New Releases by Posy Simmonds

In May 1977 Posy Simmonds, an unknown young illustrator, started drawing a weekly comic strip for the Guardian. It began as a silly parody of girls' adventure stories, making satirical comments about contemporary life. The strip soon focused on three 1950s school friends in their later middle-class and nearly middle-aged lives: Wendy Weber, a former nurse married to polytechnic sociology lecturer George with a large brood of children; Jo Heep, married to whisky salesman Edmund with two rebellious teenagers; and Trish Wright, married to philandering advertising executive Stanhope and with a young baby. The strip, which was latterly untitled and usually known just as 'Posy', ran until the late 1980s. Collected here for the first time are the complete strips. Although celebrated for pinpointing the concerns of Guardian readers in the 1980s and their constant struggle to remain true to the ideals of the 1960s, they are in fact remarkably undated. They show one of Britain's favourite cartoonists, celebrated for Literary Life and Tamara Drewe, maturing into genius.

Un Cuento de Navidad para nuestra época. Egoísta y solitaria, Cassandra Darke es una marchante de arte que vive en una lujosa mansión del barrio de Chelsea, en el mismísimo corazón de Londres. Se ha convertido en una paria social, pero no le preocupa. Entre una Navidad y la siguiente, ha empañado la reputación de una galería del West End y encadenado una condena por fraude, de la que ha salido indemne, pero ha dejado su saldo bancario en números rojos. En la escala de infracciones, el fraude ocupa para Cassandra un lugar ínfimo, pues no conlleva «ni armas, ni violencia, ni cadáver». Sin embargo, todo cambia cuando aparece algo en la mansión que sí podría suponer violencia y tal vez un cadáver. Nicki, la joven ex inquilina de la casa, dejó en el sótano un regalito que obligará a Cassandra a salir de su suntuoso refugio y echarse a las calles. Y no precisamente a las de su barrio lujoso, sino a las de otros lugares más sórdidos y tenebrosos, donde deberá elegir entre el sacrificio o la salvación. La crítica ha dicho... «Posy Simmonds es una auténtica discípula de Hogarth, y sus viñetas encarnan una despiadada glosa a nuestro modo de vida actual.» Penny Perrick, The Sunday Times «La gran hazaña de esta autora satírica es haber acercado los cómics a una audiencia que jamás los había leído.» Frédéric Potet, Le Monde «La hábil composición de todas las viñetas y la danza entre ellas da lugar a una obra deslumbrante. Puede que Cassandra Darke sea un trabajo sombrío y crudo, pero el irresistible modo en que Simmonds fija en sus páginas la vida contemporánea es motivo de regocijo.» Justine Jordan, The Guardian

Lulu doesn't want to be stuck in a museum, she wants to play outside in the snow! She sits on the bench and sniffs. Before she knows it the flying babies have escaped a painting and swept her off her feet. Lulu is flown into a whimiscal, magical adventure through a world of pictures, meeting Kings, growling at tigers and getting lost in the woods.

Lulu is going to be a bridesmaid, but the night before the wedding she eats too much chocolate and is very poorly. Lulu has a nap to feel better, but before long she is woken up by someone crying. Join Lulu on her very chocolatey escapades as she tries to rescue the wedding cake's sugar bride from some mice who have a very sweet tooth.

Tamara Drew is loosely inspired by a 19th century novel -- Far From the Madding Crowd. Set in a writers' retreat, it is a thrilling tale of jealousy and desire.

A humorous story about a baker cat and his mice friends.

This book consists of approximately fifty 'Literary Life' cartoons which were serialised weekly every Saturday in the Guardian's Review section from November 2002 until December 2004, and two short stories, 'Murder at Matabele Mansions' and 'Cinderella'. Posy Simmonds examines the pretensions of the literary world with her customary flair for light, witty satire and social observation. Women writers suffer 'Rustic Block' after moving to the countryside, type their sexual fantasies into their laptop, and (in 'Enemies of Promise') juggle the dilemmas of feminism and motherhood. Male authors are shown suffering the ego-perils of coming into contact with the public at book signings, and complain about reviewers and 'media hoops'. Jealousies and rivalries emerge out of reading groups; struggling small booksellers have to deal with recalcitrant customers or sales reps pushing the latest celebrity book. Simmonds' penchant for literary pastiche and parody is given full rein, as in 'Murder at Matebele Mansions'. And she wickedly suggests a family's fixed smiles as a young girl explains the plot of her Harry Potter book ... Funny, insightful and beautifully drawn, Literary Life will delight fans of Gemma Bovery.

How Lavender became the Bravest Rabbit in the World Whenever there is the slightest hint of danger, Lavender the rabbit can be found with her friends the goose and the hens clucking with concern. So when a group of tourist town foxes arrive on their first visit to the countryside, Lavender is very wary indeed, even though the town foxes think that the idea of eating rabbits is just sick. Rabbit’s courage is challenged even further when the town foxes invite the rabbits to a party. However, Lavender joins the group and even perseveres when the others decide that the situation has become quite scary. What happens next, as the town foxes come face to face with their hungry country cousins, ensures that Lavender returns home a heroine!

After selling out of the original hardcover edition, this innovative adventure in learning the alphabet is now a Dragonfly paperback. "From the Trade Paperback edition.

The night Sophie and Nick bury their dearly beloved cat Fred, all Fred's cat friends arrive to reveal his nighttime self and give him a proper funeral and farewell.