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Wizard of Boland
The Forest of Boland Light Railway
The Forest of Boland Light Railway
128 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 1955
123 people want to read
About the author
B.B.
192 books41 followersSee also Denys Watkins-Pitchford
Denys James Watkins-Pitchford MBE was a British naturalist, children's writer, and illustrator who wrote under the pseudonym "BB" and also used D.J. Watkins-Pitchford.
Denys Watkins-Pitchford was born in Lamport, Northamptonshire on the 25th July 1905. He was the second son of the Revd. Walter Watkins-Pitchford and his wife, Edith. His elder brother, Engel, died at the age of thirteen. Denys was himself considered to be delicate as a child, and because of this was educated at home, while his younger twin, Roger, was sent away to school. He spent a great deal of time on his own, wandering through the fields, and developed a love of the outdoors, which was to influence his writing. He had a great love of the outdoors and enjoyed hunting, fishing and drawing, all these things were to influence his writing greatly. At the age of fifteen, he left home and went to study at the Northampton School of Art. He won several prizes while there, but was irked by the dry, academic approach, and longed to be able to draw from life.
While at the Northampton School of Art, Denys won a travelling scholarship to Paris. He was later to say that he could not remember how long he had spent in Paris, but Quinn suggests (p. 50) that it was probably about three months. He worked at a studio in Montparnasse, and attended drawing classes. It is unknown exactly where he studied. In the autumn of 1924, he entered the Royal College of Art in London. In 1930 he became an assistant art master at Rugby School where he remained for seventeen years. While at Rugby School he was to begin contributing regularly to the Shooting Times and start his career as an author and illustrator. He wrote under the nom de plume of '"BB"', a name based on the size of lead shot he used to shoot geese, but he maintained the use of his real name as that of the illustrator in all his books. He later illustrated books by other writers, and sold his own paintings locally.
Denys James Watkins-Pitchford MBE was a British naturalist, children's writer, and illustrator who wrote under the pseudonym "BB" and also used D.J. Watkins-Pitchford.
Denys Watkins-Pitchford was born in Lamport, Northamptonshire on the 25th July 1905. He was the second son of the Revd. Walter Watkins-Pitchford and his wife, Edith. His elder brother, Engel, died at the age of thirteen. Denys was himself considered to be delicate as a child, and because of this was educated at home, while his younger twin, Roger, was sent away to school. He spent a great deal of time on his own, wandering through the fields, and developed a love of the outdoors, which was to influence his writing. He had a great love of the outdoors and enjoyed hunting, fishing and drawing, all these things were to influence his writing greatly. At the age of fifteen, he left home and went to study at the Northampton School of Art. He won several prizes while there, but was irked by the dry, academic approach, and longed to be able to draw from life.
While at the Northampton School of Art, Denys won a travelling scholarship to Paris. He was later to say that he could not remember how long he had spent in Paris, but Quinn suggests (p. 50) that it was probably about three months. He worked at a studio in Montparnasse, and attended drawing classes. It is unknown exactly where he studied. In the autumn of 1924, he entered the Royal College of Art in London. In 1930 he became an assistant art master at Rugby School where he remained for seventeen years. While at Rugby School he was to begin contributing regularly to the Shooting Times and start his career as an author and illustrator. He wrote under the nom de plume of '"BB"', a name based on the size of lead shot he used to shoot geese, but he maintained the use of his real name as that of the illustrator in all his books. He later illustrated books by other writers, and sold his own paintings locally.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 11, 2023
A wonderful treasure from the great 'BB'
In an earlier Goodreads review of "The Summer Book," I explained how my father launched a creative effort to introduce me to global literature at a very early age. He collected books he could read aloud to me in the years before I started kindergarten. Among them were novels about gnomes by Denys Watkins-Pitchford, aka "BB." My father had discovered his 1942 classic "The Little Grey Men," which had won the Carnegie Medal for best children's book by a British writer. Why my father loved that book and why I came to love that one is the subject of a review for another day, but he was hooked and kept collecting books by BB. When I was old enough, age 4, I eventually benefited from his enjoyment by hearing him read them aloud to me.
So, this past weekend, my wife and I were in what turned out to be a 9-hour car ride with our adult kids and our 4-year-old granddaughter. I sat in the back of our van near my granddaughter's car seat and brought out my father's 1st edition of "The Forest of Boland Light Railway," which now is out of print.
"Would you like me to read from this book?" I asked.
My granddaughter examined the cover and looked at a few of the pen-and-ink drawings inside the book and invited me to read. As it turns out, everyone in the van soon was hooked and in five hours of reading, I had completed the entire book. There were applause all around in the van (except from the driver of course) as we hit the final page and the gnomes were safe and sound again in their forest community, after horrible challenges from the evil Leprechaun Shera Beg.
