A Box of Frogs: Illustrated idioms of birds and animals

(Hardback)

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Description

What is an idiom It's a turn of phrase designed to convey a meaning which is different from the literal meaning of the words. But this is a fun take on the subject. Artist and writer Steve Palin has combined another of his passions: his love of animals, birds and insects - to come up with a delightful book in which he has illustrated and explained his favourite wildlife idioms. Cat among the pigeons, big fish in a small pond, a kangaroo court - these idioms have inspired some of his joyous paintings in this book, each paired with his short explanation of how the term came to be used. Hours of fun guessing what the idiom depicted is, with the answer on the following page! AUTHOR: Steve Palin was born in Liverpool and has spent his working life in education as a teacher, headteacher and adviser. He has been publishing his artwork for nearly 35 years and has exhibited in the National Exhibition of Wildlife Art. His best-selling book, A Murmuration of Starlings, showcased the collective nouns of animals and birds in words and watercolours. He also wrote and illustrated The Anniversary Book which is a guide to the perfect anniversary gift. A trustee of the North Wales Wildlife Trust, he lives on Anglesey where he is developing a wildflower meadow to encourage wildlife. 50 colour illustrations

Reviews

For something quirky, try A Box of Frogs by Steve Palin (9.99). Idioms of birds and animals used in everyday life are explained, with fun illustrations gravity that cant help but bring a smile to the face of the reader. Find out why we say ants in your pants, kangaroo court or let the cat out of the bag among other animal-related sayings.

-- Lorna Mayberry * Festive Bookshelf, Countryside Magazine (NFU) *

Ithad been in my mindto write and illustrate ABox of Frogs for a longtime! I cant rememberexactly when I becameinterested in theidiosyncrasies of the Englishlanguage, but I do rememberbeing fascinated, aged eight,by collective nouns in myprimary school when theclass had to match up a listof animals with its correspondingnouns of assembly. I had to get thoseout of my system first in AMurmuration of Starlings, the sistervolume to A Box of Frogs.

The combination of quirkylanguage, wildlife and painting hasalways inspired me.A Box of Frogs is not intended to bean academic work about etymologicalniceties and is unlikely even to be an exhaustive list of animal idiomsthemselves. Rather, it is just meant tobe a bit of fun. Indeed, the way inwhich the name of the illustrated idiomdoesnt appear until the next page isturned allows it to be used as a quiz orpuzzle. I am hoping peoplewill like it as much as I do!

-- Steve Palin * Evergreen Magazine (This England) *

From 'cat among the pigeons' and 'kangaroo court' to 'a big fish in a small pond', and attractively illustrated collection of favourite wildlife idioms.

* The Bookseller, Language and Literature Books *

Author Bio

Steve Palin was born in Liverpool and has spent his working life in education as a teacher, headteacher and adviser. He has been publishing his artwork for nearly 35 years and has exhibited in the National Exhibition of Wildlife Art. His best-selling book, A Murmuration of Starlings, showcased the collective nouns of animals and birds in words and watercolours.He also wrote and illustratedThe Anniversary Book which is a guide to the perfect anniversary gift. A trustee of the North Wales Wildlife Trust, he lives on Anglesey where he is developing a wildflower meadow to encourage wildlife.