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The Starfish Story

9 Picture Books Every Adult Should Read

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This week, my latest book, The Good Inn, co-authored with Pixies frontman Black Francis, comes out from HarperCollins. What excited me most about writing this book--besides working with two of my favorite artists on the planet--is that it takes part in the revival of the classic tradition of the illustrated novel, a tradition that has been relegated to the world of "children's books" for far too long.

The Good Inn is definitely not for children. It tells an arresting tale about art, conflict and the origins of pornographic cinema (did I mention it's not for children?). I like to describe it as the book version of a film--before the film is filmed. Hence, the illustrations by famed illustrator Steven Appleby, help to visualize the story before the movie is made.

In recent years, illustration has slowly been returning to books. The best example is J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, with Mary GrandPré's illustrations appearing at the beginning of each chapter (and on the cover, of course), each one giving readers some insight into what was to come in those pages.

One can argue that Harry Potter marks the rebirth of illustrated novels for adults. Though originally treated as children's books, as Harry Potter matured and its appeal among the 18 and over crowd grew, the chapter-opening illustrations remained.

Over the last few years, there are even more examples of illustrated novels, some specifically for adult readers. So, novels with pictures are not just for kids anymore. And, actually, they never were.

And so, without further ado, here is the first official list of eight other illustrated novels for adults you should know about, from past to present.

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens - 1838: A book about an orphan in today's world would surely be labeled "Young Adult" fiction, and receive the Hunger Games treatment by a seasoned sci-fi screenwriter taking Oliver into deep space. When Dickens wrote it, however, it was illustrated beautifully to help tell the very dark tale of a gang of child thieves who inhabit the dark alleys of London.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll - 1865: Probably the most well-known and beloved illustrated novel. Some might call it a children's book, but before Disney got ahold of it, it was one of the great works of surrealist absurdist literature.

The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien: Before Peter Jackson made The Hobbit a cinematic spectacle, it was one of the most recognizable stories in adult fantasy fiction, and a beautifully illustrated novel. The original edition of The Hobbit, published in 1937 featured drawings made by Tolkien himself.

The Best of Jules Verne: 3 Complete, Illustrated Novels: (*not the year of the original novels publication dates.) THE classic master of fantasy and science fiction, Verne used illustrations to enhance the fantastical journeys he would take readers on from the 1930s to centuries later.

V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd and Watchmen by Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons and John Higgins: Okay, I'm cheating a bit here as this list is about illustrated novels, not "graphic novels." But these "graphic novels" first elevated the art of comics to a deserving place among great works of "traditional literature."

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick: This illustrated novel is about a homeless boy who discovers that the great French filmmaker George Melies is working at a toy stand in the train station he calls home. It is a beautiful example of the fusion of images and story in a novel format and is described by its creator as "not exactly a novel," and it's not quite a picture book.

Hollow City by Ransom Riggs: This sequel to Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is a very cool reimagining of the "illustrated novel" using old photos and Photoshop magic to bring to life the characters in the text.

The Harlem Hellfighters by Max Brooks: This new book by Max Brooks, who wrote the very popularWorld War Z, comes out the same month as my new book. Again, this is more a "graphic novel" than a true illustrated novel, but it's still an excellent example of a "serious novelist" using the illustrated format to tell a very serious story.

Barking Blondes: Mischevous dogs

• By Joanne Good and Anna Webb
• The Dog Blog
• Last updated: Friday, 25 April 2014 at 12:42 pm

Hopefully, we all know our dogs. Their foibles along with their many winning ways. The responsible dog owner, when out walking in the park with dog off the lead, will scan the horizon for all potential hazards. The human radar should be alert enough to avoid such situations like a child with ice cream, a stray dog on heat, picnickers or anything else tempting to a dog.

The two of us pride ourselves on knowing, intuitively, what breed of dog annoys our own as well as what areas to avoid that may contain duck poo (yes, even that can taste delicious to a bull breed!)