The last time this particular book was opened and read aloud was more than 60 years ago when my father read it to me at my granddaughter's age. This past weekend, I had opened the same book and once again it was voiced for an audience. That's one reason I love books! They remain a marvelous technology that works as well today as when those books originally were printed and bound. No batteries required. No Wi Fi required. No video involved.
So, a couple of tips to other friends and potential readers: First, my daughter searched for additional copies of this novel that are available today and she pointed out, "Used copies of this book are ridiculously expensive!" She's right, at least based on Amazon listings at the moment I am publishing this review. Perhaps there's a copy in your local library, instead.
Then, another tip: When I read this book aloud, I did draw on many years of experience reading aloud. I enjoy reading to audiences and have a lot of experience with it. Given my granddaughter's age, I did on-the-fly revise or omit a handful of paragraphs about battles between gnomes and the particularly nasty group of Leprechaun's led by Shera Beg. There are just a handful of passages that are a bit too gruesome in their descriptions, I thought, for a 4-year-old. Just a few omissions, but I wanted to admit that in this review if other parents and grandparents think of finding a copy of this adventure for reading to kids. You can make your own decisions about whether to read every word or skip a handful of paragraphs.
What a pleasure it was to relive the experience of this wonderful novel read aloud with another listener at the perfect age!
And what truly surprised me was the rapt attention of all the adults in our van as well.
In an earlier Goodreads review of "The Summer Book," I explained how my father launched a creative effort to introduce me to global literature at a very early age. He collected books he could read aloud to me in the years before I started kindergarten. Among them were novels about gnomes by Denys Watkins-Pitchford, aka "BB." My father had discovered his 1942 classic "The Little Grey Men," which had won the Carnegie Medal for best children's book by a British writer. Why my father loved that book and why I came to love that one is the subject of a review for another day, but he was hooked and kept collecting books by BB. When I was old enough, age 4, I eventually benefited from his enjoyment by hearing him read them aloud to me.
So, this past weekend, my wife and I were in what turned out to be a 9-hour car ride with our adult kids and our 4-year-old granddaughter. I sat in the back of our van near my granddaughter's car seat and brought out my father's 1st edition of "The Forest of Boland Light Railway," which now is out of print.
"Would you like me to read from this book?" I asked.
My granddaughter examined the cover and looked at a few of the pen-and-ink drawings inside the book and invited me to read. As it turns out, everyone in the van soon was hooked and in five hours of reading, I had completed the entire book. There were applause all around in the van (except from the driver of course) as we hit the final page and the gnomes were safe and sound again in their forest community, after horrible challenges from the evil Leprechaun Shera Beg.
The last time this particular book was opened and read aloud was more than 60 years ago when my father read it to me at my granddaughter's age. This past weekend, I had opened the same book and once again it was voiced for an audience. That's one reason I love books! They remain a marvelous technology that works as well today as when those books originally were printed and bound. No batteries required. No Wi Fi required. No video involved.
So, a couple of tips to other friends and potential readers: First, my daughter searched for additional copies of this novel that are available today and she pointed out, "Used copies of this book are ridiculously expensive!" She's right, at least based on Amazon listings at the moment I am publishing this review. Perhaps there's a copy in your local library, instead.
Then, another tip: When I read this book aloud, I did draw on many years of experience reading aloud. I enjoy reading to audiences and have a lot of experience with it. Given my granddaughter's age, I did on-the-fly revise or omit a handful of paragraphs about battles between gnomes and the particularly nasty group of Leprechaun's led by Shera Beg. There are just a handful of passages that are a bit too gruesome in their descriptions, I thought, for a 4-year-old. Just a few omissions, but I wanted to admit that in this review if other parents and grandparents think of finding a copy of this adventure for reading to kids. You can make your own decisions about whether to read every word or skip a handful of paragraphs.
What a pleasure it was to relive the experience of this wonderful novel read aloud with another listener at the perfect age!
And what truly surprised me was the rapt attention of all the adults in our van as well.
June 11, 2023
My Dad read this aloud on an inter-generational carride to Illinois for a birthday party. He read from the same copy his Father read to him as a child.
Surprisingly, my three year old kept asking for the book reading to continue, and she was fairly engaged in the story. By the epic balltle at the very end she got stir crazy and lost interest...but overall she was quite interested.
It's important to note that this is definitely literature of its time. The gnomes are all male, while the female gnomes are called "wombies" and they focus on cooking and house keeping. There is only one wombie who is given a name in the book, and she is the one responsible for cooking a meal that results in much trouble for all the gnomes and wombies and gombies (the kid gnomes are gombies).
