Most Popular Books by Brian Patten

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.

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.

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.

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.

''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.

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 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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.