The Robe of Skulls: The First Tale from the Five Kingdoms

(Paperback)

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Description

An exuberant, hilarious and wildly entertaining fairy tale with a cast of characters who are good, bad and very, very ugly.

All is not well in the crumbling castle high above the mountain village of Fracture. The sorceress Lady Lamorna has her heart set on a new robe. A very expensive new robe. To get the cash she will stop at nothing, including kidnapping, blackmail and more than a little black magic. But she reckons without the heroic Gracie Gillypot, not to mention a gallant if rather scruffy prince, two chatty bats, the wickedest stepsister ever, a troll with a grudge and some very Ancient crones.

Reviews

24-carat gold. I forgot reading could be this much fun. * Philip Ardagh *
This is a completely madcap adventure with an endearingly idiosyncratic cast of goodies, baddies and talking bats. For everyone who likes their fairy tales fast, fun and funky. * Publishing News *
A nice fat read for young readers who enjoy fantasy fairy tales mixed with a dose of Shrek-like humour and laced with suitably inventive and crazy characters * Carousel *
A good mix of adventure and humour. * Newbury Weekly News *

it is witty and surprisingly verbally sophisticated

-- Siobhan Parkinson * INIS *
If you're bored of princes and princesses doing the same old thing, then the Tales from the Five Kingdom series is for you. The Robe of Skulls is the kind of fairy tale you can really get your teeth into - the heroes are awesome and the baddies are even better. * The List *

Author Bio

Vivian French is a professional storyteller and an acclaimed children's author. She is the author of the Read and Wonder non-fiction books Caterpillar Butterfly (shortlisted for the Kurt Maschler Award) and Growing Frogs, as well as the bestselling Tiara Club series. Vivian lives in Edinburgh.

Ross Collins is an acclaimed author and illustrator, winner of the 1994 Macmillan Prize for Illustration. His popular children's titles include Germs, The Three Grumpies by Tamra Wright and the Little Hero series by John Grant. He lives in Glasgow.