I posted about this earlier in the year; now d-day has come. My friend Marcus Gipps, who in his day job is a publisher at Gollancz books, decided to be a publisher in his spare time as well. He’s collected together all six books in the Uncle series by J.P. Martin. These are an extraordinary series of children’s novels which first appeared in the 60s and 70s but have since fallen out of print. However, they have picked up a strong cult following in the intervening years. Marcus tells me that cheaply produced copies of the last couple of novels have changed hands for hundreds of pounds.

Marcus’s “The Complete Uncle” is a beauty of book – cloth binding, all the original Quentin Blake illustrations scanned in afresh, and additional material from Neil Gaiman, Martin Rowson, Will Self, Richard Ingrams, JustinPollard, Garth Nix, Kate Summerscale and (I think you’ll see what I’m building up to here) Andy Riley. I’m drawn Uncle, the elephant who is the main character of the books, as I see him.

Most copies have already been sent out to the backers of Marcus’s kickstarter, but there’s a few left over for general retail. These are being sent out to Waterstones, British Amazon, and some independent bookshops too. These six books are some of the most beautifully imaginative and funny fiction I’ve read in ages.

here’s where to find out more about uncle…

and here’s a link to buy a copy (at a very nice price)