The Brownies in Hospital ¦ Cubs with a Difference
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Cover Story
On our cover this month we feature an illustration from The Swineherd, a picture book version of the Andersen fairy tale by artist Lisbeth Zwerger. (Neugebauer Press, 0 907234 127, £3.95 from A. and C. Black). We are grateful to A. and C. Black for help in using this illustration. The roundel used on the Hans Andersen pages is from the wood engraving by Gwen Raverat for Four Tales, translated by R. P. Keigwin, C.U.P. (1935). It and the Punch cartoon on page 16 appear in Brian Alderson's pamphlet Hans Christian Andersen and his Eventyr in England.
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The Brownies in Hospital
Cubs with a Difference
Both these writers overcome the most difficult parts of plotting (bringing the characters together and giving them a shared lore and language) by setting the stories in contexts where roles are well-defined and grown-ups expectations are clear.
In The Brownies story, Tracy learns to make the best of things (even though she's broken her leg and has to miss the Pack holiday). Fortitude wins through. In Cubs ... Snowy, who's a perfect Cub and gets it all right first time, is contrasted with Nobby who's the Pack clown.
Both have a sense of fun, but there's a didactic tone - and they're rather 'adults' 'eye views' of children. But I know one or two readers of nine or ten who'll enjoy them on the way to more stirring things.
