entirely appropriately, in “The Gates of Dawn”) and there are a host of vignettes in the text which perfectly catch the atmosphere of the story as it progresses. And it is the whole story too.’ – Books for Keeps
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enneth Grahame’s classic tale was first published in 1908, and children and adults alike fell in love with the timid Mole, the friendly Water Rat, the imperious Badger and of course the irrepressible Toad. The quiet life they lead on the banks of the River Thames is interspersed with adventures, normally instigated by Toad, who has a propensity for trouble. Over the years, the animals’ adventures have been brought to life by many artists and this magnificent new edition by Robert Ingpen was published to commemorate the centenary of the first publication of this spellbinding story.
Illustrations: 70 colour and b&w Price: £14.99 Extent: 224pp Format: 235 x 195mm Binding: Hardback Territory: Australia & New Zealand (Walker); China (China City Press); Denmark (Carlsen); Germany (Knesebeck); Iceland (Sögur); Korea (Sallim); Lithuania (Nieko Rimto); North America (Sterling); Russia (Atticus); United Kingdom (Templar)
A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens
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ccording to robert ingpen, ‘Illustrating stories by Charles Dickens is a privilege and a test. More care and effort has been taken to try to “picture” the events in the strange journey of redemption by Ebenezer Scrooge, and to portray the characters Dickens invites us to meet, everything was harder than I expected it would be.’ This classic seasonal tale of self-discovery has become one of Dickens’ most famous and best-loved works. The miserly Ebenezer Scrooge is haunted by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley, who warns him on Christmas Eve that he will be visited by three spirits. The ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Yet to Come show Scrooge the scenes of his youth, the poverty-stricken Christmas being endured by his loyal clerk Bob Cratchit and his crippled son Tiny Tim – and the lonely future that awaits Scrooge if he continues in his grasping ways. He awakes on Christmas morning chastened by his nocturnal experiences, and resolves to be a better man. This volume includes Dickens’ short story, ‘A Christmas Tree’, with its evocative description of the delights of Christmas and provides perfect fireside reading once the gifts are unwrapped.
Illustrations: 70 full-colour Price: £14.99 Extent: 192pp Format: 235 x 195mm Binding: Hardback Territory: Australia & New Zealand (Walker); Germany (Minedition); Greece (Patakis); North America (Penguin); Russia (Atticus); Spain (Blume); United Kingdom (Templar)
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Lewis Carroll
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his classic story began as an improvised tale told by Lewis Carroll to a group of children on a boating picnic in 1862 and was first published as Alice’s Adventures Under Ground three years later. Its curious effect of half-dream, half-nightmare instantly captured the imagination of both children and adults, and it has been a favourite ever since. Alice’s adventures down the rabbit hole, in particular the strange characters she meets there, remain fixed in our imaginations. The constantly grinning Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter, the March Hare and the Queen of Hearts are characters with which all children are familiar, as they are with many of Carroll’s verses – including ‘You are old, Father William’ and ‘Twinkle, twinkle, little bat’. More than 100 artists have tackled this extraordinary work and it proved an irresistible challenge for Robert Ingpen to follow in the tracks of many great illustrators including one of his heroes, Sir John Tenniel, the first illustrator of Alice. Robert Ingpen refers to the collaboration between Carroll and Tenniel as being ‘unmatched in the history of our literature.’ This superb edition brings together the complete and unabridged text with more than 70 illustrations, each reflecting Robert Ingpen’s unique style and response to Carroll’s demanding voice.
