A curse from a witch decrees that a boy will never wake at night nor sleep during the day; while a girl is doomed never to sleep at night nor wake during the day, until a twist of fate brings them together.
The hero of the sun-drenched hours, he looks godlike with his golden hair aglow in the sun as he hunts the wild beasts of field and wood. Yet as the light flees at the onset of evening, his self-assurance and bravado fade with the light . . . and he finds himself beset by terrors he cannot reign. Then he discovers solace, in that terrifying night -- for within the depths of his fears he encounters a strange, beautiful creature who offers him comfort -- a girl, who is as much a creature of the dark hours as he is of sunlit days. Watching over both their lives is red-haired witch Watho -- who with guilt and malice in her heart first cares for the two youths -- then jealously plots their destruction!
George MacDonald (1824 -1905) was a Scottish author, poet and Christian minister. He was a pioneering figure in the field of fantasy literature and the mentor of fellow writer Lewis Carroll. His writings have been cited as a major literary influence by many notable authors including W. H. Auden, C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Walter de la Mare, E. Nesbit and Madeleine L'Engle. C. S. Lewis wrote that he regarded MacDonald as his master: Picking up a copy of Phantastes one day at a train-station bookstall, I began to read. A few hours later, said Lewis, I knew that I had crossed a great frontier. G. K. Chesterton cited The Princess and the Goblin as a book that had made a difference to my whole existence.
Target Age: 1-12
Aegypan
Pub Date: April 01, 2008
0.3" H x 9.0" L x 6.0" W
128 pages
paperback