So imagine our total humiliation this week when one of our beloveds ran off with another dog’s treasured ball! The colourful and obviously expensive toy belonged to a terrier whose stylish owner came from the posher side of the park. As our bulldog raced around the three of us, in circles, ball clamped firmly in her mouth like a grinning clown, it was obvious this was going to end badly. Nothing would entice her to drop it, and the more we attempted to bribe her with treats and endearments, the more she thought it was a game.

Whilst the terrier seemed unperturbed by this invasion on his property, its owner was furious.

“I can’t believe this”, she spat, “Is this how you train your dog? How do you ever manage to get round the park without similar disasters?”

It was pointless attempting to convince her that this was a one off. That we always had our own balls on us so that our dogs wouldn’t be distracted by other people’s property.

But as they say, “Every dog has it’s day” – and this day was obviously a red letter day.

Even the best-behaved dogs will have their ‘naughty’ moments.  Whether your mutt rummages through handbags looking for lipsticks to eat, barks when you’re on the phone, or humps your trouser leg, this will be a trained behaviour.

Unwittingly we reward dogs for doing undesirable things – even saying ‘no’ is the surest way to train a dog to do ‘it’. Without meaning to by making a ‘scene’ and shouting, we’ve masterfully taught Fido that stealing lipsticks from a handbag is OK!

What defines naughty is up to the owner. What an owner is prepared to put up with is fine until it affects somebody else.

When a bull terrier, in our care, ate the heel off an expensive pair of Louboutin stilettos we were duty bound to get the stiletto re-heeled – that’s only polite and accepting responsibility for your dog’s unfortunate and expensive urge to eat a designer heel.

It’s surprising how many dog owners don’t take responsible view on these issues. Whilst no one is harmed your pooches actions may well impact on other people and their property. So to have third party insurance is recommended since a stiletto heel is one thing, but chewing the interior of a friend’s new car is another. In our age of anti-dog legislation it’s advisable to be covered.

As dogs age it’s particularly heart warming to see their former youthful antics appear and it’s hard not to encourage them – but slacking on the ‘rules’ and letting dogs get away with things  can be a slippery slope. Dogs are not stupid and many are excellent opportunists – so if you give them an inch, they’ll take a mile.

We’ve tried to train our Bull Breeds to know how to behave in certain situations, but other dog’s toys can be too exciting to resist. It’s all about attention and dogs are experts at making sure we give them as much attention as possible. It’s just one of the things that’s so great about dogs.

And by the way, an hour later, we posted the ball through the owner’s letter box. A little worse for wear. Both the ball and us.

Barking Blondes by Jo Good & Anna Webb, published by Hamlyn, £12.99www.octopusbooks.co.uk

The Smart Witch

11 hrs · 

Words of Wisdom: The Friend

“When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.”

- Henri J. M. Nouwen, The Road to Daybreak: A Spiritual Journey

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[Image: 'Fallen Angel' by Luis Royo. Visit this talented artist athttps://www.facebook.com/pages/Luis-Royo-Official/316625048371116]

The Smart Witch

5 hrs · 

Ceremonies, Rites and Rituals Defined

☆ Ceremony ☆
A ceremony is an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion. A ceremony may mark a rite of passage, such as birth, birthday, initiation, graduation, awarding, wedding, death or burial. Society-wide ceremonies may mark annual or seasonal events such as the vernal equinox, winter solstice, and other events.

☆ Rite ☆
A rite is an established, ceremonious, usually religious act. Rites generally fall into three major categories:
- Rites of passage, generally changing an individual's social status, such as marriage, dedication or graduation.
- Rites of worship, where a community comes together to worship.
- Rites of personal devotion, where an individual worships, including prayer and pilgrimages.

☆ Ritual ☆
A ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value. It may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. The term usually refers to actions which are stylized, excluding actions which are arbitrarily chosen by the performers.

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[Image: Circe Offering the Cup to Odysseus by John William Waterhouse (1849–1917). This is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art. Such reproductions are in the public domain in the United States.]

Literature Is My Utopia

3 hrs · 

Vita Sackville-West’s Writing Tower

This writing room is located in the Elizabethan Tower at Sissinghurst Castle in Kent. It’s surrounded by the world-famous, romantic garden and was where Vita Sackville-West (close friend of Virginia Woolf ) did most of her writing.