Stories about little creatures

Just before Christmas, we went to our lovely friends for a wonderful dinner, and of course, the subject of books came up, and I admitted that I had never read "The Wind in the Willows" (well I had, but in school, where you go round the class with everyone reading one paragraph at a time...tortuous!). Our hosts urged me to give it a try, and I am so delighted that I did. What a wonderful book, written by Kenneth Graham, and illustrated by Arthur Rackham (whose work I adore). I also like EH Shepherd who illustrated Wind in the Willows and Winnie the Pooh. AA Milne wrote the foreword to the The Wind in the Willows, and it was beautiful! The stories in this book are marvellous, such a delight to read, and with such fantastic adventures! The image of Toad in a dress was one of my favourites! I love this book, and it has been added to my treasure list. I loved all the descriptions of each of their homes, and couldn't decide which one I would want to stay in. They all had some magic to them. The characters were wonderful; again, I don't know who is my favourite - kindly Ratty, wise Badger, bold Toad, or curious Mole. But it is a book, I shall keep on going back to, and I am so happy I was encouraged to try again.

It actually prompted me to read another children's book, one which I adored, but sadly lost my first copy, but amazingly found another copy in my adult years! The book is "The Forest of Boland Light Railway", written by BB, also known as Denys Watkins-Pitchford, who was an English naturalist and artist, who not only wrote his books, but also drew the illustrations, which are gorgeous! So, this book is about a clever gnome who invents the steam engine to help the other gnomes get to and from the mines where they work, and have day trips. There is so much detail about the flowers and the lives of these little people. It is magical, and I am so happy that I have come back to it again. (it is now out of print, which is why I don't have a link for it - you can get it, but it is very expensive). Keep an eye out though.

If you can't get that one, you can still get some of BB's other books, so I also read "The Little Grey Men", which was about two gnomes who decide to sail up the river to look for their brother who never came home after sailing away on an adventure. In both of these books, the names of the gnomes are brilliant: Cloudberry, Dodder, Sneezewort....so creative! With the help of their animal and bird friends, they sail off in a paddle boat of their own ingenious creation, and have lots of adventures. It gets a little bit dark in places, but it all ends up right in the end. This book is easily available, and a really wonderful, and creative read. I am just reading an Agatha Christie at the moment, and then I have the sequel to this book lined up to follow! I am loving my evenings reading in front of the fire, with my cat sitting on my lap!

Bambert's book of missing stories by Reinhardt Jung

I fell up on this book, quite by accident, in the The Cook Book St Just, a treasure trove of second hand books. I have never heard of Reinhardt Jung, an Austrian author, before, but the story was translated by Anthea Bell, and I am a huge fan of hers, as she translates all the Asterix books, which I have loved since childhood.

Bambert's book of missing stories is about a writer who lives on his own, in the attic above a grocer's shop. Bambert is vulnerable, not able to be very active because of the pain he suffers, so he stays at home and writes stories, while the grocer makes sure that he gets everything that he needs. Bambert likes to sit and talk to the moon at night, and he has written a book called the Book of Wishes, which is made up of 11 stories. He decides to send them out, via balloon, into the world to see where they will land, and he asked the finders to return them to him, telling him where the stories have landed. Those locations then become the settings for those stories. Story titles include:

• The Waxworks Cabinet - the story of a boy who was rewarded by the waxworks he cleaned up. This was one of my favourites.
• The Strange Game - so moving as it was about a child living in Sarajevo during the war.
• The Flight of the Dolls from Paris - a mysterious story about a little girl who found lots of doll parts on the beach.
• Red Stocking, Black Coat - a story of a child living in a village ruled by a greedy count, and how the boy used cunning to make sure he was fed. It reminded me of an Aesop's fable.

This book is aimed at children, but the stories can be enjoyed by all. They are beautiful, and magical, some sad, but all hopeful, thought-provoking, and full of wisdom. I loved this book. It feel's like a treasure, and reminds me of other books, particularly Michael Ende's Neverending Story, or The Little Prince. Stefan Zweig, another favourite author of mine, is also Austrian. I love Austria, so it is a wonderful surprise to discover they have such fabulous authors. If you can recommend any more, please let me know!