The Beatryce Prophecy

Description

A magical medieval tale from two masters, Newbery Medal-winning Kate DiCamillo and Caldecott Medal-winning Sophie Blackall - a fantastical meditation on fate, love and the power of words to spell the world. We shall all, in the end, be led to where we belong. We shall all, in the end, find our way home. In a time of war, a mysterious child appears at the monastery of the Order of the Chronicles of Sorrowing. Gentle Brother Edik finds the girl, Beatryce, curled in a stall, wracked with fever, coated in dirt and blood and holding fast to the ear of Answelica the recalcitrant goat. As the monk nurses Beatryce to health, he uncovers her dangerous secret - one that imperils them all. And so it is that a girl with a head full of stories must venture into a dark wood in search of the castle of a king who wishes her dead. But should she lose her way, Beatryce knows that those who love her - a wild-eyed monk, a man who had once been king, a boy with a terrible sword and a goat with a head as hard as stone - will never give up searching for her. And to know this is to know everything.

Kate DiCamillo is one of America's most beloved storytellers, author of The Tale of Despereaux and Flora and Ulysses, both of which have been awarded the prestigious Newbery Medal; Because of Winn-Dixie, which received a Newbery Honor; The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, which won a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award; and the bestselling Mercy Watson series. Born in Philadelphia, she grew up in Florida and now lives in Minneapolis, USA, where she faithfully writes two pages a day, five days a week. Sophie Blackall has illustrated numerous books, including Deborah Noyes's Red Butterfly; Rukhsana Khan's Big Red Lollipop, a New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book; and Annie Barrows's bestselling Ivy and Bean series. Sophie lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Absolutely extraordinary. Every time I read a Kate DiCamillo book I'm blown away! Little Beatryce stole my heart [...] It lifted me out of lockdown and reignited a childlike wonder in the power of stories (and love) to change the world. It's a beauty of a book. * Abi Elphinstone * Everything she writes glitters with ideas [...] The Beatryce Prophecy, (is) a highly original tale [...] In the course of the story, written in a distinctive, compulsive style that sucks you in like a literary vacuum cleaner, DiCamillo, based in Minneapolis, raises big questions about the education of girls, the sort of world we want to inhabit, how we should live in it and what sort of qualities one should have to lead it. [...] DiCamillo has an inbuilt lightness of touch and a way with plot as Beatryce endeavours to return a sword to the king, free her mother from his tower and teach Jack how to read. * The Times * I fervently hope it reaches as wide a young audience as it deserves, to live as long inside them. * The Big Issue * The ingenuity of Kate DiCamillo's narrative is its ability to tell an engrossing tale while surreptitiously alluding to a multitude of philosophies. The prophecy above is one such multilayered highly nuanced example... With its inspired pacing, inviting, often audacious prose, and masterful illustrations, The Beatryce Prophecy is at once a thrilling, gripping and jolly read that chimes with the purpose, power and value of storytelling. And a whole heap more but I urge you to make that journey of discovery for yourself. * Dimity Powell *