That said, it's a fun story about the role of the Boland railroad and the lives of the gnomes - who always must beware of the mischievous leprechauns. The cowzies were a welcome surprise midway through the book (little fuzzy chipmunk creatures who end up being quite heroic and pivotal to the story). While riding in the car, we periodically passed the book through the rows so we could see the illustrations.
Surprisingly, my three year old kept asking for the book reading to continue, and she was fairly engaged in the story. By the epic balltle at the very end she got stir crazy and lost interest...but overall she was quite interested.
It's important to note that this is definitely literature of its time. The gnomes are all male, while the female gnomes are called "wombies" and they focus on cooking and house keeping. There is only one wombie who is given a name in the book, and she is the one responsible for cooking a meal that results in much trouble for all the gnomes and wombies and gombies (the kid gnomes are gombies).
That said, it's a fun story about the role of the Boland railroad and the lives of the gnomes - who always must beware of the mischievous leprechauns. The cowzies were a welcome surprise midway through the book (little fuzzy chipmunk creatures who end up being quite heroic and pivotal to the story). While riding in the car, we periodically passed the book through the rows so we could see the illustrations.
May 23, 2012
Best children's book. Got to love a gnome.
December 12, 2020
I started a gnome project earlier this year before I was sidetracked by prog nonsense with Boggis! - I did a gnome issue a few years ago but felt it was a bit lacklustre, mainly because the high watermark of all gnomishness for me are the books of Denys Watkins Pitchford/ BB. This isn’t quite of the level of the Little Grey Men books, which are a strange sort of pastoral odyssey that occasionally detours into Arthur Machin territory, but there’s sort of a hint that those gnomes may well be the remains of the civilisation here. This is set many hundreds of years ago but just happens to have gnomes who have developed a steam engine
The plot is pretty basic - and has none of the weird melancholy that Little Grey Men and it’s story of a small family of gnomes, the last of their kind, making their way through a changing landscape - but as ever BB has two trumps up his sleeve:
1. World building. The gnome civilisation is really sketched out and although I suspect the women would have more of a role now, it’s probably as good as any utopian gnome civilisation written in 1955 is going to have. The elected head of the gnomes takes turns, as do all gnomes, in doing practical work by a lottery and there seems to be a pretty equal footing for all gnomes. They also seem to have a very keen idea of what is and isn’t creatures to befriend or, to be blunt, eat. Birds and fish are fair game but the strange Cowzies are equals. The Leprechauns see everything as fair game and the big reveal is that they’re effectively the weasels from Wind in the Willows but more murderous. They’re the lesser creature because they’re just not civilised and the gnomes are
2. BB has a very keen sense of the food chain as befits someone whose main writing and artistic career was in nature writing. As alluded to above, there’s a definite unsentimental sense of what is fair game to eat and what isn’t, but like in the Little Grey Men books that unsentimentality also means that death is a very real thing here. None of the gnomes are at risk but the Cowzies come to the rescue mainly because they are so appalled and horrified that they’re being eaten by the leprechauns. The final attack ratchets up to a leprechaun slaughter (and yes, we are told several die while the others escape utterly traumatised) when they see the remains of one of their kind on the dinner table. The big baddy is literally dashed upon rocks because of their fury and BB explicitly tells us this is a good thing. It’s nothing as chilling as the Machinesque passages in Little Grey Men but has ever a writer who creates such a warm and bustling fictional world had such an unsentimental glee at death?
So not top tier but I absolutely remember why I loved this as a kid. It asks a lot of the reader and you get just as much back in return. Brilliant
The plot is pretty basic - and has none of the weird melancholy that Little Grey Men and it’s story of a small family of gnomes, the last of their kind, making their way through a changing landscape - but as ever BB has two trumps up his sleeve:
1. World building. The gnome civilisation is really sketched out and although I suspect the women would have more of a role now, it’s probably as good as any utopian gnome civilisation written in 1955 is going to have. The elected head of the gnomes takes turns, as do all gnomes, in doing practical work by a lottery and there seems to be a pretty equal footing for all gnomes. They also seem to have a very keen idea of what is and isn’t creatures to befriend or, to be blunt, eat. Birds and fish are fair game but the strange Cowzies are equals. The Leprechauns see everything as fair game and the big reveal is that they’re effectively the weasels from Wind in the Willows but more murderous. They’re the lesser creature because they’re just not civilised and the gnomes are
2. BB has a very keen sense of the food chain as befits someone whose main writing and artistic career was in nature writing. As alluded to above, there’s a definite unsentimental sense of what is fair game to eat and what isn’t, but like in the Little Grey Men books that unsentimentality also means that death is a very real thing here. None of the gnomes are at risk but the Cowzies come to the rescue mainly because they are so appalled and horrified that they’re being eaten by the leprechauns. The final attack ratchets up to a leprechaun slaughter (and yes, we are told several die while the others escape utterly traumatised) when they see the remains of one of their kind on the dinner table. The big baddy is literally dashed upon rocks because of their fury and BB explicitly tells us this is a good thing. It’s nothing as chilling as the Machinesque passages in Little Grey Men but has ever a writer who creates such a warm and bustling fictional world had such an unsentimental glee at death?
