This whimsical collection of tales is based on the Buddhist collection of Jātaka tales. However, the author confesses to ‘ruthlessly’ altering them for the amusement of children and occasionally borrowing a ‘phrase or a versicle’. He opens the book with a warning; “To this work I refer all scholars, folklorists and scientific persons generally: warning them that if they plunge deeper into these page, they will be horribly shocked.” These wonderful tales are accompanied by many beautiful and intricate black and white illustrations by W. Heath Robinson. An English cartoonist and illustrator, best known for drawings of ridiculously complicated machines – for achieving deceptively simple objectives. Such was (and is) his fame, that the term ‘Heath Robinson’ entered the English language during the First World War, as a description of any unnecessarily complex and implausible contrivance. Originally published in 1897, we are now republishing it here as part of our ‘Pook Press’ imprint, celebrating the golden age of illustration in children’s literature.

This enchanting volume is a new collection of W. Heath Robinson’s fantastical fairy tale art and children’s book illustrations, produced across a 50-year career during the Golden Age of Illustration. “Your absurd, beautiful drawings . . . give me a particular pleasure of the mind like nothing else in the world” —H. G. Wells, 1914 In honour of W. Heath Robinson’s 150th birthday, this brand new collection features the pioneering artist’s classic fairy tale illustrations. This carefully curated volume presents 100 black and white illustrations and 54 full-colour fairy tale artworks. Each image is presented as a full-page plate and is accompanied by its original caption and publication details. The artist is much-loved for his innovative cartoons of bizarre machinery, and his fairy tale work also displays elements of the fantastical. Robinson’s children’s drawings juxtapose his machinery cartoons. His fairy tale illustrations veer away from the absurd and explore themes of magic and romanticism. The contents of this fairy tale treasury include illustrations from some of the most-adored children's storybooks such as: The Giant Crab (1897), Arabian Nights (1899), The Adventures of Uncle Lubin (1902), Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales (1913), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1914) and many more. Proudly published in a new collection by Pook Press, these wonderful Golden Age illustrations have been collated in a celebration of Robinson’s timeless work. This beautiful volume is not to be missed by fans of W. Heath Robinson and is the perfect gift for fairy tale lovers.

This is the first collection by W. H. D. Rouse of 28 charming folk tales from India. The book is illustrated with 51 pen and ink drawings by – W. Heath Robinson, who is more famous for his illustrations of elaborate machines than he is for illustrations of children’s books. Herein you will find stories like: The Giant Crab, The Hypocritical Cat, The Crocodile And The Monkey, The Wise Parrot And The Foolish Parrot The Dishonest Friend The Mouse And The Farmer The Talkative Tortoise The Goblin And The Sneeze The Foolish Farmer And The King The Pious Wolf Birds Of A Feather The King’s Lesson; plus many, many more. Be sure to check out “The Giant Crab Children's Colouring Book” in which all 51 images can be found. Instead of being a single-use colouring book, this book is multi-use allowing you print, and reprint images, as much as you, and your children, like. It can be downloaded at https://goo.gl/2aB9R1 But be warned, this book was compiled in a time long before political correctness had been thought of, and the stories are from well before this time as well. These stories were told to teach children the consequences of behaving well or breaking the law. While not all those who broke the law paid the ultimate price, some did, but most got off with a warning after being found out. =========== KEYWORDS/TAGS: Giant Crab, India, folklore, fairy tales, W H D Rouse, old India, illustrations, Heath Robinson, Giant Crab, Other Stories, Hypocritical Cat, Crocodile and the Monkey, Axe, the Drum the Bowl and the Diamond, Wise Parrot and the Foolish Parrot, Dishonest Friend, Mouse and the Farmer, Talkative Tortoise, Monkeys and the Gardener, Goblin, Sneeze, Grateful Beasts, Ungrateful Prince, Goblin in the Pool, Foolish Farmer, King, Pious Wolf, Birds of a Feather, Spend a Pound, Win a Penny, Cunning Crane, Giant Crab, Union is Strength, Silence is Golden, Great Yellow King, Porter, Quail, Falcon, Pride, Fall, Bold Beggar, Jackal Would A-Wooing Go, Lion, Boar, Goblin City, Lacknose, King’s Lesson

