posted on 30 Jun 2017

Stars and Primroses by M. L. Green

This highly unusual book of illustrated poetry for children was first published in 1945 and as it states on the flyleaf ‘you have probably never seen a book quite like this before’.  Actually I have because it reminds me of English exercise books that I used to write in at primary school many years ago. If my memory serves me right, we were regularly asked to copy out a poem of our choice using our best handwriting and to include a decorative border and appropriate illustrations.  At the age of ten I was confident enough to buy my own exercise book and to compose illustrated prayers in a similar fashion which I presented to my head teacher when I left to go to secondary school.

The element of nostalgia is one that I am sure would be shared by many other people but apart from this, the superbly hand lettered beautifully illustrated poems are an aesthetic treat. The anthology is divided into several themed sections although all fall under the broad heading ‘All Beauteous Things’ by Robert Bridges. This is a book that celebrates the need for children to be inspired by wonderful words and extraordinary visual images.

The selection of poems is eclectic but all are ones that often appear in other anthologies for children and the author states that he wants the intended young readers to realise ‘ that reading poetry is not just difficult and dull, but really quite exciting and enjoyable’. The text for each poem is usually handwritten in black but varies in size and font. This gives the book a very intimate feel as if the author made the decisions about what was right for each individual poem and would not be overridden by a publisher who wanted conformity and continuity. The result is that each turn of the page is an unexpected delight. A good example is the extract from Lux in Tenebris by Robert Browning which is four lines decorated with a stylised design of blue flowers and some blue lettering and other details to knit the page together. 

Another very different design in The Year’s Round section comes a few pages later with the poem July by William Morris headed by a yellow sun that radiates down the page and is balanced with a tall leafy tree under which two brown cows sit calmly. I can’t help thinking that William Morris would have loved this book with its simplicity of design and overall emphasis on nature and the seasons.

The section titled ‘Everyday Pictures’ is varied in subject and design with the first poem The Beggar by Ralph Hodgson showing the back of a man walking in the snow set against a leaden grey sky. I also liked Alstrop by Edward Thomas written in brown ink in clean clear lines that were somehow reminiscent of train tracks – helped by each line being stretched out with repeated decorative patterns to make each line of equal length.

The next section ‘England’ gives us glimpses of many different landscapes and I especially liked the way that space and summery light is suggested by the loose framing of the text with a suggestion of a blue cloud line and the uncluttered green design for The Downs by John Galsworthy.  

I don’t know how choices are made to include particular poems in an anthology such as this but I was pleased to see Cargoes by John Masefield which is a personal favourite. This one is in the oddly titled section ‘Music, Fine Events and Grand Places’ . Again the overall sense of space and rhythm is emphasised by some lines being extended using colour and pattern. The first letter of each stanza is enlarged and illuminated including exquisitely drawn details that relate to the subject.

The last section is titled ‘Craftsmanship’ and only includes a few poems. My favourite is the double page spread of an extract from King Henry V by William Shakespeare with a clever honeycomb pattern complementing the words about honey bees. He has also included four bees at different points in the text which is exactly right – more would be too many and fewer would diminish the overall pattern.

I love this extraordinary book written by someone who obviously cared very much about enthusing children about poetry and art. It apparently won a prize for the best Children’s Book in a Literary Competition, presumably organised by the publisher, The Bodley Head but I was unable to find out anything about the author. The book has been reprinted many times so I do hope that it is still used to inspire children to love poetry and to hopefully be encouraged to illustrate their own favourite poems

Karen Argent

June 2017