Maid Marian and Her Merry Men They Came from Outer Space; Driving Ambition
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Cover Story
On the front of BfK for March is the cover of The War of Jenkins' Ear by Michael Morpurgo - who is the subject of this month's Authorgraph. The artwork is by Anthony Kerins and we are grateful to Reed Children's Books for their help in using this illustration.
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Send to friendMaid Marian and Her Merry Men They Came from Outer Space
Illustrated by Paul Cemmick
Driving Ambition
Illustrated by Paul Cemmick
These books are produced in conjunction with the current BBC children's TV series. They reflect Tony Robinson's irreverent sense of fun: children will love the 'no holds barred' approach. The humour is a mixture of ripely corny jokes, heavy-handed word plays and slapstick situations.
There's ample amusement for the less able reader and some of the ambitious jokes - verbal and visual - will stimulate the more competent. Paul Cemmick's manic illustrations perfectly capture the breathless pace of the narrative and each page is alive with asides to delight the observant reader.
One criticism - the humour in the text occasionally becomes self-conscious: beyond the scope of children and artily 'clever'. For example, a character has a bright idea which is represented by a light bulb - but it bears the legend 'anachronistic cartoon cliche'. Why spoil the ship...?
