* The wit and wisdom of 30 old birds - beautifully produced with 50 original illustrations by the much-loved author/illustrator of Cloudland, Grandpa and Mr Gumpy's Outing John Burningham has provided us with the panacea to take the sting out of advancing years. Reading his book makes you almost want to get into the state of being an "older person". It should be read by everyone over thirty' Richard Wilson, actor 'A rich selection of ponderings from the famous and not-so famous ... illustrated with John Burningham's poignant drawings' Daily Mail

"It's a law of script writing that scenes get shorter and the action speeds up towards the end. In childhood, the afternoons spread out for years. For the old, the years flicker past like the briefest of afternoons. The playwright Christopher Fry, now ninety-three, told me that after the age of eighty, you seem to be having breakfast every five minutes. These film scenes, building to an inevitable climax, tend less to tragedy than farce. Dying is a matter of slapstick and prat falls. The ageing process is not gradual or gentle. It rushes up, pushes you over and runs off laughing. No one should grow old who isn't ready to appear ridiculous.

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