Thawing Frozen Frogs

by
Brian Patten
Illustrated by Chris Riddell

Most youngsters are familiar with Growing Pains, many will have the occasional attack of Schoolitis but surely very few can have visited The Milk-shake Cafe where a strange machine shakes mooing cows to make the milk frothy. All these and many more are explored in this critically acclaimed collection of poetry by an award-winning performance poet.

In a cautionary tale Little Miss Look-at-me is eaten by a shark, Nancy Noah reveals the rather gruesome secret of what the flood survivors actually ate on the Ark while 'Sad Kisses' expresses a child’s view of a violent relationship.

The wide range of styles and subject matter in almost 80 poems is complemented by expressive and amusing line drawings by Chris Riddell. A poetry collection that really does offer something for everyone.

Publisher: Frances Lincoln Children's Books

Chris Riddell

Chris Riddell is familiar to both children and adults for his distinctive line drawings with their clever caricature, fascinating detail and often enchanting fantasy elements.

He studied illustration at Brighton Polytechnic and has illustrated several picture books including Something Else by Kathryn Cave which was shortlisted for the Smarties Prize and which won the Unesco Award. The Swan's Stories by Brian Alderson was shortlisted for the 1997 Kurt Maschler Award and Castle Diary was shortlisted for the 1999 Kate Greenaway Medal. Pirate Diary won the Kate Greenaway Medal in 2002 and Jonathan Swift's Gulliver won the 2004 CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal.

Chris' popularity extends to the young teenage market with his collaboration with Paul Stewart on the best selling Edge Chronicles series, the ninth of which will be published later this year. For slightly younger children his Fergus Crane adventure series, again written by Paul Stewart, has achieved critical success with Fergus Crane winning the Smarties Gold Award and Corby Flood winning the Smarties Silver Award. An extraordinary achievement which cements Chris Riddell's position as one of the top illustrators working today.

In addition to his children's book work, Chris is a renowned political cartoonist whose work appears regularly in The Observer, The Literary Review and The New Statesman. One of his claims to fame is that he was the first cartoonist to depict William Hague in shorts; an illustration that William Hague subsequently bought!

http://chrisriddell.panmacmillan.com/

Chris Riddell