Books with author Holland K Crossley

An orphan with no voice but an extraordinary musical gift. A man of music who discovers her gift. Heartsong is a spellbinding tale about the healing power of music, set against the mystery and beauty of Venice."Destined to be a future classic" Manchester Evening News"This is a spectacular book... a quiet, heart-soaring triumph" Big Issue"A very special present for music-loving readers" The TimesAbandoned at the orphanage in Venice as a baby, Laura has never spoken. Her life is transformed when the composer Vivaldi unlocks her passion for music. The seasons turn, dark turns to light and miracles happen.Carnegie award-winning author Kevin Crossley-Holland makes every word a master stroke. This short novel is exquisitely illustrated by acclaimed artist Jane Ray. Her work is inspired by Vivaldi's Four Seasons and the real girls and boys who lived and laughed and worked in the Venetian orphanage.

Of all the characters in THE SEEING STONE and AT THE CROSSING-PLACES, it is Gatty the village girl - steadfast, forthright, innocent and wise - who has won the hearts of readers. This is her story. Gatty, who has never been further than her own village, is picked by Lady Gwyneth of Ewloe to join the band of pilgrims accompanying her to Jerusalem. The journey is fraught with danger and uncertainty, but opens Gatty's eyes to new wonders and transforms her. A joyful, heartrending, triumphant novel, packed with incident, teeming with characters, and a long-awaited treat for the many readers who want to know what happened to Gatty after the Arthur trilogy. This ambitious novel creates a magnificently vivid and realistic picture of life and times in the Europe of 1202.

Once and future. Twice and past. A remarkable Arthurian saga begins . . . in a fantastic mass market edition with high crossover appeal. The year is 1199 and on the borders of England and Wales young Arthur de Caldicot waits impatiently to grow up and become a knight. One day his father's friend Merlin gives Arthur a shining black stone - a seeing stone - that shows him visions of his namesake, King Arthur. At first, there seems to be no connection between Arthurs past and present. Manor life for Arthur de Calidicot is a complex struggle of terrible secrets and haunting jealousies. Nothing like the red and white dragons, or the sword in the stone. And yet . . . there is something binding the two Arthurs together.

The breathtaking new adventure from the bestselling and multi-award-winning Kevin Crossley-Holland. One morning Solveig wakes to find her father has broken his promise. Halfdan, a Viking mercenary, has followed the young warrior Harald Hardrada to Miklagard (Constantinople), where he is leader of the Empress's guard.Solveig sets off in a tiny boat to find him. So begins a fierce journey of discovery and survival, where the young Viking girl will meet a ghost ship and befriend an English slave, shoot rapids, survive an arrow storm, and witness a living sacrifice. Will Solveig reach Miklagard? And will her father be there?Bracelet of Bones is a glittering novel about fathers and daughters, the clash of religions, courage and self-reliance and a perilous journey to young womanhood.

This is a collection of 35 folk tales from all over the world. You'll meet ghosts, spirits, robbers, princesses, sharks, and tigers, wealthy sultans and hungry peasants, fair maidens and cackling witches, rainbow birds and laughing fish. The stories are romantic, funny, sad, exciting, miraculous, and exotic. They vary in style and content, from the familiar "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" and "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves," to the surprising, such as the Yoruba tale "Onieye and King Olu Dotun's Daughter". The stories are arranged by place of origin, covering all five continents. We circle the world, moving from one country to another, and travel through history, from long-past centuries to a place where time has no meaning. And through it all we are moved from tears to laughter, from fear to hope and understanding. The volume is copiously illustrated with handsome black-and-white illustrations.

