Tiger, Tom & Tinkle

David Wood has an unparalleled record for transforming children’s stories into excellent stage versions, and in this book he reproduces his extensive correspondence with Judith Kerr and Philippa Pearce leading up to the successful staging of their two masterpieces, The Tiger who Came to Tea and Tom’s Midnight Garden in that order.  There were also plans for bringing Kathleen Hale’s Orlando picture books onto the stage but this project never came off. In all cases Wood quotes voluminously from the unfailingly kind and sensitive letters he wrote to all three, by that time all quite elderly themselves and appreciative of this extra turn in their distinguished careers.

And that’s just about it. There are some nice photos of all three ladies, along with shots of those plays that did reach the stage. Some scratchy handwriting is also reproduced plus a few quick sketches. In their answers to Wood’s letters Judith Kerr comes over as charming and gracious as ever, Philippa Pearce remains benevolently sharp and to the point and Kathleen Hale still issues poignant reminders of the bohemian life she had once so enjoyed. Fans of these three wonderful women will not want to miss the extra bonus offered by these further glimpses into their professional and daily lives, and there is plenty of personal detail here well worth recording. But the matter at hand – the day-to-day problems and issues turning prose and pictures into plays – is ultimately of more limited interest to all but the most stage-struck readers.