While this is not related to CS Lewis directly, this following story does pertain to The Inklings, the group of Oxford professors and writers that included CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien, Charles Williams and others. As such this story deals with Tolkien. We received word from Marie King at Thames River Press that two new children’s fairy tales, authored by Michael Tolkien, the grandson of JRR Tolkien. As a bonus to all lovers of great books and great literature, the audio book versions will be narrated by Gerald Dickens, the grandson of Charles Dickens ( A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist, A Tale of Two Cities, and dozens of others.) You can read the press release bellow:
Thames River Press Publishes Fantasy Tales by Tolkien’s Grandson
The grandson of J.R.R. Tolkien collaborates with a descendant of Charles Dickens to bring to the public two new verse fantasy books for children.
Thames River Press, an imprint of Wimbledon Publishing Company, announced publication of two narrative fantasy books for children, Rainbow and Wish. Michael Tolkien is a British poet and the eldest grandson of the well-loved author of The Lord of the Rings. He sits on the board of the Tolkien Company and has published several volumes of poetry, but Thames River Press is proud to present his first narrative works, two fantasy tales for children.
The grandson of The Hobbit author was introduced to the tales of Florence Bone (1875–1971) as a child, and later read them to his own children. His desire to pay tribute to a now nearly-forgotten author led him to, as he says, “recreate the spirit of the original in new dress” and can be seen in his new narrative verse works Rainbow and Wish.
Rainbowfollows the journey of its heroine Grace as she explores the wonder of the natural world and tries to complete her journey to beyond the rainbow. Wish is a timeless story that weaves adventure, humour and vivid characterisation into a subtle moral tale as it tells the story of two children who set out to defeat a cunning enchanter who has cast their valley into shadow. These vivid reimaginings of children’s tales are accompanied by beautiful drawings and will appeal to children from the age of eight onwards – as well as to their parents.
The audiobook version will be available for both books as well. The audio version of Wish is narrated by Gerald Dickens, actor and descendant of Charles Dickens (author of the ‘Bleak House’ and ‘Oliver Twist’). Gerald Dickens described Wish as a “timeless story, which children will enjoy for years to come. Michael Tolkien has brought it to life in narrative verse.”
The two stories are to be published in autumn, after a launch at the Frankfurt Book Fair, and the non-English language rights will soon be available for sale. About Thames River Press Thames River Press is a multifaceted imprint of the Wimbledon Publishing Company dedicated to publishing original works of fiction, non-fiction and children’s books.
Personally, I think this sounds amazing, and I can’t wait to read them.
UPDATE: I just got word from Marie King at Thames River Press, and the books will see a November 1st release date in the UK and in the USA.
UPDATE 2 : I just heard from Marie King at Thames River Press, and the release date for both books has been pushed back to December 1st.