Twit and Howlet and the Balloon

About this book

Twit and Howlet are twins. They are the youngest members of the extended Owl family, who all live together in an oak tree called The Pines. After dinner one day, while the family are arguing around the T.V. downstairs, the twins clamber into the attic in search of an old cat trap. Cat's and owls are no longer arch enemies, so the trap has fallen out of use in the Owl household.

Up in the attic, amongst old clothes, boxes, an old pram and the other Owl objects that might-come-in-useful-someday, Twit and Howlet find what they are looking for. Mouse-shaped, made of metal, Twit realises the old cat trap is ideal for making an home-made hot air ballon.

After a trip to the local library, looking for books and plans and diagrams, Twit and Howlett set about making the balloon from scraps of fabric and old socks, shirts, some sand, bits of wool, an old apron and an even older umbrella that is perfect for a grapnel.

Join Twit and Howlet on their adventure when they leave the Owl family and their oak tree. What will they see floating high up and away through sunsets and rainstorms? Where will they will end up? The South Pole? Devon? Belgium?

The wonderful, eccentric ballooning adventure of the owl twins Twit and Howlet is from the imagination of Barbara Jones, an artist and writer now celebrated as one of the most influential champions of folk and vernacular art in Britain. First published in 1970, it became an instant classic, and this facsimile edition is a faithful reproduction of the original book.

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Biography

Barbara Jones (1912-1978) was born in Croydon, Surrey,where her family ran a high street saddlery. She studied at the Croydon School of Art and the Royal College of Art, in the footsteps of Edward Bawden, John Piper and Eric Ravilious. Like them, she was interested in the architecture, landscape and the folk and decorative arts of Britain. During the Second World War she was commissioned by The Pilgrim Trust to document historic buildings at risk from war damage. The paintings she produced were included in the landmark publication Recording Britain (1946-1949) and are now held at the Victoria& Albert Museum. She was a prolific illustrator of books, and wrote and illustrated several of her own, including Twit and Howlett, Follies and Grottoes and The Unsophisticated Arts.