Eight stylish hardbacks celebrate women of art and literature for the 30th anniversary of Virago’s Modern Classics (November). The cover artwork is by influential 20th Century textile designers, and some of the titles are A Far Cry from Kensington (Muriel Spark), 84 Charing Cross Road (Helene Hanff), and A Game of Hide and Seek (Elizabeth Taylor).
    The Brown family first meet Paddington Bear at Paddington Station. He has travelled all the way from Peru, and
makes an exciting impact on the family. The 50th Anniversary Edition of A Bear Called Paddington (HarperCollins, December) is illustrated in full-colour and unabridged. It also features collector-worthy artwork from Peggy Fortnum, the original illustrator, which was previously unpublished.
    The most memorable speeches since 1945 are collected in In Our Time (ed. Hywel Williams, Quercus, February). There are speeches and biographies of political figures and revolutionaries such as Mandela, Mao, Churchill, Kennedy, and as recent as Clinton and Obama. Some are celebratory, some defensive, some changed the shape of the world.
    UQP is re-releasing Ruth Park’s eco-fantasy My Sister Sif (February) as part of its Chi ldren’s Classics range.

This article from Thorpe Bowker's Weekly Book Newsletter and Media Extra is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2008, Thorpe-Bowker

Tags: elizabeth taylor, helene hanff, hywel williams, michael bond, muriel spark, ruth park