Illustrations: 70 colour and b&w Price: £14.99 Extent: 192pp Format: 235 x 195mm Binding: Hardback Territory: Australia & New Zealand (Walker); China (Jieli); Denmark (Carlsen); Germany (Knesebeck); Greece (Patakis); North America (Sterling); Poland (Buchmann); Russia (Atticus); Spain (Blume); Sweden (Forma); United Kingdom (Templar)
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Mark Twain
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aturday morning was come, and all the summer world was bright and fresh, and brimming with life.’ So we enter a day of endless possibility in Mark Twain’s classic tale. He called it a ‘hymn to boyhood’, and this unforgettable story of a boy growing up in a small town on the Mississippi has become an all-time favourite, not just in America, but around the world. The original boyhood hero, the irrepressible Tom is an irresistible mix of exuberance, bad behaviour and bravado. Whether he is tricking his schoolmates into whitewashing a fence, faking a gangrenous toe, running away to become a pirate with his friend Huck Finn, witnessing a murder, discovering treasure, or falling in love with the lovely Becky Thatcher, trouble, trickery, good humour and adventure are never far away. As Robert Ingpen writes: ‘Mark Twain grew up in St Petersburg, Missouri, or a town very like it, so he probably did not need a map of it to find his way around. His childhood memories, combined with a fabulous imagination, gave him no difficulties in fitting his characters and their adventures into the local geography. To find my way through Twain’s mind and the story of Tom Sawyer’s adventures, I needed to make the picture-map that appears on the title page of the book.’ With the map in place Robert’s illustrations create a real sense of time, place and character : each image an enchanting evocation of a forgotten time in the American South.
Illustrations: 70 colour and b&w Price: £14.99 Extent: 240pp Format: 235 x 195mm Binding: Hardback Territory: Australia & New Zealand (Walker); China (Jieli); Denmark (Carlsen); Germany (Knesebeck); Greece (Patakis); North America (Sterling); Russia (Atticus); Spain (Blume); Taiwan (Ollin); United Kingdom (Templar)
The Secret Garden Frances Hodgson Burnett ‘This is a special book either to share with children or enjoy for the quality of its design, artistry and lasting power to entrance. However, be warned: once you have purchased The Secret Garden, it is difficult to resist the compulsion to collect the full set of children’s classics illustrated by this world-class Australian illustrator.’ – Stephanie Owen Reeder, The Canberra Times
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hen Mary Lennox was sent to Misselthwaite Manor to live with her uncle everybody said she was the most disagreeable looking child ever seen.’ So begins Frances Hodgson Burnett’s classic, regarded as one of the best children’s books of the twentieth century and included in the Robert Ingpen collection for the centenary of its first publication in 1911. The story of a spoilt, neglected and sickly young girl, who comes to the home of Mr Craven, her widowed and grieving uncle, The Secret Garden was originally something of a secret itself, overshadowed by the success of Burnett’s Little Lord Fauntleroy (1886). But with its timeless themes of the regenerative powers of nature and imagination, of agonising loss and a family restored, it has become her best-known work. The secret garden of the title is a walled, overgrown paradise. Mary is led to its ivy-covered door by a robin and, with the help of the servant’s son Dickon, begins to tend it. Her petulance mellows, and the garden also helps to bring the transformation of wheelchair-bound and tantrum-throwing Colin, the son that Craven keeps hidden away – and of the uncle himself. In this edition the full and unabridged text is accompanied by plant drawings inspired by The Frampton Flora that bring the garden, and the young people it touches, back into imaginative bloom.
Illustrations: 70 full-colour Price: £14.99 Extent: 240pp Format: 235 x 195mm Binding: Hardback Territory: Australia & New Zealand (Walker); China (Jieli); North America (Sterling); Poland (Buchmann); Russia (Atticus); Sweden (Forma); United Kingdom (Templar)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz L. Frank Baum
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he tale of dorothy and her beloved dog Toto, who are carried away by a tornado to the Land of Oz, is one of the most enchanting stories in children’s literature. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was a bestseller on publication in 1900, and its popularity was further enhanced by the celebrated mgm movie in 1939 that made Judy Garland a star. Like Charles Dickens and Mark Twain before him, L. Frank Baum created truly memorable experiences that continue to resonate with modern audiences. On her journey to the Emerald City to seek out the mysterious Wizard and find a way back home, Dorothy encounters many endearing characters of whom the triumvirate of the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion prove lasting comrades. This new edition follows these wonderful characters along the yellow brick road and as Robert Ingpen says he ‘had the privilege of drawing Baum’s “Oz” characters and their adventures to be as near to “real” as I have always wanted them to be.’ The journey from cyclone stricken Kansas to Oz and back again is depicted in fabulous colours and particularly emerald green. This is The Wizard of Oz brilliantly depicted by the Wizard of Aus.