Crossley-Holland, a winner of the Carnegie Medal, the Guardian Children's Fiction Award, the Smarties Prize Bronze Medal, and the Tir Nan-Og Award, and numerous other distinctions, has written an absorbing fantasy novel for young adults with a formidable heroine. The Guardian praised Bracelet of Bones as "superb" Crossley-Holland writes "with a poet's eye and love of words, painting a vivid picture of the world his characters move through, whether it's the morning mist on the river or the smoke from a funeral pyre." One morning Solveig wakes to find her father, Viking mercenary Halfdan, has broken his promise to her by leaving to join the Viking Guard in Constantinople, without her. Deciding to follow him, Solveig sets off in a tiny boat and into an epic adventure, encountering Swedish traders, a ghost-ship and a Russian king, braving arrow-storms and witnessing a living sacrifice. Through it all, Solveig's belief in her father is unwavering. Will she ever reach Constantinople? And will her father be there? An imaginative and poignant novel that explores friendship and betrayal, the father-daughter relationship, the clash of religions and the journey from childhood to adulthood, Bracelet of Bones is a vivid adventure not to be missed.

Kevin Crossley-Holland's award-winning Arthur trilogy comes to its triumphant and moving close -- now in paperback!Arthur de Caldicot waits eagerly in Venice for the start of the Fourth Crusade. But it's now, when Arthur's future should be clearest, that he feels the most doubt. Jealousies and greed threaten the Crusade, leading him to question its true mission. Back in England, his engagement to Winnie remains uncertain, as his search for his birth mother is stymied by his vicious father. And his seeing stone shows him the last days of King Arthur's court -- a great dream destroyed, but also a glorious legend rising from the ruins. Likewise in this book, Arthur becomes a man worthy of his kingly name.

Of all the characters in The Seeing Stone and At the Crossing-Places, it is Gatty the village girl - steadfast, forthright, innocent and wise -- who has won the hearts of readers. This is her story, written down at her behest by her childhood friend and hero, Arthur de Caldicot. Gatty's dream is to follow Arthur to Jerusalem - though she has not even understood that Jerusalem is farther away than Ludlow, and across the sea. As he sets out on the crusade, Gatty, unknown to him, follows. Her extraordinary journey on foot across Europe and towards the east makes a marvellous medieval adventure story. Separate from the Arthur trilogy, this ambitious novel picks up many of its strands and characters but leaves fantasy behind to create a magnificently vivid and realistic picture of life and times in the Europe of 1202.

It is 1036. Halfdan is a Viking mercenary who is determined to travel to Constantinople and become one of the Viking Guard serving Empress Zoe. He promises to take his daughter, but one morning Solveig wakes up to find him gone. Setting off in her own tiny boat, she is determined to make the journey from Norway to the breathtaking city. Her boat is washed up, but Solveig is undeterred. What awaits Solveig as she continues on her summer journey across the world? She finds passage with Viking traders, witnesses the immolation of a young slave girl and learns to fight. She sees the clashes between those who praise her Norse Gods and the new Christians. In this perilous and exciting world, a young girl alone could be quickly endangered or made a slave. Will Solveig live to see her father again, and if she survives, will she remain free? A glittering novel that explores friendship and betrayal, the father-daughter relationship, the clash of religions and the journey from childhood to adulthood.

An orphan with no voice but an extraordinary musical gift. A man of music who discovers her gift. Heartsong is spell-binding tale about the healing power of music set against the mystery and beauty of Venice. "A very special present for music-loving readers" The Times "Atmospheric" The Times Abandoned at the orphanage in Venice as a baby, Laura has never spoken. Her life is transformed when the composer Vivaldi unlocks her passion for music. The seasons turn, dark turns to light and miracles happen. Carnegie award-winning author, Kevin Crossley-Holland makes every word a masterstroke. This short novel is exquisitely illustrated by acclaimed artist, Jane Ray. Her work is inspired by Vivaldi's Four Seasons and the real girls and boys who lived and laughed and worked in the Venetian Orphanage.

Once and future. Twice and past. A remarkable Arthurian saga begins . . . in a fantastic mass market edition with high crossover appeal.The year is 1199 and on the borders of England and Wales young Arthur de Caldicot waits impatiently to grow up and become a knight. One day his father's friend Merlin gives Arthur a shining black stone - a seeing stone - that shows him visions of his namesake, King Arthur. At first, there seems to be no connection between Arthurs past and present. Manor life for Arthur de Calidicot is a complex struggle of terrible secrets and haunting jealousies. Nothing like the red and white dragons, or the sword in the stone. And yet . . . there is something binding the two Arthurs together.