Most Popular Books by Brian Alderson

A tiny girl no bigger than a thumb is stolen by a great ugly toad and subsequently has many adventures and makes many animal friends, before finding the perfect mate in a warm and beautiful southern land.

Dancing princesses, golden eggs, and evil knights are found in this second volume of Andrew Lang''s fairy tales gathered in the late 19th century "Once upon a time, in the middle of winter when the snow-flakes were falling like feathers on the earth, a Queen sat at a window framed in black ebony and sewed. And as she sewed and gazed out to the white landscape, she pricked her finger with the needle, and three drops of blood fell on the snow outside..." Andrew Lang began gathering fairy tales with the aim of conserving "the old stories that have pleased so many generations." This bold and eclectic anthology contains wonderful renditions of old favorites such as Jack and the Beanstalk and Rapunzel, as well as some little-known stories like The Death of Koschei the Deathless and The Nettle Spinner. Be transported to a land full of marvels and magic: a world of enchanted forests and isolated castles; of giants, fairies, and trolls; of treasure, music, and promise. Andrew Lang''s fairy books helped to lay the foundation for our continuing fascination with fairy tales as entertainment and cultural objects. The book is republished here with a stunning red jacket, accompanied throughout by the original illustrations.

Presents a social history of childhood through a collection of 20,000 rare books, comics, and other printed material, plus toys and games.

"It is not widely known that 2014 marks the centenary of the publication of books in The Ladybird Series by the British commercial printers Wills & Hepworth. From the start of the First World War to the start of the Second they published about 100 cheap and cheerful colour-illustrated children''s books for the popular market, but only in 1940 did they fashion Bunnykins Picnic Party which was to be the first of the Ladybird Books that would come to be recognised and bought by most of the British population. Lorraine Johnson and Brian Alderson trace the history of the Ladybird venture from its wobbly beginning through Wills & Hepworth''s triumphant management of the series up to its sale in 1972, with further chapters on the last decades at the printworks in Loughborough down to 1999. A comprehensive bibliography of books edited under the Wills & Hepworth imprint gives ample evidence of their catering for children at all stages of development, a central element in the millions of books that they sold. The many illustrations, mostly in colour, give convincing support to the reasons for their popularity."--Wheelers.co.nz

Annotation. This full-scale bibliography of the works of one the best-loved artists in the English-speaking world, describes Ardizzone''s books, dust jackets, ephemera, periodical contributions, war art, prints, posters and bookplates. It includes an essay "On the Illustration of Books" by Ardizzone himself.

When a humble old farmer plants turnips in his field, one of them grows and grows ... and grows ... and Grows. The king rewards the farmer handsomely for his efforts -- much to the dismay of the arrogant squire who lives across the way. But when the squire attempts to claim a similar reward, will he get more than he bargains for? Brain Alderson''s charming text and Fritz Wegner''s humorous illustrations have yielded a "champion" tale that will delight anyone who''s ever cheered for the underdog.

For her gorgeously illustrated and deeply researched contribution to the prestigious Grolier Hundred series, Chris Loker has assembled one hundred of the best known and most admired children''s books from the English language canon of classics. Organized chronologically, One Hundred Books Famous in Children''s Literature invites readers to follow the development of books written for children and printed between 1650 and 2000--from early forms of instructional primers and devotional readers, to exuberantly entertaining nursery rhymes, fairy tales, children''s novels and works of verse. Also represented are alphabets, folktales, fables, and legends; a touch-and-feel book, a rebus book, a pop-up book, and, of course, picture books. Supplementing the informative essays that accompany each selection are illuminating contributions by five internationally recognized experts in children''s literature: Brian Alderson, Nick Clark, Andrea Immel, Jill Shefrin, and Justin Schiller. This charming and intellectually stimulating volume, accessibly written to appeal to both scholars and the general public, has quickly become the classic checklist for book collectors, scholars, and anyone who loves children''s literature.

A big, beautiful book of over fifty best-loved traditional children''s rhymes, from one of today''s foremost illustrators. Full-color.

This collection attempts to bring humour to familiar fairy tales and nursery rhymes. Illustrations from Helen Oxenbury are included.

Journey back to the magic days of sultans and caliphs, and become entranced by a brave young woman named Sheherezade as she weaves one dazzling tale after another, night after night for a thousand and one nights. This classic collection of timeless stories from Arabia, India, and Persia re-creates a fabulous world of sorcerers and sages, as well as ordinary people who find themselves in extraordinary situations. Brian Alderson brings out all the humor, enchantment, suspense, and mystery of these delightful stories. Included in this lively collection are Sheherezade''s most magnificent and beloved stories: "Aladdin," "Sindbad the Sailor," and "All Baba and the Forty Thieves." Remaining faithful to their Eastern origins, the author presents them in a manner ideally suited for reading aloud. Michael Foreman''s one hundred and twenty stunning illustrations and decorations-highlighted with gold ink -- capture all the excitement and magic of the original tales in a sumptuous book you will return to again and again.

To commemorate the centenary of the death of the artist and illustrator Randolph Caldecott, Brian Alderson, noted historian of children''s literature and children''s book editor of The Times, has prepared for the British Library an exhibition designed to pay tribute to Caldecott''s skills as a creator of picture books, which will run from October 1986. This book, incorporating a catalogue of the exhibition, with its many illustrations in colour and black and white, both demonstrates Caldecott''s genius and provides a brief critical history of an important area of children''s book publishing. Comedy, storytelling and graphic exuberance are all part of the great tradition of book illustration that runs from Hogarth and Rowlandson down to the present day, and Caldecott''s special genius was to have embodied these qualities in the subjects he chose. Together with an appraisal of those who influenced Caldecott and the effect he had on later generations of illustrators, Brian Alderson explains the relationship between pictures and text, techniques (wood-cuts, wood-engraving, intaglio printing), the effect of industrialisation on the picture book and the subsequent development of book illustration.