Results of search for [Jan Mark]

Jan Mark illustrated by Tony Ross
King John and the Abbot
Barrington Stoke (54 pages) 9781842993859
This publisher specialises in books for readers with difficulties by commissioning books from high-quality writers and by being quite precise as to the demands of words and language. Here is a Robin Hood story from one of the most brilliant of writers for the young which adapts a traditional tale into a plain, straightforward retelling without the slightest hint of condescension. Along the way it is also very amusing: '… King John. He's the baddy. Boo! Hiss!' The Abbot has to solve three riddles posed by the King. Jack Shepherd takes on the task wearing the Abbot's hooded robe as a disguise. The final riddle is 'What am I thinking?' Jack says that the King is thinking that he is the Abbot, but it's Jack - all solved, situation rescued. This is certainly not second-rate reading practice. There is good print on cream paper and Tony Ross's drawings add an additional flourish to a high-quality book.

Jan Mark illustrated by Richard Holland
The Museum Book
Walker (53 pages) 9781844287499
'Wonderful and eccentric', says the back cover and this blurb is quite exact. Collage or montage illustrations with an amalgam of objects in the style of old engravings are placed throughout the book. Just a few pages in and the top half of the double pages has a steam engine, four poster bed, totem pole, Viking ship, pillars and more - there's even one of those thingummyjigs! The text positively dances around with the multiplicity of objects a museum might display from one room, one theme or period, to the next. Some things are backed up with more information, others are revisited and extended in later pages, with everything fully indulging in the wonders of the treasures and riches on view. The story of one museum, the Ashmolean, emerges but the application is to any and every collection on public display. There's lots to absorb and engross the attention here and this book will certainly appeal to the mindset that wallows in the sort of odd, quirky, eccentric appearance of this book.