A BOOK OF GIANTS (1968)
selected by: William Mayne
illustrator: Raymond Briggs
publishers: Hamish Hamilton / Puffin Books
208 pages
38 b/w illustrations
'I don't know why giants should have a bad name...'
Here is a collection
of famous and not-so famous 'giant' stories, from authors
as diverse as Nathaniel Hawthorne, Jonathan Swift and Oscar Wilde, with
accompanying illustrations from Mr Briggs.
The cover art on this Puffin Books edition depicts a scene from 'The Gouty
Giant',
a short story written by DMG Howell in 1935. According to the introduction
this favourite tale was the catalyst for William Mayne's compilation.
Interesting,
too, that the publishers say they were unable to trace the copyright
owners of that 'gouty' tale prior to printing....
The compilation also features a retelling of pantomime favourite
'Jack And The
Beanstalk'. Briggs, of course, produced a famous sequel to that classic
yarn
'Jim And The Beanstalk' published
in 1970...
The American edition of this book was published in 1969 by E P Dutton,
and
it featured a different cover illustration from Briggs, also taken from
the tale of
The Gouty Giant. Was this illustration used on the original British hardback
too?
I'm still not sure...
Stories in the anthology include:
'The Three Golden Apples'
by Nathaniel Hawthorne
'The Giant Who Stole A River'
by Doris Rust
'How Loki Outwitted A Giant'
retold by Barbara Leonie Picard
'Tavadan And The Fire Giant'
by Charles Molin
'Angus'
by Charlotte Hough
'The Gouty Giant'
by DMG Howell
'He Who Laughs Last'
by Janet McNeill
'Jack The Giant-Killer'
retold by Joseph Jacobs
'Jack And The Beanstalk'
retold by Joseph Jacobs
'The Giant Who Had No Heart In His Body'
by Peter Christen Asbjornsen and
Jorgen Engebretsen Moe
'The Giant Of The Brown BeechWood'
by Eeumas MacManus
'The Giants Of Towednack'
by Amabel Williams-Ellis
'Clever Oonagh'
by Amabel Williams-Ellis
'The Ogre Courting'
by Juliana Horatia Ewing
'A Moon Of Gobbags'
by Dora Broome
'A Voyage To Brobdingnag'
by Jonathan swift
'The Giant Bones'
by Sorche Nic Leodhas
'The Selfish Giant'
by Oscar Wilde
'The Giant And The Mite'
by Eleanor Farjeon
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