Saturday, 4 April 2020

British Illustrators 15: H.R. Millar ad Five Children and It


Off Prompt: British Illustrators 15: H.R. Millar and Five Children and It



Scottish illustrator H.R. Millar was the original illustrator for several children’ books written by Edith Nesbit. Edith Nesbit, or E. Nesbit as she was known, authored something like 60 children’s books before her death in 1924. Extremely popular in the first few decades of the 20th century, her works are still read today. Her most enduring novel is probably “The Railway Children”, due in no small part to lasting affection for the popular film. However my particular favourite, “Five Children and It” was also made into a film in 2004, with Eddie Izzard providing the voice of the Psammead, or sand fairy, which you can see in the illustration, which resulted in a mini revival of interest in Nesbit’s work. “Five Children and It” has never been out of print since publication. My first contact with the book came through television. In the 60s and 70s the BBC in the UK used to broadcast a programme called Jackanory. In this, a popular story – e.g. Five Children and It – would be abridged into 5 ten- or fifteen-minute segments, - one for each day of the week, and be read out by an actor, and this where I first encountered the story. At least three Jackanory readers went on to win Oscars – feel free to suggest which ones in the comments section. Sadly, I can’t remember who read this story, though.

H.R. Millar was a prolific artist, and he worked with many famous authors including Robert Louis Stevenson and Rudyard Kipling. He’s probably best remembered for his illustrations for books like this and “The Phoenix and the Carpet” for E. Nesbit, though.

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