REVIEW: Puddletown Tales by Gretel Parker

I have known the very talented Gretel Parker for a few years now, we met in a virtual sense in a little online group for illustrators, where I was hoping to get my illustration career off the ground once and for all and Gretel was doing beautiful watercolours of vintage toys and telling tales of faraway lands. One of the things I remember her saying back then was how she dreamed of getting a children's book published, so I was delighted when two of them arrived at my door.

Puddletown Tales are a series of children's books that feature photographs of Gretel's handmade needlefelted characters in settings of her own watercolour artwork.

Peggy's Lost Pennies and Mrs Mouse's Cupcakes are both tales that hark back to simpler times; adults who read these to their little ones will instantly know what I mean. Those of us who grew up reading Enid Blyton etc. will instantly be transported back to being 5 years old but the stories are also very contemporary and I dare any youngster not to be excited by the colourful pages, the cutest characters and the 3D theatre-like scenes on each page.

Even my daughter who is a little old for them now loves them and the text is very child friendly. Perfect for both preschoolers and those learning to read who still need a little help these are books they can cherish and grow with. Real treasures that are so hard to come by in this pink and plastic world.

So much so we are pleased to offer the books to two lucky readers of UK Handmade. Gretel will also include a signed postcard with a pin badge!

To win a book and postcard all you need to do is leave a comment below telling us what motif Gretel puts on all her toys and two lucky winners will be picked at random from the correct answers. Comments will remain hidden until after the giveaway is closed at midnight Tuesday 6th December - good luck!

For full terms and conditions of our giveaways please refer to the promotions section on the terms page.

To see more of Gretel's work visit her blog http://allaroundus.blogspot.com/ and shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/redflannelelephant?ref=seller_info

Peggy's Lost Pennies and Mrs Mouse's Cupcakes are published by Templar Publishing ISBN 978-1-84877-377-6 and ISBN 978-1-84877-281-6