Elsie Piddock Skips in Her Sleep - Hardcover

Eleanor Farjeon (1881–1965) was one of the most important children’s writers of the twentieth century. In 1956 her achievements were acknowledged with the award of both the Carnegie Medal and the Hans Christian Andersen Medal.

Charlotte Voake is the author-illustrator of many picture books, including Say It!, Melissa’s Octopus and Other Unsuitable Pets, Tweedle Dee Dee, and the acclaimed Ginger. She lives in Surrey, England.

Kindergarten-Grade 3-Farjeon's story, originally published in her collection Martin Pippin in the Daisy-Field (Lippincott, 1937), makes a lovely picture book. Elsie Piddock is a remarkable child, a born skipper. Andy-Spandy, the fairies' Skipping Master, bestows her with a magic skipping rope. As years pass, Elsie Piddock's name becomes just a legend around Mount Caburn, until an evil Lord threatens the skipping grounds and she returns, a lady of 109, to save the day with her magical skipping. First republished with Voake's illustrations in 1997, that edition had a small trim size and 61 pages, making it just right for independent readers. The artist has created new illustrations for this edition, in watercolor and ink. Emphasizing the green in her pastel palette and using sketchy lines and broad strokes, she captures the fairy-tale English countryside and its inhabitants in spot art or full-spread compositions. Though long, this edition is the perfect format for family reading. For those too young for Harry Potter, Elsie Piddock's heroism makes a far more enchanting tale.
Nina Lindsay, Oakland Public Library, CA
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