Long Barn parcel

The joys of being part of the Long Barn Books editorial board are manifold.
Not least, the chance to hang up my wellies and go on regular trips to London, meeting up with a delightful group of people and seeing how this world of publishing works behind the scenes.
That's been a real revelation because past experiences led me to believe there was a bit of a dog eat dog and spit you out mentality to it all, and perhaps that may be so elsewhere, but nothing could be further from the truth at Long Barn Books.
The only thing that gets eaten at Long Barn meetings is Sticky Toffee Pudding by you- know- who- with- a- big- mouth because we have lunch too, which means I don't have to eat for about a week afterwards.As if all that wasn't reward enough I get copies of the books as they are published.
So here are the contents of my latest parcel and I was very grateful for Freddy Long Ears by Harry Erne because at 2am when I was on wide-awake full national red alert after reading the first half of the Illustrated 9/11 Commission Report I needed something soothing and in complete contrast.This one, beautifully illustrated by Raoul Millais and a delight from start to finish, did the trick.No 9/11 nightmares for me.
Mrs Kettle and her seven children, the lighthouse keeper husband and the charming talking donkey. Children love repetition in stories and there is plenty in here that will create those wonderful moments over and over again when you all recite the list.We used to do it with The Hungry Caterpiller and The Tiger Who Came to Tea as I recall.
We all know Stanley Wells as the SP Shakespeare Professor from Susan Hill's blog and of course he is just that, so a bit of an authority on all things Bardish, in which case Is It True What They Say About Shakespeare must have been a really pleasurable write.It's informative and entertaining and I'll blog more about it soon.
Wonder if he got nagged to finish it, or told to rewrite or perhaps he was let off emptying the dishwasher and doing the ironing for 6 months to write it?
And as the SP's verdict on "He was born on St George's Day, 23 April" is "No one knows for certain, but it is perfectly possible" I fully expect the celebrations are in full swing Chez Wells-Hill today, bet Susan's baked a cake and everything.
But the shining special star for me was to finally see and hold a copy of Chris Ewan's book The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam. I'd only read it in manuscript form when we judged it to be a worthy winner of the Long Barn Book First Novel Prize last year ,so to see it in all its glory with that stunning book jacket and then, big surprise, to turn to the acknowledgements and find I'm mentioned in dispatches, well that's really too much excitement.
Thanks Chris and I love the website . I'll be doing a fuller review soon but meanwhile put it on your wish lists everyone.