Skip to content

Children’s oddities

Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens

J.M. Barry loved children very much; women, not so much, and the fact that these creatures he didn’t understand were the creators and keepers of the little people he loved— and that they were the primary objects of his small friend’s affections— seems to have been a sore spot for him. Thus, Peter Pan, the motherless boy.
This book is a part of a larger novel, and is by way of a Baedeker’s to the playgrounds in Kensington Park. The illustrations are a delight as are his tender and understanding observations of the child he escorts there so often.

Bill the Minder

A Minder, in Bill’s case, is a babysitter, and this story makes it clear that minding babies is not a job for the faint of heart.
Bill minds infants and adults of all stations with skill and aplomb, gathering more and more clients as he travels about on a classically rollicking adventure.
W. Heath Robinson was a master of comic illustration, and I hope I can find more to share by this author.

The Three Mulla-Mulgars

Walter De la Mare’s little gem ends on a cliffhanger, and the writer most likely intended a second volume that never came to fruition. I hope that doesn’t count a a spoiler! The book is a delight in language and characterization, and worth the frustration of the non-ending. I have replaced the illustrations in their original places.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *