Crispin – författare

Poeticus Pictoralis II Nautical & Natural by Crispin is the 2nd book in the series and is all about combining words in a pleasing poetry-based style to form beautiful vistas and hopefully interesting scenarios in the mind's eye, whilst the original paintings supplement those words and bring pleasure to your actual eye.The subjects are various and range from, robins, blackbirds, hedgehogs and roses to dangerous seas, predatory seagulls and epic adventure.The poetry is succinct, subtle and can be read at a number of depths, depending upon how deep one wishes to go (not unlike the sea).There are 60 separate poems in each of the books and the beauty of that is you can either dip in for a minute or two for a single poem, or you can spend an afternoon of uplifting enjoyment.

Defence of the garden realm is a book for children, which an adult can enjoy. It is a series of short, exciting poems depicting the initial adventure of a small group of insects (and a spider) who are facing the oncoming ant army (there is no fighting). After danger is averted they go their own way, but we then read an individual poem about the early days of each character. This develops our knowledge of each personality with all of their insecurities and obstacles to overcome. For example, the character "Little Scaredy Spider" is detached from all the other young spiders because she is vegetarian and eats only seeds and leaves, her webs are works of art and are not sticky to catch insects, but instead are silky and beautifully intricate. There is a Bee, who is the son of the Queen's sister. He is posh and clumsy and therefore is named "Bumble," but through an act of bravery, gets awarded the "order of the yellow knee" the highest honour possible. It is nice to think that after reading DOTGR that a child will see many bees with that particular medal (pollen sacks). "Sergeant Dung" is a dung beetle and the leader of "the crew," he sounds like an old soldier from London and is physically very strong, but he observes how the different strengths of others can overcome things that his brute strength cannot. "Catty-P" starts off as a caterpillar who would like to be in the air force, but is too young to fly, but she transforms and sees life from a whole new perspective (and doubles Bumble's air force). "Mumble" is a worm and slightly depressed. He sees all the things that the others can do and has low self-esteem as a result…but, through selfless acts, is elevated by the friendship of "the crew." Then each member of the crew of five have an individual adventure, followed by a few team efforts to deal with flood, building disruption, the vanity of a handsome "Red admirable" butterfly and a final summary by Mumble. Each adventure has their own original watercolour painted illustrations and the result is magic.

"Defence of the Garden Realm II (Mumble's dream)" is a book for clever children from 6-12, which an adult can also enjoy as they read it to their children or grandchildren. It is the 2nd and final book in the series and again features the much-loved "Crew" of five as they tackle various real-life garden disasters. The crew comprises, "Sergeant Dung" (Dung beetle), "Catty-P" (now a Butterfly), "Bumble" (a posh and clumsy Bee), "Little Scaredy spider" (a vegetarian spider, who is not at all scared) and "Mumble" (a slightly depressed worm). The adventures are all written in rhyming verse and have beautiful watercolour illustrations (painted by my ninety year-old mum, Mary). There are six stories of how "Mumble's" friends (fellow crew-members) help him to realise his dreams. Then three stories of how various combinations of the crew-members try to rectify the damage done to the roots of two connected trees, caused by the building of a brick summerhouse. Then two stories involving "Dung's" neice many times removed "Polka" (an aggressive ladybird, who is an activist). Finally, there are three stories focussing on those that fly... "Catty-P", first rescues and then falls in love with an arrogant Red admiral named "Flight," after which, "Bumble" realises that he loves "Catty-P" and goes to find her, followed by the arrival of a crazy wasp named "Luvjam Willsting." This book is packed with original ideas and is full of wholesome values for forming minds.

Poeticus Pictoralis III is the third book in the series and sadly, likely to be the last. The sub-title Joy, Sadness and In-between, appropriately covers the whole range of life experiences and allows me to add some continuity to the three pillars of this book. Each poem is relatively short (most occupy only a single page) and cover subjects as varied as a Snail trying to cross the pavement, to a Seagull taking a rest on an abandoned rowing boat. From a Dog dressed as an 19th century gentleman with designs to marry well, to a tree stump which has become a bowl in which a biological stew has developed. From a Fly eating my dinner, to a Blue-Tit piercing the foil top of an old-fashioned pint-bottle of milk. From an old Monk now regretting his life of abstinence, to a Psychopathic Shark. This book should be read on a poem a day basis and will last for several months.The other feature of note, is that there are many pictures in the book. They are all original works of art by painters of great talent (some known and others unsigned), but what they have in common is that my wife, Angie and I have purchased them all at car boot sales and antique emporiums in Bournemouth and Poole (the best emporium being "The Den" BH11 8NX). I have tried where possible to match picture and poem for maximum effect.The last few pages of the book are given over to an "In memoriam" wherein a tribute is paid to a brave woman name Kate, the daughter of Andrew and Sue Baldwin, whom I met "on the trail" and who commissioned me to write a poem in memory of Kate, which would serve both to comfort them and to help Kate's daughter Sophia to preserve some sense of her mum, as Sophia was only seven at the time.