Terror for the REALLY small-Willo The Wisp

[coral]

Craig, this is the sequel to the Weirdstone that mr Rog was telling us about :

The Moon of Gomrath.



Copyrighted by Alan Garner in 1963. This edition published by Collins in 1981.

" Had Colin and Susan known that the Moon of Gomrath is the time of the year at which the Old Magic is most likely to be aroused, they would never have lit a fire on the Beacon, but when they find their blaze is giving off no heat, it is only the last in a sereies of eerie discoveries. For already Susan has suffered strangely at the hands of a black and formless evil in the old quarry, and rumour has it that the hideous Morrigan, too, hjas left her haunts in the bleak northern wastes to bring death and destruction to pleasanter lands..."

I think this is illustrated by Charles Green.

Elidor has many illustrations, but in my copy there is no clue as to the person who drew them.


As for the Moomins, I have been reading and re-reading them for 35 years now. You could give one a try, you might enjoy it as an adult as you would have done as a child.

[Johnlprobert]

I see that the original ITV version of Alan Garner's 'The Owl Service' is coming out at the end of the month on DVD

[Craig Herbertson]

Pretty sure I read that. I have a little golden key book somewhere from him, at the bottom of a the office

[Calenture]

Apr 8, 2008 19:58:25 GMT coral said:

Elidor has many illustrations, but in my copy there is no clue as to the person who drew them.

Welcome back from hospital, Coral. Hospitals are so dirty now, that you're probably safer at home. But take it easy, huh?

To celebrate your return:

Cover and illustrations by Charles Keeping

My Puffin edition is illustrated by Keeping, I don't know about other editions. But I have noticed that although covers often change, books frequently retain the same illustrations - e.g., Pauline Baynes' illustrations for The Narna Chronicles.

Alan Garner (leaning against the pillar) with the cast of Granada TV's The Owl Service from the back cover of the Peacock 1969 edition.

And the front cover of that 1969 Peacock Owl Service. Gillian Hills as Alison, Francis Wallis as Roger (remember his shorts? ) and Michael Holden as Gwyn.

[sean]

I remember loving 'Elidor' as a kid, as well as 'The Weirdstone...', 'The Moon of Gomrath' and 'The Owl Service'. Haven't picked them up for donkeys years though. Maybe I should.

[coral]

Ah, proper covers! Thank you indeed mr Rog. I just don't see them in even in the second hand shops these days. Sadly i don't have the same copies I had as a child, and I will admit I don't actually like the new ones where the children look real and wear Parkas!

[coral]

Gobbolino The Witch's Cat.


Copyrighted by Ursula Moray Williams in 1942, and first printed in 1942 by Harrap. This edition published by Puffin in 1985.

"The trouble with Gobbolino was that he had blue eyes and one white paw, so he didn't want to be a witch's cat. He wanted to be a kitchen cat, and sit by the fire and sing like a kettle on the hob, to keep down the mice and mind the baby, and sit in his mistress's lap.
His mother Grimalkin didn't like him because he wasn't wicked, but all the other homes he went to mistrusted him....But after all, that proved the best thing that could have happened to him, for he found his sister Sootica, and she was a true witch's cat so she could help him get his heart's desire..."

The book is also illustrated with marvellous line drawings by the author herself,

[valdemar]

The talk of 'The Clangers' makes me think of another 'Smallfilms' title, viz. 'Pogles Wood'. An episode of this, featuring a particularly malignant witch, was removed from TV after one showing, and a lot of complaints. I have seen it, and it sets the ideas of 'What were they thinking of?' running through your mind. It's really dark. Another 'Smallfilms' offering was the deliciously dark 'Noggin The Nog', beautifully made and executed, but way, way too grim for the tinies.[Beowulf for beginners?]. My brother, who is over 40, still doesn't like it. It scared the bejesus out of him when he was a kid. 'Captain Pugwash' I always found strangely creepy, as was the generally sweet 'Mary, Mungo & Midge'. Creepiest of all, though, was the generally forgotten 'Sir Prancealot', another cardmation show. One episode had the Germanic bad guy with an anachronistic atomic reactor, I seem to recall. I think it was the shifty eyes of the characters. And don't get me started on 'The Hemulin' from Moomintroll, or the weird 'Twiggy' character from the 1970's 'Rupert The Bear' programme - both of which kept me looking under my brother's bed for years to reassure him that they weren't hiding there!