So not top tier but I absolutely remember why I loved this as a kid. It asks a lot of the reader and you get just as much back in return. Brilliant
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 13, 2023
This was a favourite book of mine as a child, so very nostalgic to read again at age 60. It is very much of it’s time but the startling thing about it half a century on is that there are absolutely no named female characters (or, given it is a children’s book, children). The story takes place in a community, complete with homes, railway (of course), social activities, work and even a form of Christmas … but every single active and named character is an adult male. The battles which take place are, perhaps understandably, a bit squeamish about the actual killing of the enemy (leprechauns) but they all enjoy smoking their pipe and downing quantities of home made whiskey.
I was delighted to receive it as a birthday present and the illustrations are delightful but I could not recommend it to anyone who doesn’t own a copy, given the apparent eye watering prices being asked for it on Abe Books.
I was delighted to receive it as a birthday present and the illustrations are delightful but I could not recommend it to anyone who doesn’t own a copy, given the apparent eye watering prices being asked for it on Abe Books.
July 8, 2021
I enjoyed it a lot. Not as much as Lord of the Forest, but it maintains the authors love of nature, with an intriguing fantasy world hiding within our own.
January 12, 2024
Great book to read again 54 years since I first read it. I had forgotten about the Cowsies.
December 16, 2022
That moment when you have the opportunity to reread a book you adored in childhood but haven't seen for years... Is it going to be as good as you remember? Or will your adult eyes spot all the plot holes, poor writing and improbability and destroy your happy memories forever?
It's always a risk. I've reread a few childhood favourites and bitterly regretted it. But every so often, you find one that pays rereading, and it's worth it. Now I realise why this book made such a vivid impression on me - an impression which hasn't faded in decades!
For a start, B.B. is so good at creating a sense of place. His gnome world is a very real one. He tells us exactly how the gnomes lived and worked and what they ate. "voles, moles, rats and mice...On special feast days they ate small birds. Anything larger they couldn't tackle for they were not much taller than this book if you stood it up on end." His drawings are equally detailed, with an excellent sense of scale. Any potential puzzles are explained away in a very matter-of-fact manner. So 'they had a Father Christmas, just like we have, but a different sort...a big white bear...Poppa Pola'.
B.B. is also excellent at creating a sense of menace - give me this book for the first time now, and I'd worry that it was too gruesome for children to read, but I remember devouring it at the age of 8 and thoroughly enjoying being scared-but-not-too-scared. He gets the balance of fear and safety just right. And any gruesomeness is ameliorated by the author's down-to-earth tone. When the arch-villain, Shera Beg, meets a grisly end, B.B. comments "And that was the end of him, and a good job too, say I!" and I can remember wholeheartedly agreeing with him!
Reading this has brought back such clear memories of my eight-year-old self - body curled up in a shabby old armchair with broken springs, but spirit roaming free through the Forest of Boland. The risk definitely paid off this time.
It's always a risk. I've reread a few childhood favourites and bitterly regretted it. But every so often, you find one that pays rereading, and it's worth it. Now I realise why this book made such a vivid impression on me - an impression which hasn't faded in decades!
For a start, B.B. is so good at creating a sense of place. His gnome world is a very real one. He tells us exactly how the gnomes lived and worked and what they ate. "voles, moles, rats and mice...On special feast days they ate small birds. Anything larger they couldn't tackle for they were not much taller than this book if you stood it up on end." His drawings are equally detailed, with an excellent sense of scale. Any potential puzzles are explained away in a very matter-of-fact manner. So 'they had a Father Christmas, just like we have, but a different sort...a big white bear...Poppa Pola'.
B.B. is also excellent at creating a sense of menace - give me this book for the first time now, and I'd worry that it was too gruesome for children to read, but I remember devouring it at the age of 8 and thoroughly enjoying being scared-but-not-too-scared. He gets the balance of fear and safety just right. And any gruesomeness is ameliorated by the author's down-to-earth tone. When the arch-villain, Shera Beg, meets a grisly end, B.B. comments "And that was the end of him, and a good job too, say I!" and I can remember wholeheartedly agreeing with him!
Reading this has brought back such clear memories of my eight-year-old self - body curled up in a shabby old armchair with broken springs, but spirit roaming free through the Forest of Boland. The risk definitely paid off this time.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews