LA CORONA AND THE TIN FROG.

London, Cape, 1979.. FIRST EDITION 1979, 4to, 270 x 210 mm, 10¾ x 8¼ inches, colour illustrated glazed boards, (32) pages. Exquisite coloured illustration throughout featuring old toys and objects hoarded and forgotten by children (who do not appear in the book). No inscriptions, book a touch leaning (see image), otherwise a Fine bright unread copy (issued without dustwrapper). Three wonderful tin toys, a frog, a mounted Red Indian and a crocodile on wheels come to life and live out romantic fantasies, a spinster mouse edits a literary journal and a wizard works spells from inside a little glass topped puzzle toy. Amazing magic happens when the old clock manages to arrest its mechanism at exactly midnight. The fascinating story is beautifully and simply told but seems rather sophisticated for young children. The stories were first published in Puffin Annual 1974. MORE IMAGES ATTACHED TO THIS LISTING, ALL ZOOMABLE, FURTHER IMAGES ON REQUEST. POSTAGE AT COST.