Best Selling Books by Ted Hughes

Nine short stories ranging over four decades of the Poet Laureate''s occasional fiction writing.

In this series, a contemporary poet selects and introduces a poet of the past. By their choice of poems and by the personal and critical reactions they express in their prefaces, the editors offer insights into their own work as well as providing an accessible and passionate introduction to some of the greatest poets in our literature.Ted Hughes (1930-98) was born in Yorkshire. His first book, The Hawk in the Rain, was published in 1957. His last collection, Birthday Letters, was published in 1998 and won the Whitbread Book of the Year, the Forward Prize and the T. S. Eliot Prize. He was appointed Poet Laureate in 1984 and appointed to the Order of Merit in 1998.

Mankind for has polluted the seas, lakes and rivers. The Iron Woman has come to take revenge. Lucy understands the Iron Woman''s rage and she too wants to save the water creatures from their painful deaths. But she also wants to save her town from total destruction. She needs help. Who better to call on but Hogarth and the Iron Man . . .? A sequel and companion volume to Ted Hughes'' The Iron Man, this new, child-friendly setting will be treasured by a new generation of readers.

Here are 28 whimsical, lyrical, and robust animal poems from one of the twentieth century''s most celebrated poets. The mole, the cat, the squirrel, the donkey, and others make memorable appearances, accompanied by striking duotone artwork. Acutely observed, accessible, and surprising, this is perfect for children learning to love poetry.

Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster, is tired of being told that she doesn''t exist. In this crackling, lolloping story in verse, Ted Hughes describes how she sets out on the road to London for an audience with the Queen...

Explores the strange and wonderful moon-world. The terrain is fantastic, its creatures both intriguing and grotesque, but all is touched by the Poet Laureate''s moon magic.

In 1984 Ted Hughes was made Poet Laureate. Since then, he has fulfilled his duties by writing a number of poems celebrating important royal occasions. These are major works, calling on the Laureate''s full powers and embodying a complete vision of royalty and nationhood. Rain-Charm for the Duchy collects these poems for the first time. It also contains a section of notes, throwing light on the context and genesis of each poem.

A collection of 144 letters between Hughes and the literary critic Sagar provides insight into the poet''s life and creative process, including his relationship with Sylvia Plath.

Brings together three short pieces written in homage to T.S. Eliot. The three pieces were prompted, in turn, by the unveiling of a plaque, by a reading of The Waste Land in a London theatre, and by a centenary dinner.

Blood Wedding is based upon a newspaper fragment which told of a family vendetta and a bride who ran away with the son of the enemy family. Lorca uses the story to investigate subjects which fascinated him such as desire, repression and ritual.

A collection of prose pieces on literary matters and on writers. Hughes also expresses concerns about education, the environment and education in general.

''Other folks get so well known, And nobody knows about my own,'' Have you met my sister Jane? She''s a great big crow! My Grandpa is an owler and Grandma knits jerseys for wasps! And my other Granny is an octopus... Meet Aunt Flo, Brother Bert and more extraordinary family members in Ted Hughes'' irresistible Meet My Folks, his first book for children, illustrated beautifully by George Adamson.

In "The Mermaid''s Purse, Ted Hughes explores the ocean. From starfish and seagulls to mermaids and monsters, 28 poems capture the beauty, drama, and mystery of the sea and the seashore. Here is the ghostly cormorant: "Drowned fishermen come back/As famished cormorants/With bare and freezing webby toes/Instead of boots and pants." The strange and comical flounder: "The flounder sees/Through crooked eyes./Through crooked lips/The flounder cries." And the mermaid herself: "Call her a fish, /Call her a girl./Call her the pearl/Of an oyster fresh/On its pearly dish." By turns lyrical, whimsical, and robust, "The Mermaid''s Purse showcases the distinctive voice and appreciation of the natural world that made Ted Hughes among the most respected of late-20th-century poets. Made doubly accessible by Flora McDonnell''s distinctive black-and-white art, this sea-themed collection will delight children and be welcomed by educators.

In this series, a contemporary poet advocates a poet of the past or present whom they have particularly admired. By their selection of verses and by the personal and critical reactions they express, the selectors offer intriguing insight into their own work.

Sylvia Plath is one of the defining voices in twentieth-century poetry. This classic selection of her work, made by her former husband Ted Hughes, provides the perfect introduction to this most influential of poets. The poems are taken from Sylvia Plath''s four collections Ariel, The Colossus, Crossing the Water and Winter Trees, and include many of her most celebrated works, such as ''Daddy'', ''Lady Lazarus'' and ''Wuthering Heights''.

A collection of poems focusing on the central figure of the crow, predatory, mocking and indestructible.

A commentary on the author''s own poem ''Crow''s song about Prospero and Sycorax''.

From Ted Hughes, England''s Poet Laureate, Knopf is proud to present a children''s classic which has been unavailable in the U.S. for many years. First published in 1968, The Iron Giant is a modern fantasy about a massive giant who stalks the earth devouring metal, terrifying farmers and townspeople everywhere. Despite his insatiable hunger, the Iron Giant is quite gentle and good-natured, though the townspeople are too frightened of him to realize it. So they capture him and put him in a scrapyard, where he happily stuffs himself with stoves and bicycles. The people forget about the Iron Giant until a space-bat the size of Australia hovers over the earth, poised to destroy it. Earth needs a hero and only the Iron Giant is big enough and brave enough to do battle with the hideous creature from outer space. With a tractor-eating giant, a menacing space-bat, and a young boy-hero, The Iron Giant is an accessible, early chapter book with plenty of appeal for reluctant readers and budding science fiction and fantasy fans.

Ted Hughes wrote a series of stories for children from the early 1960s through until 1995 about how the world, and the creatures in it, came into being. They are collected here in one volume for the first time. These are richly told tales of sparkling intensity about animals finding their form, and God''s struggle to understand what he has created. Meet the Polar Bear whose obsession with her snowy white fur is so great that she can only live in a landscape surrounded by her own reflection; the Whale, growing in God''s garden beside the carrots; King Leo, who began life because God was hungry for his sausages; poor Parrot''s painful defeat in the marriage song contest at the wedding of Man and Woman; and Sparrow''s heroic battle against the bird-swallowing Black Hole. There are stories here to suit children from four to fourteen, whether for reading aloud or alone.