Books with author Kevin Crossley-Holland

The ugly duckling who grew up to be a swan is the best-loved and most touching of all Hans Christian Andersens stories. Here, Kevin Crossley-Holland brings a poet's magic to a picture book version that cries out to be read aloud. Meilo Sos gorgeous paintings of farmyard animals, hunstmen, wild geese and swans are full of character and spirit and are set against wonderful scenes of the changing season. As for the ugly duckling himself, he has the pathos and charm to make this book irresistible.

This collection features tales from Europe, Africa and the Near and Middle East. There are familiar favourites, such as The Pied Piper of Hamelin and The Forty Thieves, which mingle with the surprising, such as Trousers Mehmet and The Deadman's Nightcap. Together they celebrate the manycustoms and beliefs in our world.* Reading stories drawn from a variety of cultures and traditions, together with myths and legends, is required for the National Curriculum Key Stage 2.

It is 1199 and young Arthur de Caldicot is waiting impatiently to grow up and become a knight. One day his friend's father, Merlin, gives him a shining piece of obsidian, and his life becomes entwined with that of his namesake, the Arthur whose story he sees unfold in the stone. In this many-layered novel, King Arthur is seen as a mysterious presence influencing not just one time and place, but many. The 100 short chapters are almost like snapshots, not only of the mythic tales of King Arthur, but the earthy, uncomfortable reality of the Middle Ages. Written in the direct, open voice of a real boy living in a time of uncertainty about the future, this story touches on the issues of war and peace, social inequity, religion, reason, and superstition.

The definitive collection of British and Irish folktales from master storyteller and poet Kevin Crossley-Holland.Rich and strange, these eerie and magical folktales from across Britain and Ireland have been passed down from generation to generation, and are gathered together in a definitive new collection from the master storyteller and winner of the Carnegie Medal, Kevin Crossley-Holland. Dark and funny, lyrical and earthy, these fifty stories are part of an important and enduring historical tradition that dates back hundreds of years. Described by Neil Gaiman as the "master", Crossley-Holland's unforgettable retellings will capture the imagination of readers young and old alike.