Primary class library: silly stories.
FURRY TALES. By Tony Ross. Andersen Press, pound;12.99.
Ross is at his most wickedand irreverent with a sharp collection of traditionalfables exposing the seriously silly side of human nature.
ECO-WOLF AND THE THREE PIGS. By Laurence Anholt and Arthur Robins. Orchard Books pound;7.99.
Anholt and Robins have their own Seriously Silly Stories series, and this is a wonderfully zany new title. Wolf as eco-warrior takes on the pigs as property speculators. Witty, clever and thought-provoking. See also Seriously Silly Stories: the collection (Orchard pound;9.99).
CYRIL OF THE APES. By Jonathan Gathorne-Hardy. Red Fox Funny Stories, pound;2.99
Once again, Cyril has to quit his namby-pamby novel-writing and get a real job, this time in films. Quentin Blakes illustrations are a perfect match for Gathorne-Hardy’s quintessentially English comic character. This re-issue will be welcomed by seasoned readers, age 10 and above.
HMM... By Colin McNaughton. Collins Picture Lions pound;4.99. This is the fifth adventure starring the not-as-stupid-as-he-looks Preston Pig and a very silly Mr Wolf - all brawn and no brain as usual as he dreams about his dinner menu. McNaughton whets his humour with an increasing ruthlessness of the kind children can admire.
THE THREE SILLIES. By Steven Kellogg. Walker pound;10.99.
An extremely bucolic rendition of this oldEnglish folk tale about a young man in search of greater silliness than that of his young mistress. Kellogg’s sense of the absurd adds to the general hysteria ofthe story.
ELAINE WILLIAMS