- ID
- a96
- Title
- Achilles and Diana
- Genre
- Story
- Page Count
- 48
- Word Count
- 5070
- Publisher
- Dennis Dobson
- Franklin Watts
- Publication Year
- 1963
- Document Types
- Children's Literature
London: Dennis Dobson, 1963; New York: Franklin-Watts, 1964. Illustrations by Carol Barker.
The second of three children's picture books illustrated by Carol Barker (preceded by Achilles the Donkey and followed by Achilles and the Twins).The dust jacket states that unlike the first story, the writer/artist collaboration was more typical for this volume with the artist illustrating Bates's text.
Taking up where the first volume ended, Achilles falls in love with a she-donkey and a wedding is planned. After various escapes, the wedding occurs and, several months later, twin baby donkeys arrive. The New York Times finds that "when [Bates] writes for children he is oddly coy...[the] natural theme [of the story] handled with a mixture of fantasy and sidelong humor that is disconcerting..." The Times Literary Supplement concurs that "it is not a children's book. Mr. Bates has written a novelette, and his hero and heroine spend most of their time snozzing in the stable (which is asinine for snogging)."
Reviews:
- New York Times (May 17, 1964, p. BR26, Aileen Pippett, attached)
- Times Literary Supplement (November 28, 1963, Anthea Secker, attached)
