Sunday Story - Bola the Magician

October's Sunday Story is 'Bola the Magician' magnificently illustrated by the talented artist Mike Hubbard.  More wonderful examples of his work can be found here and here.

This story appeared in 'Once Upon a Time' children's magazine.
Issue #128 published 24 July 1971.



The last time I featured a Sunday Story post I included a photo taken from my bedroom window the previous week (September).  This is what the garden looked like then (I'm repeating the photo here):

Two weeks ago I took another picture of the same view of the garden when the leaves were starting to turn gold (they are all gone now!):

Then I remembered that I had taken some photos from my bedroom window when we had some unseasonable snow in April. This is one I snapped then:

Now all I have to do is wait until Spring and I'll have all four seasons!

This time of year can be really pretty.  Here are a couple more photos I took yesterday when we had some lovely Autumn sunshine.  (Today its raining so I'm snuggled up in front of a fire!):

The birds (if you can make them out) are crows - they roost in the stone cottage at the entrance to the property.  During the day they fly around and sit in the tops of the trees.  They can be a bit rowdy but they have personality so I enjoy watching them.


My blog's new Title Picture is one I took of the swans I've included in a couple of posts, most notably Swans in the Green.  I adore swans (and it seems I'm not alone from some of the comments I've received) - they really are poetry in motion.  The young cygnets make such cute 'cheeping' sounds as well - it is really as if they are talking to each other.


I'm in two minds as to whether I should keep my new cursor 'wand'.  I like the fairy dust sprinkles so they will stay but as much as I enjoyed the idea of the wand at first now I'm not sure if it isn't just a bit irritating.  Let me know what you think.  If you find it annoying I'll take it away.

      

Success!! An Answer to my Inquiry

Mike Hubbard - Wizzie the Wizard

The Internet is a truly wondrous invention.  I'm old enough that I don't take it for granted and still marvel at the information it offers up.  Like all tools I know it can be used for both good and bad.  But so far my experience has been overwhelmingly positive.  Not only have I a wealth of knowledge at my fingertips, I've also come into contact with a wonderful group of people.  Blogging has really developed into an amazing community, linking us together across the globe.

A couple of days ago I posted an entry Can you help me identify this artist? in which I included a number of fairytale illustrations that have enchanted me since childhood.  Although I have enjoyed looking at them for many years I have never been able to identify the artist.  Last weekend I decided I would ask for help and put together a post with a selection of some of my favourite images.

Many thanks to everyone who commented on the post.  Amongst them was one from Barbara at March House Books Blog who came up with the inspired suggestion that I look at a blog called

 Bear Alley 
(There is also a sister site called Bear Alley Books.)

Mike Hubbard - The Magic Emerald

I decided to be bold and emailed Steve the owner of the site directly.  By amazing coincidence (although I have been peppered with so many 'coincidences' lately that I'm starting to wonder about them) the current entries on the Bear Alley blog all feature the same artist.  To be honest I would not have made the connection without being told as they are a different genre of comic strip.  But I have gone back to look at them in a different light armed with my new information.

Bear Alley is a magnificent blog for anyone like me who enjoys vintage British comics, books and magazines.  The blog contains a wealth of detail of the era of my childhood (and more besides.)  



This is the information Steve emailed back to me:

The artist you're trying to identify is Mike Hubbard who, by an amazing coincidence, is the artist of the strip currently running on Bear Alley!

Mike was a long-serving illustrator (1930s) and comic strip artist (post-WW2) with the Amalgamated Press/Fleetway/IPC, working on a number of comics and magazines. He was also the assistant to Norman Pett for some time (1946-48) before taking over Jane (of the Daily Mirror), which he drew in 1948-59.

The Look & Learn connection is certainly there: Coral Island is an old L&L strip from 1966. He drew a variety of strips for Once Upon a Time in 1971-72 and you might want to look out for copies of Pixie from 1972-73 where he adapted The Secret Garden and The Little Princess, both by Francis Hodgson Burnett.

These were all drawn towards the end of his career as he died in 1976.

I'm thrilled to have this information after all these years! A big thank you to Steve (and Barbara for the suggestion).  At last I can put a name to these lovely illustrations.

Mike Hubbard - The Magic Mirror