The General by Michael Foreman and Janet Charters
This is Michael Foreman’s first book, written by his then wife Janet Charters, and it sets a course he has followed for sixty years of illustrating and creating children’s books, often with a theme of peace.
General Jodhpur would really like to be the most famous general in the world, until one day a fox startles his horse. Flat on his back in the grass, the general discovers nature. Mission reboot! But he does become ‘the most famous general in the world’ after all.
Published first in 1961, it transmits a feeling of opening up, partly thanks to the cheaper colour printing then becoming available, but that would be nothing without an exuberance of spirit both author and artist brought to their work. They offer a vision of what can be, and don’t retreat from it.
