New Picture Books - Four Wacky Tales & The Dog Of Edward Aloysius Grey

This Blog has been neglected far too long...

I shall now make amends by telling you all about my latest writing and illustrating Exercise...

Four Wacky Tales – Written and Illustrated by Paul H. Tubb

Out now from Emu Ink comes four tales in one handy collection from the Creative Mind of Comic Poet and Humorous Illustrator Paul H. Tubb…

Each of the four tales are hilarious, illustrated, rhyming stories, that feature odd characters and even odder scenarios.

All four are perfect antidotes to boredom for Children of all ages.

The four tales are:

Ten Princesses – Prince Edwin doesn’t want to be Prince, so he comes up with a plan to change his position, but he needs help to achieve it.

The Dog of Edward Aloysius Grey – Take a trip through the mind of a Crazy Canine. (Also Available in Paperback at the Link Below)

Scaring Jeremiah – An Old man tells scary stories to Children, but there is one Child he’s unable to scare. He wants to scare this Child so much that he comes up with an unorthodox idea to help him… Will it work?

Jeremy Doesn’t Like Jam – Jeremy has to convince his Jam obsessed mother that he doesn’t share her passion for Jam, but she just won’t listen to him. Who will she listen to?

All four narratives are available individually to rent from Emu Ink, or to purchase as an entire collection. Click on a links below for more information.

   

Here is a picture of me with my new paperback version of the Dog of Edward Aloysius Grey

200 Years Since the Birth of Mr Lear

As a practitioner of the art of turning the world upside down using verse and illustrations, it would be churlish and infantile of me, especially during his bicentennial year, not to recognize the Debt I owe to Mr. Edward Lear…

The debt I owe him is not a question of influence, I love reading about the exploits of toeless Pobbles and Cross Species Weddings, but if I’d never had read a single word written by Mr Lear I’d still owe him the debt, for the simple reason that no one is as synonymous with Nonsense Literature, Nonsense Verse and Nonsense pictures as Edward Lear.

Theodore Geisel may have examined life through the wrong end on the telescope, but the telescope was set up and polished by Mr Lear and for this, I am forever grateful…

So this year is 200 years since Edward Lear’s birth and numerous events are in the planning.

There are two wonderful sites dedicated to Lear’s work and other nonsense writings and I would suggest all pop along to take a look. To those unfamiliar with Mr Lear’s work, these sites are great places to become acquainted… The Sites are:

http://nonsenselit.wordpress.com/about/

And

http://leardiaries.wordpress.com/

Events planned for the bicentennial are also listed within the first Blog….

And if you’re wondering what the fuss was about, let the following video point you in the direction of some wonderful Nonsense…

Sherlock Holmes Related Post 2 - House of Silk, Irregulars, Sidney Paget, Holmes related Cartoon

In the world of Modern-Day versions of Sherlock Holmes, Anthony Horowitz’s House of Silk has been pushed into the category of old news, thanks to Messrs Cumberbatch and Downey Jnr’s versions of the Worlds Greatest Detective.
So being a finger-on-the-pulse, up-to-date kind of guy, I’ve decided to write about House of Silk…

I have to be honest, before House of Silk I never read any other Book written by Anthony Horowitz, or watched much Midsomer Murders, so I didn’t know if it was a good fit, although my optimism was put in place by an endorsement of the Conan-Doyle estate… So I was relatively confident I’d enjoy it…

And I did… I thought it was well written, engaging, longer than any Conan-Doyle, Holmes Novel but that didn’t seem to matter… I thought it was a very good addition to the canon, and will enjoy a re-read as soon as I feel it needs to be read again…

But, I do have two problems that I would like to mention:

the first concerns the Baker Street Irregulars, the scruffy little urchins that are occasionally called in to help Mr. ‘Olmes, due to their inconspicuousness, underrated intelligence and loyalty… Well I get the impression that Mr. Horowitz isn’t keen on them or their use within the canon…

They are used within the story, but there are consequences because of their use, also Wiggins comes across as quite rude, uncaring and flippant when talking to Holmes. This is something I’d never have deduced from Study in Scarlet, or their other appearances in the original stories. Horowitz seems interested to highlight the dangers that Holmes places these homeless urchins when they help him… Using their appearance as a sort of moral, don’t put them in danger, message… This is a message that may have a place, but not in a Sherlock Holmes Story…

