Every so often a little gem lands on a reviewer’s desk, and here it is – roll of drums – my 2024 little gem: Flying Poets & Other Storytellers – F.L. Ying, in which we have a range of authors, from nine year old twins through to published authors, including F. L. Ying who is author of the fascinating The Ancestral Quest (writing as F.G. Kwong – yes do read it, it’s riveting) and a YA novel ‘A Dangerous Riddle of Chance‘ ( you will note that some of F. L Ying’s poems in the anthology relate to this novel).
In Flying Poets and other Storytellers as F. L. Ying tells Frost Magazine, the topics covered are Love Lost, Love Regained, Grief, Regret, Despair and Hope Restored. I found it unputdownable, and, cat lovers or not, you will all enjoy the odes to the family cat.
And then, oh lord, so many, but tell me, did you know there is the correct way of ordering in a Chinese takeaway? No? Read he Ultimate Takeaway. And then The Mad Hatter’s Tea Rooms both by F. L. Ying.
What about Computers by Simon Holder, which made me laugh. Ian Stuart’s Sculpting with Words which resonated, oh yes it did. Then to the twins: Sweet Music from Saskia, then Aleskia’s Diary – Samson. Oh but what happened? I so want to know. Did Samson really go to a breeder, or was he saved at the last moment?
Emotions were explored with, on the one hand delicacy and on the other robustly, but it was the addition of the illustrations that in my view makes this book especially memorable, they are glorious in their vibrancy, and the photography is ethereal – oh, the image of the magnolia. These illustrations and images are by Tanya Ying, Alexia Young, Saskia Young and Caroline Stuart.
F. L. Ying explained: ‘Alexia and Saskia Young, aged nine, not only illustrated their own work, but also that of the other contributors in this anthology, such as on pages 12, “Roses”: 69, “Temptress”: 83, “Butterfly Whisperers”: 103 -104, “A New Beginning”: 249, “Galapagos”. Alexia (then aged eight) also contributed copies of her paintings of the “Bouquet of Flowers” to welcome potential readers and the abstract, “ The Magical Art of Words” as well as the logo, “Boodles the Flying Cat”.
He also touched on the children’s inspirational teachers at their State School, Hampton Junior School. Now, that’s really wonderful as is the collection – one to keep, to dip into again and again. Flying Poets & Other storytellers – £10.99 ISBN