Most Popular Books by Brian Patten

A great new collection of poetry, wide-ranging in both form and subject matter. Full of Brian Patten''s wonderful wit and moments of beauty as in GERANIUMS IN THE SNOW: Like children snuggling down under a white duvet Slowly the red geraniums Vanish under the snow. Brilliantly complemented by Chris Riddell''s illustrations.

A large-format, colour edition of this magical novel which weaves together over fifty world tales -- of immense appeal to both adults and children. One day a story fell from heaven and landed on a giant''s tongue... '' The Story Giant is a master illusionist and the ur-storyteller. In his memory exists every tale ever told in the world -- except for one, which has eluded him for millennia. In a last desperate attempt to track down this lost tale, he draws four children from the different corners of the globe into his castle while they sleep, there to exchange the tales they know from their own cultures, to see if between them they can piece together the elusive missing story. For if he cannot track it down and install it in his memory, the whole facade of the castle will crumble and fall, and the Story Giant himself will die. And if he does, so will all the stories, and the world will be a poorer, duller, grimmer place. Fifty tales are told within this magical framework in Brian Patten''s inimitable style -- from Bruh Rabbit to the tale of how St George killed the Dragon (except it wasn''t St George -- it was his mother, with a pudding... ) but none of them are the missing tale. The ca

Of all the poets writing today, Brian Patten is perhaps the most accessible and popular. Now his love poems, old and new, are collected together in his single volume.

Roger McGough and Brian Patten have selected the very best of their animal poems in order to help two loveable monsters from outer space who visit Earth in search of a pet and need a bit of guidance...Split into sections, the monsters are introduced to animals that fly, swim, crawl and purr by two of our greatest childrens poets. Illustrated in Guy Parker-Rees'' lively and intimitable style.

Imaginative, poetic retellings of the well-known fables by Aesop. Some given an unexpected twist, others are the author''s own creations, follwing the fable precedent.

A selection of Brian Patten''s best work over the last forty-five years, chosen by the poet himself. The earliest of these poems, ''Sleep Now'', was written when Patten was fifteen, the latest when he was sixty. Presented in rough chronological order, the selection includes a dozen new poems.

''The Mersey Sound is an attempt to introduce contemporary poetry to the general reader by publishing representative work by each of three modern poets in a single volume, in each case the selection has been made to illustrate the poet''s characteristics in style and form''. With this modest brief, The Mersey Sound was conceived and first published in 1967. An anthology which features Roger McGough''s work, alongside that of Brian Patten and Adrian Henri (The Liverpool Poets), it went on to sell over half a million copies and to become the bestselling poetry anthology of all time.

A collection of eighty-four mostly humorous poems including "Cousin Lesley''s See-Through Stomach" and "The Silly Siposark."

Mr. Moon searches for a figure that he saw jump from a bridge. While some say it was a small child or man, he believes it was a leprechaun.

Ben Norm and his sister Mary take care over their appearance. They like to look good, while fitting in with the rest of the kids at school. But their parents are impossible Dad has a scruffy ponytail and a nosering and Mum is a belly dancer who wears a fishnet bodystocking. Why can''t they be respectable like other kids'' parents? And how can they be stopped from totally mortifying Ben and Mary at Parents'' Day? But, when the big day arrives, there are surprises in store for everyone

A baby blown out of an upstairs window by a WWII bomb lives to hear others tell the tale… A woman embarks on a long-term obsession with a city landmark, abandoning her lover for the Liver… A bricklayer working on the foundations of a never-built cathedral becomes its evangelist, its full splendour soaring only in his mind… Bringing together fiction from some of the city’s most celebrated writers, The Book of Liverpool traces the unique contours that decades of social and economic change can impress on a city. Set against key historical moments from the Second World War to the Capital of Culture year, these stories question what ‘belonging’ and ‘home’ mean in the Liverpudlian context, from the regenerated city centre to satellite suburbs, from the sparring cathedrals to the no-go concrete housing estates. Liverpool emerges in these short stories as a city in constant flux: haunted by ghosts, buoyed up by myths, and shifting with an ebb and flow like the Mersey itself. "A literary gem that will share a niche in my library with M.R. James and E. F. Benson..." - Metapsychology online Read review. "Words thrive here, carried on the saline breeze of the Mersey and twisted round agile tongues into sentences as resilient as the sandstone blocks in the Town Hall walls..." - The Liverpool Daily Post, 11 Jul 08 Read review.

In this collection Patten reveals a more serious poet than his comic writing for children or his involvement with public performance first suggests. Brian Patten wrote Gargling with Jelly and Mr Moon''s Last Case which won The Mystery Writers of America Guild award.

"I nibbled a mother, But wanting something new I boiled a bit of Granny And tried some Uncle-stew. I did not eat the baby, That was out of the question. (And anyway they wriggle And cause indigestion.) Ever joined a Giant''s family dinner, kept a pet wig, thawed a frozen frog or snaffled a giraffe? Thawing Frozen Frogs is a brilliantly inventive collection from one of the UK''s top performance poets, including a wide range of poems that showcase Brian Patten''s wit, slapstick humour, wisdom and sensitivity - and his poetry''s huge appeal to children of all ages. Perfect for reading at school or at home, out loud or by yourself. Illustrated with Chris Riddell''s funny and illuminating line drawings.

A very small mouse sets out to find something special―the biggest creature in the world. Along her journey, she meets a menagerie of animals who want to join her in her quest, including a frog, a badger, and a tiger. She visits lakes, rivers, woods, and even climbs a mountain and stops by a zoo. Finally, she arrives at the ocean. Will she finally find the biggest animal of all? From the world-renowned team of author Brian Patten and illustrator Nicola Bayley, this gentle story is a celebration of the world''s wide variety of living creatures. While the poetic text and cumulative tale treatment pull readers along, the gorgeous colored pencil art will have little ones lost in the wonders of the natural world.

A collection of poetry casting light upon the world we live in, and upon the darker corners of the self. The book tries to make sense of a world which is chaotic with unemployment, in-and-out affairs, street violence, hip vicars and terrorism among many other themes.