The Seeing Stone: Book 1 (Arthur) - Softcover

Crossley-Holland, Kevin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0752844296 ISBN 13: 9780752844299

Publisher: Orion Children's Books, 2001

Synopsis

Medieval life meets Arthurian magic in a novel that transcends boundaries of time and age, appealing to children of 9+ and older readers alike. The winner of the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize and the Smarties Prize bronze award in 2001, this timeless novel is stunningly reissued for a new generation.

The year is 1199, the place the Welsh Marches. Young Arthur de Caldicot is given a magical shining stone in which his legendary namesake is revealed. In 100 short chapters that brilliantly evoke life in a medieval manor, stories of the boy King Arthur begin to echo - and anticipate - the secrets and mysteries that emerge in his own life . . .

"As bright and as vivid as the pictures in a Book of Hours. Deep scholarship, high imagination, and great gifts of storytelling have gone into this; I was spellbound." - Philip Pullman, The Guardian

About this title

About the Author

Kevin Crossley-Holland won the Carnegie Medal in 1985 for Storm. His many notable books for adults and children include poetry, classic retellings and anthologies. He has written and presented many BBC radio programmes and is a frequent speaker at schools and libraries. For some years he held a university post in Minnesota and he is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. The Seeing Stone won the prestigious Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, At The Crossing-Places won a Silver award at the SWPA Spoken Word Awards and Gatty's Tale was shortlisted for the 2008 Carnegie Medal.

From the Back Cover

Set in the Welsh Marches in the year 1199, The Seeing Stone is a uniquely contemporary take on the Arthurian legends. It is an enthralling story of secrets and mysteries in the life of young Arthur de Caldicot, who discovers his namesake, the boy King Arthur, in his seeing stone.

In a hundred short chapters that seem like snapshots of the past, The Seeing Stone brilliantly evokes the earthy, uncomfortable reality of daily life in the Middle Ages, and of a whole community - from Gatty the reeve's daughter to Tanwen the chamber-servant, from Oliver the priest to Lady Alice, keeper of a terrible secret - facing the conflicts and uncertainties of a new century.

The Seeing Stone is the first volume in the Arthur trilogy.

Edition details

• Publisher: Orion Children's Books
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0752844296
• ISBN 13: 9780752844299
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352