Fierce Bad Rabbits

What is The Tiger Who Came to Tea really about?
How is Meg and Mog related to Polish embroidery?
And why does death in picture books involve being eaten?

Fierce Bad Rabbits explores the stories behind our favourite picture books, weaving in tales of Clare Pollard's childhood reading and her re-discovery of the classic tales as a parent. Because the best picture books are far more complex than they seem - and darker too. Monsters can gobble up children and go unnoticed, power is not always used wisely, and the wild things are closer than you think.

'A gem . . . hard to put down. Thoroughly enjoyable' Spectator

'Essential reading for every thinking parent' Penelope Lively

'An enlightening, perceptive analysis of the books that build us' Sunday Telegraph, 5 star review

'A happy way to reconnect with old friends' Times

‘Pollard is a poet, and her prose is stunning . . . she writes with a joy that is luminous. Essential reading for anyone with a child, or who ever was a child’ - i

‘Most people's primal cultural memory is that of being read to by a parent. This is a phenomenon most sensitively and intelligently explored in Fierce Bad Rabbits’ - Daily Telegraph

‘Pollard so delicately enters into the world of [picture books] that the reader feels they are rediscovering once-loved landscapes’ - New Statesman

‘Delightful. As good a guide as you could hope for. It will make you think again about why you loved the children's stories that mean so much to you, and it will lead you to new discoveries too. . . A happy reconnection to the serious joys of childhood’ - Harper's Bazaar

‘Excellent’ - Daily Mail Book of the Week

‘A celebration of picture books and their artists to spark your own childhood memories’ - Evening Standard