A fascinating, richly illustrated exploration of the poignant origins of Rudyard Kipling’s world-famous children’s classic From "How the Leopard Got Its Spots" to "The Elephant’s Child," Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories have delighted readers across the world for more than a century. In this original study, John Batchelor explores the artistry with which Kipling created the Just So Stories, using each tale as an entry point into the writer’s life and work—including the tragedy that shadows much of the volume, the death of his daughter Josephine. Batchelor details the playful challenges the stories made to contemporary society. In his stories Kipling played with biblical and other stories of creation and imagined fantastical tales of animals' development and man's discovery of literacy. Richly illustrated with original drawings and family photographs, this account reveals Kipling’s public and private lives—and sheds new light on a much-loved and tremendously influential classic.

The first full-scale treatment of Robinson's early output, this anthology features more than 100 images from fairy tales, children's literature, and works by Shakespeare, Kipling, and Poe, many in full glorious color.

The purpose behind this book is not only to give children a lot of enjoyment by freely splashing colour on a page, but also to introduce them to one of the UK’s best known illustrators – W. Heath Robinson, who is more famous for his illustrations of elaborate machines than he is for illustrations of children’s books. Herein you will find 51 illustrations he made for the book of old Indian tales titled The Giant Crab. Then, you may ask “Why is this an eBook and not a paperback?” The answer is quite simple. Instead of colouring in a picture once and then throwing away the book when fully used, with this ebook you will be able to print off as many of the 51 images as you like, and as often as you like, ad infinitum. In this book children are encouraged to fill in the white spaces on the 51 images. At the rear we have provided a few blank templates which children can use to create their own images which can be printed off time and again. A few of the original images, now over 120 years old, were quite small when digitised resulting in blurred outlines when they were enlarged. Where this has occurred we have endeavoured to use just about every trick in the digital graphics book to retain the integrity of the outlines. All pages have been created to A4 size, which is 29.7cm x 21cm or 8.27” x 11.69”.The closest American size is Size A or 8.5” x 11.0”. William Heath Robinson (31 May 1872 – 13 September 1944) was an English cartoonist and illustrator best known for drawings of ridiculously complicated machines designed for achieving simple objectives. Unfortunately, it is for his exquisite children’s illustrations, which feature in this book, that he is less well known. In the UK, the term "Heath Robinson" entered the popular vernacular during the 1914–1918 Great War as a description of any unnecessarily complex and implausible contrivance, much as "Rube Goldberg machines" came to be used in the US from the 1920s onwards as a term for similar designs.

Herein are 29 uniquely Finnish children’s stories and fairy tales retold by Parker Fillmore and illustrated by Jay van Everen. Stories like The True Bride, The Three Chests, Log, The Little Sister, The Forest Bride, The Enchanted Grouse, The Terrible Olli, The Devil’s Hide and, of course, The Mighty Mikko himself. In case you’re wondering, Mikko is a fox. These stories are dramatic and picturesque, and even though they have been translated into English, are told with a wealth of charming detail which is essentially Finnish. The Three Chests, so characteristic in feeling of a country famous for its lakes and marshes, is the variant of a German story which Grimm gives as Fitcher’s Bird. Of The Forest Bride, there are variants in the folklore of many lands. Even so these stories have all been indelibly stamped with the Finnish culture. In addition to the 13 Finnish Folk and Fairy Tales ther are a further 16 adventures of Mikko with his forest friends Osmo, the Bear and Pekka, the Wolf. The Mikko stories are akin to the North American stories of Coyote, the Southern African stories of Jackal and the French tales of Reynard the Fox. These animal stories have been used to teach children morals and the stories of life. It would be untrue to pretend that these stories are not full of local color. So much so that we have taken the black and white illustrations from this book and created The Mighty Mikko Coloring Book. Now you can get your hands on the stories AND the children’s activity book so that small children, and big children can add their interpretation of the color the story has. The coloring book is on sale in most online bookstores under ISBN: 9788826482224. Just type this ISBN in the search line and click GO! NOTE: For English readers, liberty has been taken with the spelling of some Finnish words and names. For example: Syöjätär has been transliterated into Suyettar etc.