Puck of Pook's Hill (Wordsworth Children's Classics) - Softcover

Kipling, Rudyard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1853261386 ISBN 13: 9781853261381

Publisher: Wordsworth Editions, 1994

Synopsis

When Dan and Una stage a performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream in a fairy ring, they are astonished by the appearance of Puck in person. He explains that he is the last of the People of the Hills, who started as gods before descending into this world. Puck leads the two children in a series of extraordinary historical adventures in which they meet, Romans and Crusaders, Saxons and Vikings.

Kipling's charming songs and verses, including the famous Smuggler's Song are placed between each thrilling story. The book is beautifully illustrated by H.R. Millar.

About this title

From the Back Cover

Puck of Pook's Hill and Rewards and Fairies are classic children's books which speak powerfully to adult readers. Una and Dan, performing a scene from A Midsummer Night's Dream one Midsummer's Eve, accidentally summon Puck to a fairy ring near their Sussex home. Through Puck the children are witnesses to tales of English history, subtly called forth by Kipling's brilliant and fluid adventure writing. Kipling's historical imagination extends to a wide variety of stories, many of which blend the ghostly and the familiar, and often anticipate his later writing in their themes: a sense of loss and breakdown, but also healing. First published in magazines between 1906 and 1910, the stories were accompanied by some of Kipling's most famous poems, including 'If-' and 'The Way through the Woods'. This edition includes an introduction which dispels the myth that these stories are simply a nostalgic view of English history, discusses their relationship to other historical fiction, and relates them to Kipling's earlier and later writings.

About the Author

Nobel prize-winning writer Rudyard Kipling was born in Bombay, India, but returned with his parents to England at the age of five. Influenced by experiences in both India and England, Kipling's stories celebrate British imperialism and the experience of the British soldier in India. Amongst Kipling's best-known works are The Jungle Book, Just So Stories, and the poems Mandalay and Gunga Din. Kipling was the first English-language writer to receive the Nobel prize for literature (1907) and was amongst the youngest to receive the award. Kipling died in 1936 and is interred in Poets Corner in Westminster Abbey.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wordsworth Editions
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1853261386
• ISBN 13: 9781853261381
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224