Illustrations: 70 full-colour Price: £14.99 Extent: 192pp Format: 235 x 195mm Binding: Hardback Territory: Australia & New Zealand (Walker); China (Jieli); Germany (Knesebeck); Lithuania (Nieko Rimto); North America (Sterling); Poland (Buchmann); Romania (Litera); Russia (Atticus); Spain (Blume); Sweden (Forma); United Kingdom (Templar)
Around the World in Eighty Days Jules Verne
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lthough we live in an age when round-the-world travel is possible in hours rather than weeks, Jules Verne’s tale of a race against the clock has never lost its power to thrill. Set in 1872, Mr Phileas Fogg, a gentleman of precision and predictability, and his manservant, the ever resourceful Passepartout, ride through India on an elephant, sail the South China Sea in the teeth of a typhoon and cross the snow-covered plains of the American Wild West in order to fulfil a wager that the journey can be completed in just eighty days. The acrobatic and inquisitive Passepartout can seldom keep out of trouble. While he is pursued by irate Indian priests, drugged in an opium den, and saving a runaway train, his master’s composure is never broken as the hours tick away on his precisely accurate pocket watch. But Phileas Fogg is above all a gentle man, and stopping to save the life of a beautiful young widow may have cost him his fortune. The ill-assorted but determined trio have to use all of their ingenuity and some remarkable vehicles to race back to London. Will they make it in time? An evocation of an era when all travel was an adventure, this timeless classic is rich with detail that has engaged the imagination of Robert Ingpen. As he says the book is remembered not only as a classic novel but also as the subject of a remarkable widescreen film made in 1956. ‘At that time I was an art student in Melbourne and was hugely impressed by the graphic designs of Saul Bass for the opening and closing credits of the film. His imaginative sequences added a new dimension to the spirit and entertainment of the actual film, and greatly influenced the thinking of future graphic designers and illustrators in all fields.’
Illustrations: 70 full-colour Price: £14.99 Extent: 224pp Format: 235 x 195mm Binding: Hardback Territory: Australia & New Zealand (Walker); Denmark (Carlsen); Germany (Knesebeck); North America (Trafalgar Square); Poland (Buchmann); Russia (Atticus); Spain (Blume); Sweden (Forma); United Kingdom (Templar)
Just So Stories Rudyard Kipling ‘Once upon a time, O my Best Beloved…’
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o begins this classic collection of gloriously fanciful tales of how things in the world came to be as they are. Here is the story of how the lazy camel found himself with a hump and how the insatiable curiosity of the elephant earned him his long trunk. Of how the whale was given a throat, and why every rhinoceros has great folds in his skin and a very bad temper. Here too, we find out about the cunning cat that walked by itself, the kangaroo that asked to be different to all the other animals, and how clever little Taffy and her Daddy Tegumai made the first alphabet. Rudyard Kipling first entertained his own children with these delightful, warm and humorous stories, which he later wrote down for publication in 1902. Conjuring up distant lands and exotic jungles, they are bewitching for both children and adults. In this sumptuous volume, which includes the often-missing thirteenth story, ‘The Tabu Tale’ (which Kipling added for the American edition in 1903), Kipling’s unforgettable cast of extraordinary animal characters is brought to life in stunning new illustrations by the award-winning illustrator Robert Ingpen.
Publication: Autumn 2013 Illustrations: 70 colour and b&w Price: £14.99 Extent: 192pp Format: 235 x 195mm Binding: Hardback Territory: World (Palazzo Editions)
The Night Before Christmas Clement C. Moore
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n christmas eve in 1822 when his children had hung up their stockings ready for Santa Claus, Clement C. Moore entertained them with the poem he had penned for them as a Christmas present: ‘’Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.’ The opening stanza sends anticipatory shivers down the spine in its evocation of the most magical time of the year. The events that follow mark the beginning of the tradition of Santa Claus and the joy that he brings to children on Christmas Eve. The enchanting poem is considered as being largely responsible for the conception of Santa Claus from the mid-nineteenth century to today. It tells the story of a man who, while his wife and children are fast asleep, awakens on Christmas Eve to curious noises outside of his house. As he looks out of the window he witnesses a sleigh, pulled by eight reindeer, flying high across the sky before landing, to the man’s great surprise, on the roof of his very own house. It is a delight to read aloud to children young and old and this new gift edition introduces Robert Ingpen’s robust and cheery evocations of Santa and Christmas past.
