"Cart and Cwidder" by Diana Wynne Jones is the first in the best-selling Dalemark Quartet of books and tells the story of Moril and his brother and sister who are travelling musicians journeying through Dalemark, until one day they pick up a mysterious passenger. Somehow Moril's family and the stranger are becoming bound together in terror, flight, and music|home | contact | prints | Geoff Taylor| pet portraits | exhibitions/ links | special art sale | galleries | All the bookcovers on this page were illustrated by Geoff Taylor
"Carrie's War" by Nina Bawden. Albert, Carrie and young Nick are war-time evacuees whose lives get so tangled up with the people they've come to live among that the war and their real families seem to belong to another world. Carrie and Nick are billeted in Wales with old Mr Evans, who is so mean and cold, and his timid mouse of a sister, Lou, who suddenly starts having secrets. Their friend Albert is luckier, living in Druid's Bottom with warm-hearted Hepzibah Green and the strange Mister Johnny, who can talk to animals but not to human beings. Carrie and Nick visit him there whenever they can for Hepzibah makes life exciting and enticing with her stories and delicious cooking. Gradually they begin to feel more at ease in their war-time home, but then, in trying to heal the rift between Mr Evans and his estranged sister, and save Druid's Bottom, Carrie does a terrible thing which is to haunt her for years to come. Carrie revisits Wales as an adult and tells the story to her own children.
"The Eagle of the Ninth" by Rosemary Sutcliff
Set in Roman Britain this story is of a young Roman officer who sets out to discover the truth behind the mysterious disappearance of the Ninth Legion, who marched into the mists of Northern Britain and never returned. Marcus Aquila is determined to find out what happened to his father and the legion. His venture to find them is seen as a quest so hazardous, noone expects him to return."Dawn Wind" by Rosemary Sutcliff
(A book in the Eagle of the Ninth series)
In the sixth century A.D. the Saxons ruled Southern England. After the great battle of Aquae Sulis, Owain, injured, wakes to find his father and brother killed during the fight. On the battlefield the only other living thing is a lean and hungry dog. This story covers the twelve years following the battle and describes the life and adventures"Warrior Scarlet" by Rosemary Sutcliff
In Bronze Age Britain, Drem must overcome the disability of a crippled arm in order to pass his tribe's test of manhood and become a warrior.
Phaedrus is a Roman gladiator who has won his freedom. By chance, he is also the exact double of Midir, the Horse Lord, lost King of the Dalriad tribe. To rid the Dalriads of the usurping Queen Liadhan, Phaedrus agrees to a daring pretence -- he will impersonate Midir and become the Horse Lord. Knight's Fee is an exciting story of Norman England, which tells how Ranald the servant boy strives to achieve his ambition and become a knight."The High Deeds of Fin Mac Cool"
Based on traditional Irish stories dating back over thopusands of years, Rosemary Sutcliff retells the tales of Finn and the grey dog, of Dearmid and Grania, of Oisin - Finn's son- and all the other high deeds of the brotherhood of the Fianna."Robinson Crusoe" by Daniel Defoe
Robinson Crusoe is one of the most famous adventure stories ever written. The account of a sailor shipwrecked on a desert island for twenty-eight years, it is also a tale of mythic proportions, an allegory, and a spiritual autobiography.Homecoming (The first book in the Tillerman Family series) by Cynthia Voigt
Abandoned by their mother, four children begin a search for a home and an identity.Dicey's Song (The second book in the Tillerman Family series) by Cynthia Voigt
Letting Go
The four Tillerman children finally have a home at their grandmother's rundown farm on the Maryland shore. It's what Dicey has dreamed of for her three younger siblings, but after watching over the others for so long, it's hard to let go. Who is Dicey, if she's no longer the caretaker for her family?
Dicey finds herself in new friends, in a growing relationship with her grandmother, and in the satisfaction of refinishing the old boat she found in the barn. Then, as Dicey experiences the trials and pleasures of making a new life, the past comes back with devastating force, and Dicey learns just how necessary -- and painful -- letting go can be.The Coral Island and the Young Fur Traders by R M Ballantyne
One night, soon after we entered the tropics, an awful storm burst upon our ship. The first squall of wind carried away two of our masts, and left only the foremast standing. There was no room for me upon the lifeboat; but being left behind saved my life -- and the lives of Peterkin and Jack Martin, my two companions. "Come, boys," said Jack Martin in a grave tone as we stood on the quarterdeck awaiting our fate -- "You see it is impossible that the little boat can reach the shore, crowded with men." He had us take hold of a loose oar, and guided us to shelter on a deserted coral isle. . . . . . . and that is the beginning of my harrowing tale.About Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov was the most famous, most honored, most widely read, and most beloved science fiction author of all time. In his five decades as an author, he wrote more than four hundred books, won every award his readers and colleagues could contrive to give him, and provided pleasure and insight to millions.
Isaac Asimov was born in Russia in 1920 and grew up in the USA. His fantastic career as a science fiction writer began in 1939 with the appearence of a short story 'Marooned Off Vesta', in Amazing Stories. He won the Hugo Award four times and the Nebula Award once. With nearly five hundred books to his name and several hundred articles, Asimov's output was prolific by any standards. He died in 1992 at the age of 72.Tangleton by Gordon Ottewell
Two children come to live on the outskirts of a Cotswold village and begin to enjoy the pleasures of country living. But why does the village seem so sad and unloved? And what is the secret of the Hall, that makes it so forbidding? There is plenty of action for 8-11s, as the two young incomers find out.The artwork for the following book titles are for sale
The Daring Detective by Alfred Hitchcock
The Keyword and other Stories by Issac Assimov
"The Spellcoats" by Diana Wynne Jones
"Squib" "Kept in the Dark" and "Carrie's War" by Nina Bawden
The Dark Horse by Marcus Sedgwick
Crazy Games by Sandra Glover
Tales from the Old World by Kevin Crossley-Holland
The Old Stories Kevin Crossley-Holland
Viking by Kevin Crossley-Holland
"Warrior Scarlet" by Rosemary Sutcliff,
"Robinson Crusoe" by Daniel Defoe
"Dawn Wind" by Rosemary Sutcliff
"Robin Hood" by Edward Blishen
Tangleton by Gordon Ottewell
The White Horse Gang by Nina Bawden
Ancient Appetities by Oisin McGann
the internal illustrations from the Cliff McNish Books
are available for to buy - email for details
