The Big Pancake, 1972 (series 606d)

The Big Pancake, 1972.  This book, illustrated by Robert Lumley, was the 23rd book in the original series of 27 Well-Loved Tales books..   The text, as always in the books of this series, was written by Vera Southgate.

As usual, the tales with lots of magical animals in them were given to Robert Lumley to illustrate but in this book, and here he uses humour, energy and observation to create images that will create real drama for a young child at bedtime – and out of very little!  Lumley based the the pictures on local people (although not, perhaps, that of the errant pancake) and local scenery  Apparently there is a whole genre of folk tales called ‘runaway food’ tales.  Who knew?

This copy:

The Big Pancake, matt boards, Illustrated by Robert Lumley.  This copy is in exceptional condition inside and out – it’s very rare to find one of the 27 original titles in this sort of near-mint condition.  The colours are bright, there’s barely any wear and the pages are clean and tight. In fact, the only blemish I can find is a small dot on the spine.  This copy dates to the 1970s and has the original price of 40p on the back.