Illustrations: 30 full-colour Price: £9.99 Extent: 48pp Format: 260 x 216mm Binding: Hardback Territory: Australia & New Zealand (Walker); Japan (Nishimura) North America (Sterling); United Kingdom (Palazzo Editions)
The Owl and the Pussycat Edward Lear Sail away for a year and a day to the land where the Bong-tree grows!
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o commemorate the bicentenary of the birth of Edward Lear in May 1812 this is a joyful interpretation of perhaps his best-loved rhyme. The exuberant and romantic tale of the Owl and the Pussycat was first written in 1867 for the children of Lear’s patron, Lord Stanley, and such was its popularity that he followed it with many more nonsense verses. Lear’s fascination with the English language and the pleasure he took in the bizarre is evident in this contained work which includes his most famous piece of verbal invention, a ‘runcible spoon’, which despite attempts defies definition, let alone the culinary appreciation of ‘mince’ and ‘slices of quince’. Edward Lear’s timeless poem is a delight to read aloud, its whimsical verses just as sparkling today after more than 150 years since it was first written, and Ingpen’s new illustrations bring to life Lear’s extraordinary world and the bizarre creatures that populate it like never before, adding another layer of whimsical humour.
Illustrations: 30 full-colour Price: £9.95 Extent: 48pp Format: 260 x 216mm Binding: Hardback Territory: Australia & New Zealand (Walker); Japan (Nishimura); North America (Palazzo); United Kingdom (Templar)
The Robert Ingpen Illustrated Classics Collection
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his collection of timeless classics for a new generation features three of the best-loved children’s titles all superbly illustrated by Robert Ingpen: Treasure Island, The Wind in the Willows, and The Jungle Book. Complete and unabridged, these handsome editions are now available for the first time in paperback and presented in an attractive slipcase, forming a magnificent gift set. Whether you were entranced by Mowgli’s adventures in the jungle, captivated by Jim Hawkins’ skirmishes on the high seas, or spellbound by the escapades of the imperious Badger and the mischievous Toad, children of all ages have been entertained by these eternally popular stories for over a century.
Illustrations: full-colour and b&w Price: £30 Extent: 192pp & 244pp Format: 208 x 172mm Binding: Paperback with slipcase Territory: United Kingdom (Templar)
Beyond Words
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s robert journeys abroad into the landscapes of the classics Neverland, The Riverbank, the Wild Wood, or Wonderland, he also journeys into the landscapes of their creators’ minds. Using that “fearless imagination, I can have these authors come and stay with me, sit with me as I’m designing, planning and illustrating the book...” This is typical Ingpen: an apt wrapping of fact with fiction to describe the rehearsal or dreamtime getting to “know” authors and their characters, understand a text’s “messages” and “balladry”, and experiment with design and illustration to “enhance and align” these and give readers “extra information for the imagination to play with” and imaginative spaces between the words and pictures to inhabit. It is this close attention to authorial intent, to character psychology, to place and to the sensibilities and expectations of modern readers raised on video and cinematography that gives Robert’s classic re-visionings their power, immediacy and energy. Look at his Alice and her “amazed” yet “apprehensive” body language when faced with decisions about “unknown substances” inviting her to “Eat me” or “Drink me”. Look at his portraits in Treasure Island – some cropped and close-up, textured, filled with the “beautiful hidden detail that Rembrandt leaves you to imagine”... the wrinkles, the lines around the eyes, the eyes themselves, or a “shadow thrown over them” – all “part of engaging people in exploring”. Always, for this Hans Christian Andersen Award winning illustrator, his craft – his use of perspective, composition, psychological focus, surprise and mystery – is directed at capturing young readers’ imaginations with the stories he chooses to illustrate and “compelling” them to go beyond words and pictures to become dreamers themselves and live in the “unfinished spaces” between them.’ – Elizabeth Hammill OBE, writing in Books for Keeps, is initiator and co-founder of Seven Stories, the Centre for Children’s Books.
Robert Ingpen was born in 1936 in Geelong, Australia. He studied illustration art and book design at The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. In 1986 he was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Medal for his contribution to children’s literature and he has been honoured with Membership of the Order of Australia. A world-renowned artist and author, Ingpen has designed, illustrated, and written more than one hundred books. He now lives and works in Barwon Heads, Australia, near his hometown of Geelong. Front cover from Around the World in 80 Days, back cover from The Wind in the Willows
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