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Fierce Bad Rabbits

Fierce Bad Rabbits

The Tales Behind Children's Picture Books

Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

What is The Tiger Who Came to Tea really about?

What has Meg and Mog got to do with Polish embroidery?
Why is death in picture books so often represented by being eaten?

Fierce Bad Rabbits takes us on an eye-opening journey in a pea-green boat through the history of picture books. From Edward Lear through to Julia Donaldson, Clare Pollard shines a light on some of our best-loved childhood stories and what they really mean, weaving in tales from her own childhood and her re-readings as a parent. Because the best picture books are far more complex than they seem - and darker too. Monsters can gobble up children and go unnoticed, power is not always used wisely, and the wild things are closer than you think. Sparkling with wit, magic and nostalgia, Fierce Bad Rabbits will make you see even stories you've read a hundred times afresh.

Reviews

  • When I read Fierce Bad Rabbits, I thought, why has no one written this book before? But Clare Pollard has done so superbly - it is perceptive, illuminating, scholarly but at the same time entertaining. It should be essential reading for every thinking parent
    Penelope Lively

About the author

Clare Pollard

Clare Pollard is an award-winning poet and playwright based in London. She is the author of five poetry collections and the former Editor of the Modern Poetry in Translation magazine. Her first novel, Delphi , was published by Fig Tree in 2022. The Modern Fairies is her second novel.
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