Tomcat Takes a Walk
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Cover Story
This issue’s cover is from the gift edition of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory illustrated by Quentin Blake and with design and typography by Peter Campbell. The successful collaboration between Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake has played an important part in the popularity of Dahl’s work over the last fifteen years. Blake’s unmistakable artwork truly complements Dahl’s writing. His economical, amiable, illustrative style balances out Dahl’s often expansive language. And the liveliness, humour and pathos of the drawings offer a softer side to Dahl’s sometimes gloriously grotesque, sometimes cruel descriptions of his characters.
Thanks to Penguin Children’s Books for their help in producing this July cover which commemorates the thirty years anniversary of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’s first UK publication.
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Tomcat Takes a Walk
When Taffy goes to stay with a friend for a week, Tomcat takes the opportunity to explore his village, hitching a ride in a walker's rucksack, and stowing away in the fisherman's van one day and the post van the next. On other days he falls in the river, causes consternation at the school and rushes off with the biggest fish at the fishing competition. A gentle tale for preschoolers with bright picture strips that are reminiscent of Sarah Garland in their grasp of domestic detail. But what a curious National Trust shop world Unwin shows us, complete with steam engine and painted canal barges, where everyone smiles even in the rain and the supporting cast includes too many Mr and Mrs stereotypes. The only people who look harassed (some concession to realism or just the usual caricature?) are the teachers in the village school.
