20 JUNE 1992, Page 53

No. 1735: Devant les enfants

I have been enjoying a long bygone history of the lives and works of great writers written for young children, in which the author has continually to resort to evasion, euphemism and distortion of facts. You are invited to supply an extract (maximum 150 words) from such a work sanitising a difficult subject, such as Villon, Marlowe, Poe, Wilde . . . Entries to 'Competition No. 1735' by 3 July.