The Tale of Walter the Pencil Man by Ian McMillan

Ian McMillan and Tony Husband have worked together for many years, most recently on the comedy book Daft Yorkshire Fairy Tales (Dalesman, 2012; ISBN 9781855683105).

Their latest collaboration tells the more sombre story – in six-line rhyming stanzas – of a young lad from a Yorkshire pit village who finds himself caught up in the horrors of the First World War. Surrounded by terrible slaughter, Walter records the things he sees around him with only a pencil and some paper.

Ian McMillan presents The Verb on BBC Radio 3 every Friday night, and regularly appears on BBC Breakfast and BBC2’s Coast. His many books include the Smith/Doorstop pamphlet Ah’ve Soiled Ma Breeks! (2012; ISBN 9781906613808) and the verse autobiography Talking Myself Home (John Murray, 2008; ISBN 9781848540453).
Tony Husband, several times named Cartoonist of the Year, draws ‘The Yobs’ in Private Eye and has worked for theTimes, the Oldie, the Spectator and Punch, among others.