Tales of Little Grey Rabbit ¦ Tales of Little Brown Mouse

Handsome editions of these two collections of these beautiful classic stories. The tales in Little Grey Rabbit were amongst the first that the author ever wrote for children - in the thirties, I wish that this collection could have included a foreword the writer put in my early childhood edition, then modern children would have learned that ' ... the country ways of Grey Rabbit were the country ways known to the author'. But I think the young will still hear the strong voice of a writer who drew on her own childhood. The tales still work on the level of 'what happens next'. The characters live as freshly as ever: the practical Grey Rabbit; the boastful Hare; the timid Squirrel; the Wise Owl.

The Tales of Little Brown Mouse came much later in Alison Uttley's output - in the fifties. If anything, the descriptive language is more vivid. Read the first page of the first story to see how a writer first creates a place for her readers (and listeners) to be. The splendid upwardly-mobile characters provide as much pleasure as ever.

These editions are visually appealing, with delightful covers. The gifted modern illustrator has been generous in not veering too far from Tempest's originals, yet brining her own idiosyncratic touches to the creatures and places. The freshness of the pictures heightens the vigour of the language. Copies please of the bookshop.