New Releases by Brian Patten

One dark night, the sound of music and singing wakes a terrible monster from his sleep in a foul swamp. Warrior after warrior comes to slay the monster, but no one can outwit Grendel. Only the great hero Beowulf stands a chance, but even he is not prepared for the horror that lies in wait. Union Square & Co.'s EVERYONE CAN BE A READER books are expertly written, thoughtfully designed with dyslexia-friendly fonts and paper tones, and carefully formatted to meet readers where they are with engaging stories that encourage reading success across a wide range of age and interest levels.

A very small mouse sets out to find something special―the biggest creature in the world. Along her journey, she meets a menagerie of animals who want to join her in her quest, including a frog, a badger, and a tiger. She visits lakes, rivers, woods, and even climbs a mountain and stops by a zoo. Finally, she arrives at the ocean. Will she finally find the biggest animal of all? From the world-renowned team of author Brian Patten and illustrator Nicola Bayley, this gentle story is a celebration of the world's wide variety of living creatures. While the poetic text and cumulative tale treatment pull readers along, the gorgeous colored pencil art will have little ones lost in the wonders of the natural world.

A Restricted View From Under The Hedge (In The Springtime) is a stunning collection of some of the finest contemporary poetry. Including new work from Chen Chen, D.M. Thomas, Robert Sheppard, Sophie Hannah, Mimi Khalvati, Bill Herbert, Megan Falley, Moniza Alvi, Sanjeev Sethi and Eileen Myles. Additionaly, it features, Brian Patten Talking to Eileen Carney Hulme Alison Lock Penny Rimbaud Paul Moss Matt Duggan Patricia Oxley Charlotte Begg Sandra Beasley S.A. Leavelsey Isabelle Kenyon Artwork From Moose

A baby blown out of an upstairs window by a WWII bomb lives to hear others tell the tale… A woman embarks on a long-term obsession with a city landmark, abandoning her lover for the Liver… A bricklayer working on the foundations of a never-built cathedral becomes its evangelist, its full splendour soaring only in his mind… Bringing together fiction from some of the city’s most celebrated writers, The Book of Liverpool traces the unique contours that decades of social and economic change can impress on a city. Set against key historical moments from the Second World War to the Capital of Culture year, these stories question what ‘belonging’ and ‘home’ mean in the Liverpudlian context, from the regenerated city centre to satellite suburbs, from the sparring cathedrals to the no-go concrete housing estates. Liverpool emerges in these short stories as a city in constant flux: haunted by ghosts, buoyed up by myths, and shifting with an ebb and flow like the Mersey itself. "A literary gem that will share a niche in my library with M.R. James and E. F. Benson..." - Metapsychology online Read review. "Words thrive here, carried on the saline breeze of the Mersey and twisted round agile tongues into sentences as resilient as the sandstone blocks in the Town Hall walls..." - The Liverpool Daily Post, 11 Jul 08 Read review.

"It all started with a scarecrow coming into the house out of the snow, bringing with him the mouse that lived up his sleeve. But it wasn't only these two who were looking for a warm place to snuggle up!"

Of all the poets writing today, Brian Patten is perhaps the most accessible and popular. Now his love poems, old and new, are collected together in his single volume.

''The Mersey Sound is an attempt to introduce contemporary poetry to the general reader by publishing representative work by each of three modern poets in a single volume, in each case the selection has been made to illustrate the poet''s characteristics in style and form''. With this modest brief, The Mersey Sound was conceived and first published in 1967. An anthology which features Roger McGough''s work, alongside that of Brian Patten and Adrian Henri (The Liverpool Poets), it went on to sell over half a million copies and to become the bestselling poetry anthology of all time.

A selection of Brian Patten''s best work over the last forty-five years, chosen by the poet himself. The earliest of these poems, ''Sleep Now'', was written when Patten was fifteen, the latest when he was sixty. Presented in rough chronological order, the selection includes a dozen new poems.

Roger McGough and Brian Patten have selected the very best of their animal poems in order to help two loveable monsters from outer space who visit Earth in search of a pet and need a bit of guidance...Split into sections, the monsters are introduced to animals that fly, swim, crawl and purr by two of our greatest childrens poets. Illustrated in Guy Parker-Rees'' lively and intimitable style.

A collection of eighty-four mostly humorous poems including "Cousin Lesley''s See-Through Stomach" and "The Silly Siposark."

A nine-year-old boy lives on the ninth floor of a high-rise tower block in a large, grim city. He hates it, but one day he discovers a small silver telescope that enables him to see the beauty in the world around him - from market stalls to the surface of the moon.

Age-range: 3+ 'One day a shy little creature looked at its reflection in a frozen pond. All it could see were its eyes. They were as big and bright as the moon…' But the little creature doesn't know who it is! And so starts an odyssey of a quest, from snowy icebergs to the dry savannah, from the polar bear to the little harvest mouse, as the little creature asks, 'Who am I?' But nobody knows - until the wise old owl is asked; he knows the answer, and the clue is in the title! A beautifully lyrical text from acclaimed poet Brian Patten is combined here with illustrations from best-loved animal artist Michael Terry.

The ancient Story Giant, collector and keeper of all the world''s stories, enlists the help of four children to find the one missing tale that will keep his collection from fading away.

A great new collection of poetry, wide-ranging in both form and subject matter. Full of Brian Patten''s wonderful wit and moments of beauty as in GERANIUMS IN THE SNOW: Like children snuggling down under a white duvet Slowly the red geraniums Vanish under the snow. Brilliantly complemented by Chris Riddell''s illustrations.

This picture book contains a collection of mouse poems.

This collection of poems is Patten''s eighth for adults. With its powerful opening section interweaving poems about the death of his mother and memories of his childhood with her, it is at one and the same time his most personal and universal collection.

A collection of poems spanning three decades of Brian Patten''s work. They are drawn from and replace a number of earlier collections to create a companion volume to Love Poems. The journey begins with a child in a playground and ends with an adult lamenting the loss of close friends.

Ben Norm and his sister Mary take care over their appearance. They like to look good, while fitting in with the rest of the kids at school. But their parents are impossible Dad has a scruffy ponytail and a nosering and Mum is a belly dancer who wears a fishnet bodystocking. Why can''t they be respectable like other kids'' parents? And how can they be stopped from totally mortifying Ben and Mary at Parents'' Day? But, when the big day arrives, there are surprises in store for everyone

When Danny Harris knocks over a witch, she puts a spell on his bike, and he's off on a non-stop journey around the world. Adapted from T̀he saga of the doomed cyclist'. Rhyming text suitable for reading aloud. 4-8 yrs.

Imaginative, poetic retellings of the well-known fables by Aesop. Some given an unexpected twist, others are the author''s own creations, follwing the fable precedent.