Charles Causley was among the very best of poets for children, which, of course, means that he was among the very best poets.
He was born during the First World War and lived to be 86 years old. Other poets have followed who also write verse which doesn't insult children's intelligence and emotional maturity, but he was the grandfather of them all. Kit Wright, John Mole, Carol Ann Duffy: all writers who have shown over and over again that just because a poem is simple to understand doesn't mean that it has therefore to be silly and trivial, owe him a debt of gratitude.
Causley's subjects cover a lifetime spent in one place: Cornwall. They blend a love of the natural world, especially that of the sea, with a mythical, fairytale streak to produce some dazzling poems which sometimes have a sinister or very sad edge to them. Many have the force and weight of folk songs or ballads. Everyone knows 'Timothy Winter' but there are many other marvels in this collection of all his verse written for children.
It's good to have such a cornucopia of poetry under one roof, so to speak and in paperback. John Lawrence is one of our most illustrious artists. His small and delicate pictures fit the poems beautifully and are placed in exactly the right relationship to them on the page.
Thanks to Macmillan for making this work available in this beautiful edition. It's a reminder of just how high Charles Causley set the bar for the writers who followed him.