A Box of Frogs: Illustrated idioms of birds and animals

What is an idiom? It's a turn of phrase designed to convey a meaning which is different from the literal meaning of the words. But this is a fun take on the subject. Artist and writer Steve Palin has combined another of his passions: his love of animals, birds and insects - to come up with a delightful book in which he has illustrated and explained his favourite wildlife idioms. Cat among the pigeons, big fish in a small pond, a kangaroo court - these idioms have inspired some of his joyous paintings in this book, each paired with his short explanation of how the term came to be used. Hours of fun guessing what the idiom depicted is, with the answer on the following page! AUTHOR: Steve Palin was born in Liverpool and has spent his working life in education as a teacher, headteacher and adviser. He has been publishing his artwork for nearly 35 years and has exhibited in the National Exhibition of Wildlife Art. His best-selling book, A Murmuration of Starlings, showcased the collective nouns of animals and birds in words and watercolours. He also wrote and illustrated The Anniversary Book which is a guide to the perfect anniversary gift. A trustee of the North Wales Wildlife Trust, he lives on Anglesey where he is developing a wildflower meadow to encourage wildlife. 50 colour illustrations

About the Author :
Steve Palin was born in Liverpool and has spent his working life in education as a teacher, headteacher and adviser. He has been publishing his artwork for nearly 35 years and has exhibited in the National Exhibition of Wildlife Art. His best-selling book, A Murmuration of Starlings, showcases the collective nouns of animals and birds in words and watercolours. He also wrote and illustrated The Anniversary Book which is a guide to the perfect anniversary gift and A Box of Frogs - illustrated idioms of birds and animals. A trustee of the North Wales Wildlife Trust, he lives on Anglesey where he is developing a wildflower meadow to encourage wildlife. He has a strong interest in butterflies and moths.

Review :

For something quirky, try A Box of Frogs by Steve Palin (£9.99). Idioms of birds and animals used in everyday life are explained, with fun illustrations gravity that can’t help but bring a smile to the face of the reader. Find out why we say ‘ants in your pants’, ‘kangaroo court’ or ‘let the cat out of the bag’ among other animal-related sayings.

It had been in my mind to write and illustrate A Box of Frogs for a long time! I can’t remember exactly when I became interested in the idiosyncrasies of the English language, but I do remember being fascinated, aged eight, by collective nouns in my primary school when the class had to match up a list of animals with its corresponding “nouns of assembly”. I had to get those out of my system first in A Murmuration of Starlings, the sister volume to A Box of Frogs.

The combination of “quirky” language, wildlife and painting has always inspired me. A Box of Frogs is not intended to be an academic work about etymological niceties and is unlikely even to be an exhaustive list of animal idioms themselves. Rather, it is just meant to be a bit of fun. Indeed, the way in which the name of the illustrated idiom doesn’t appear until the next page is turned allows it to be used as a quiz or puzzle. I am hoping people will like it as much as I do!

From 'cat among the pigeons' and 'kangaroo court' to 'a big fish in a small pond', and attractively illustrated collection of favourite wildlife idioms.