It’s wonderful to see the gorgeous Emma Thompson transformed into Nanny McPhee, warts and all, but the original Edward Ardizzone jackets for his cousin Christianna Brand’s Nurse Matilda stories (on which Thompson’s script is based) are more appealing than the film tie-in edition.
Nurse Matilda Goes to Town and Nurse Matilda Goes to Hospital, rather more child-friendly texts than the Mary Poppins books, are now published as classy pocket-sized hardbacks, pound;8.99 each. And the jacket photographs of the young Ardizzone and Brand will help you find them in the illustrations.
