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Find out moreWalter de la Mare (1873-1956) was born in Charlton, Kent. In 1890, aged sixteen, he began work in the statistics department of the London office of Anglo-American Oil. In 1907 he published his first collection of poems under the pseudonym Walter Ramal, but he soon established a wide popular reputation in his own name as a leading poet of the Georgian period with volumes like The Listeners (1912), Motley (1918) and The Veil (1921). He also wrote poetry and short stories for younger readers; Peacock Pie (1913), a collection of poems for children, is now considered a twentieth-century classic.
A Julia Eccleshare Pick of the Month April 2017 | “Slowly, silently now the moon/ Walks the night/ in her silver shoon;” Walter de la mare’s much loved-poem is beautifully brought to life in gentle illustrations that portray the moon as a cat and playfully reveal the creatures and the children that get caught up in the amazing moonshine. ~ Julia Eccleshare Julia Eccleshare's Picks of the Month for April 2017 The Giant Jumperee by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury Grandapa Green by Lane Smith I'm Going to Eat This Ant by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros Lots: The Diversity of Life on Earth by Nicola Davies Mrs Mole, I'm Home! by Jarvis Silver by Walter de la Mare
The sandy cat by the Farmer's chair Mews at his knee for dainty fare; Old Rover in his moss-greened house Mumbles a bone, and barks at a mouse. This enchanting picture book celebrates the wonderful poetry of Walter de La Mare as illustrator Carolina Rabei brings his poem Summer Evening beautifully alive. One of four books that form a seasonal set, Summer Evening will delightfully invoke the sights and sounds of summer, whatever the weather, for both you and your little one.
This is the second of Walter de la Mare’s poems to be turned into a picture book by Carolina Rabei and her illustrations provide a rich setting. It’s Hallowe’en and ‘Up on their brooms the Witches stream/Crooked and black in the crescent’s gleam’. Sure enough, a line of witches race across the night sky on their broomsticks, while down below a party of jolly trick or treaters set out on their own night’s adventure. The two groups mirror one another, and the lines of the poem work equally for both. The night sky is portrayed in wonderful blues and purples, the centre spread in which the witches surge pell-mell down the Milky Way is particularly beautiful. De la Mare guides his witches through the constellations in his poem, and Rabei illustrates them all, the end papers providing readers with a very special chart of the night sky. ~ Andrea Reece
The poems that make up this collection were first published in 1913 but it was not until 1946 that it was published, as it is in this new edition, with Edward Ardizzone’s illustrations. Though de la Mare’s poems describe a variety of subjects, there’s a unity to the collection that makes it read almost like a song-cycle. Ardizzone’s drawings enhance that, making Peacock Pie, in the view of children’s literature expert Brian Alderson, ‘one of the most satisfying children’s books of the twentieth century’. Certainly the poems deserve to be lived with whole, and the drawings – in choice of subject and viewpoint, response to character and setting – are simply perfect. There should be a place for this on every child’s bookshelf. ~ Andrea Reece
This classic poem has been beautifully illustrated to make a wonderfully evocative seasonal picture book. From its opening lines- “No breath of wind,/ No gleam of sun -/ Still the white snow/ Whirls softly down-“ – Walter de la Mare’s poem tells of a family’s preparation for Christmas against the whirling snowflakes that will so magically change the world outside – just in time for the festivities.
This classic poem has been beautifully illustrated to make a wonderfully evocative seasonal picture book. From its opening lines- “No breath of wind,/ No gleam of sun -/ Still the white snow/ Whirls softly down-“ – Walter de la Mare’s poem tells of a family’s preparation for Christmas against the whirling snowflakes that will so magically change the world outside – just in time for the festivities.