I suppose in a way I’m biased in favour of the irregulars, as my introduction into the worlds of Sherlock Holmes came in the form of the Arthur books written by the hilarious, and sadly missed, Alan Coren and also a Children’s BBC television series entitled the Baker Street Boys, that detailed the life of these lovable scamps as they solved crimes… I can’t find any clips on-line but I did discover that the future Ian Beale was in it…

And the second problem I have, is one I am almost embarrassed to mention… It is not anything within the control of Anthony Horowitz and therefore it is not an improvement that can be made by him… But I still believe the story would be better presented with some Sidney Paget style illustrations… Obviously with Mr. Paget being deceased since 1908, I’m not suggesting we channel his artistic spirit via a medium, but somebody who could produce Paget type illustrations would have been nice to have…

The reason I believe it would be an improvement, I suppose, is because of my role as illustrator and cartoonist to my own literary efforts, I guess I’m just pro-illustration… But also I do really like the illustrations of Mr. Paget, he was after all the man who placed the Deer Stalker hat in our collective connection with Sherlock Holmes, Conan-Doyle never mentioned. Also the first stories I owned of Sherlock Holmes contained no illustrations, future purchases did and I believe the illustrations add something yet remove nothing from the experience…

So all in all, the book is a pleasant and engaging read that will be read again… Congratulations Mr. Horowitz.

P.S. I would like it clearly noted that I would certainly never put myself forward as illustrator… I would not be able to manage the lifelike, intrinsic type work of Sidney Paget, you can view some of his work here, The closest I can come to a Sherlock Holmes Illustration is the terrible pun illustrated below…

Picture Book Picnic

July 16th 2011 is the date of the Dublin Unesco City of Literature Picture Book Picnic. The venue is the Wood Quay Venue, Dublin 8, and I, Paul Tubb, will be taking myself, my guitar and my poetry books to entertain those who are there.

Yes... I am part of the entertainment for Dublin's Picture Book Picnic and I am over the moon at this.

I shall be Singing some of my songs and Reading some of my Dublin based creature-poetry for around 15 minutes.

It is a free event, but tickets must be sought at the Gutter Bookshop, Temple Bar.

Further information can be found here.

Can't wait...

Dublin's Lesser Spotted Creatures

In Dublin’s fair city, the girls may be pretty but the creatures that reside there are as strange as can be… So with this in mind poet/humorist/singer-songwriter, Paul Tubb has decided to document these creatures, using rhyme and pictures, in this collection of Nonsensical verse.

So come and learn about creatures such as: the Quinklesaur, The Kwalaguppy, the Ape like creatures who spend their time playing Subbuteo and many others?

A laugh-out-loud funny collection which introduces you to aspects of Dublin you will, until now, have been unaware of. This wonderful book is suitable for Children of all ages.

ISBN No: 978-1-908024-22-0

The Book can be purchased using the button above, Signed and for an introductory offer of €7.95 saving €2, or more information, and a poem from the collection, can be found here

Cheers
Paul.

Quentin Blake

Whilst waiting for the Children to enter Raheny Library for my recent reading there (See here) I spied on the Shelf, ‘Quentin Blake’s book of Nonsense Verse’ and decided to pick it up and have a flick through… Two of my favourite things in one book, Nonsense Verse and Quentin Blake’s Illustrations.

My first memories of Quentin Blake, were not the Roald Dahl books. In fact when Quentin Blake started illustrating Roald Dahl Stories and Rhymes, I was a teenager and supposedly to old for Roald Dahl (Though you are never to old for Roald Dahl.)

I remember a collection of books about a detective called, Agaton Sax. Now the fact that he was a detective is all I can remember about the stories except, the wonderfully quirky illustrations which were added by Mr Quentin Blake. The drawings seemed so different and more fun than the other books and I’ve been a fan of his ever since. I was overjoyed when he became Children’s Laureate. I would love for him to illustrate one of my poems.

A friend of mine when seeing my book told me that my illustrations reminded him of the Roald Dahl illustrations, and I took it as a massive compliment, (Although Mr Blake may be insulted.)

I’ve toyed with the idea of sending Mr Blake my collection of verse, but I’m not sure of my intentions of doing so. Would I like to be included if a new or updated collection of ‘Quentin Blake’s book of Nonsense Verse’ becomes available? Well of course I would but I’m not sure how likely that is. Maybe I just want to inform him how much he influenced someone who didn’t want to be an illustrator and became one simply to add pictures to his own work… Who knows the reasons I have, I’ve not yet sent a copy to him and he probably receives so many books mine won’t make a difference…

I’ll just stick to enjoying the Illustrations already available.