'BB' Watkins-Pitchford
CHILDREN'S BOOKS
BB was a prolific and successful writer and illustrator of children's books, his crowning achievement being The Little Grey Men, the story of the adventures of the last four gnomes in England, which won the prestigious Carnegie Medal in 1942.
The seeds of the idea for The Little Grey Men were sown when, as a small child, BB saw 'a diminutive being.3 It had a round, very red, bearded face about the size of a small crab apple. It wasn't a dream I can still see the little red astonished face.'
In later years, as a child alone (he was sickly and educated at home) BB explored the countryside around his home and created a mind set of the adventures of the gnomes, Dodder, Baldmoney, Cloudberry and Sneezewort and their life along the Folly Brook.
In 1944, Brendon Chase, a stirring tale of three runaway schoolboys living in a forest, like Robin Hood and his merry men, confirmed BB as an established writer of children's fiction.
In 1946, Down the Bright Stream, the follow-up to The Little Grey Men appeared, and in the same year, BB's Fairy Book: Meeting Hill. This book relates the magical experiences of two children, Peter and Johanna, and contains extracts from classic fairy stories, It also includes fifteen exquisite colour plates by BB's alter ego Denys Watkins-Pitchford.
Between 1953 and 1958, BB concentrated on children's titles, producing The Forest of Boland Light Railway (1955) yet another story of gnomes; Monty Wood pig's Caravan; Monty Wood pig and his Bubblebuzz Car, Ben the Bullfinch, Alexander and Mr Bumstead, the story of a spaniel with a gift for getting into scrapes.
In the 'sixties BB continued his prolific output of children's titles, most notably the Bill Badger series, in which Uncle Bill and Izzybizzy, his hedgehog friend, sail countless miles up and down the canals in their barge The Wandering Wind.
Nine Bill Badger books (delightfully illustrated by Denys Watkins-Pitchford) appeared between 1957 and 1969, and earned BB an international reputation - and some worthwhile royalties! - even as far afield as Japan. In 1975 Methuen published BB's last children's title, The Lord of the Forest, the story of a mighty oak, tracing its growth through 600 years of British history.
TITLES
The Little Grey Men: A Story for the Young in Heart (1942)
Brendon Chase (1944)
Down the Bright Stream (1948)
The Little Grey Men Go Down the Bright Stream (1977)
BB's Fairy Book: Meeting Hill (1948)
The Wind in the Wood (1952)
The Forest of Boland Light Railway (1955)
Monty Woodpig's Caravan (1957)
Ben the Bullfinch (1957)
Wandering Wind (1957)
Alexander (1958)
Monty Woodpig and His Bubblebuzz Car (1958)
MrBumstead (1958)
The Wizard of Boland (1959)
Bill Badger's Winter Cruise (1959)
Bill Badger and the Pirates (1960)
Bill Badger's Finest Hour (1961)
The Badgers of Bearshanks (1961)
Bill Badger's Whispering Reeds Adventure (1962)
Lepus the Brown Hare (1962)
Bill Badger's Big Mistake (1963)
Bill Badger and the Big Store Robbery (1967)
The Whopper (Ernest Benn, 1967)
At the Back O'Ben Dee (1968)
Bill Badger's Voyage to the World's End (1969)
The Tyger Tray (1971)
The Pool of the Black Witch (1974)
Lord of the Forest (1975)
'BB' Home Page
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Swaggie
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130's rule
Originally Posted by rovercare
WOW, that was a waste of my 3000th post
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