The Song of Seven
Published on 5. October 2017
Book
Paperback/Softback
352 pages
978-1-78269-142-6 (ISBN)
Description
A beautiful flapped paperback edition of this stand-alone adventure by the author of The Letter for the King
Deep in the woods, a young boy is kept prisoner by his uncle. He cannot meet other children, or have any friends. He holds the key to a secret.
Meanwhile, in a quiet village, Frans the schoolteacher invents stories of perilous deeds, shipwrecks, desert islands, and haunted castles to entertain his pupils. Then one stormy evening, a letter blows onto his doormat, summoning him to a meeting.
Suddenly, Frans is on a real-life mission, one in which he will encounter magicians, secret passages, conspiracies, hidden treasure and a sealed parchment which predicts the future.
He will learn the secret of the Seven Ways.
He will find seven allies.
And he will make a fearsome enemy. The adventure has begun...
Deep in the woods, a young boy is kept prisoner by his uncle. He cannot meet other children, or have any friends. He holds the key to a secret.
Meanwhile, in a quiet village, Frans the schoolteacher invents stories of perilous deeds, shipwrecks, desert islands, and haunted castles to entertain his pupils. Then one stormy evening, a letter blows onto his doormat, summoning him to a meeting.
Suddenly, Frans is on a real-life mission, one in which he will encounter magicians, secret passages, conspiracies, hidden treasure and a sealed parchment which predicts the future.
He will learn the secret of the Seven Ways.
He will find seven allies.
And he will make a fearsome enemy. The adventure has begun...
Reviews / Votes
A cracking adventure... so nail-biting you'll need to wear protective gloves * The Times * A magical, strange, gripping tale * Spectator * Draws the reader seductively along its spiralling paths... the language... is beautifully lucid, with a clear sense of playfulness and urgency... a wandering, winding ballad with occasional joyous percussion, to the spell of which the reader can't help but succumb * Guardian * A lovely present for a young person from 10 upwards and beyond to grown-ups who will be as enchanted as I was! * Reading Zone * Brilliant imaginative storytelling. It is full of eccentric characters and mystery, with a slight touch of humour. The Song of Seven is sure to go down as a classic in children's literature. It's only a shame it wasn't translated into English sooner * BookTrust * A fantastic new book from a legendary writer... gloriously written with tons of plot twists and turns, and a barrel-load of excitement * Read it Daddy (blog) * Enchanting... American readers finally have the chance to experience the many delights and peculiarities of Dragt's story... Dragt's tale is a curious, magical adventure that will appeal to those who love Tolkein and Lloyd Alexander * Booklist (starred review) * Dragt's twisty, light mystery tale has the charm of an old classic (which it is, having been published originally in Dutch in 1967). The pleasure in this whimsically Kafkaesque tale is in its unfolding... the slow reveals will keep the pages turning for fans of Elizabeth Enright and E. Nesbit * Kirkus * Whimsical and adventurous * Barnes and Noble Blog * An extremely cleverly constructed story * NBD Biblion * A fantastic story, exciting and mysterious * Chicklit.nl * The Song of Seven is an engaging adventure which twists and turns... The Song of Seven offers a challenging read for those who enjoy something a little different * North Somerset Teachers' Book Award * A riveting story * The Bay * Praise for The Letter for the King: A Sunday Times, Metro and Times Book of the Year; 'A true page-turner' Sunday Times; 'Thrilling' Daily Telegraph; 'A pulse-pounding epic' Metro; 'Spellbinding' Financial Times; 'A cracker' Spectator.Praise for The Secrets of the Wild Wood: A Daily Telegraph and Sunday Times Book of the Year; 'Action-packed drama' Daily Mail; 'Thrilling' Metro; 'A spellbinding tale that will appeal to the young and old' The Lady * . *
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Pushkin Press
Target group
Children/juvenile
Interest Age: From 9 to 11 years
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 128 mm
Thickness: 32 mm
Weight
343 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78269-142-6 (9781782691426)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Previous edition
Tonke Dragt
The Song of Seven
Book
11/2016
Pushkin Children's Books
€36.08
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Persons
Tonke Dragt was born in 1930 in Jakarta. When she was twelve, she was imprisoned in a Japanese camp during the war, where she wrote her very first book using begged and borrowed paper. After the war, she and her family moved to the Netherlands, where she became an art teacher. In 1962 she published her most famous story, The Letter for the King, which won the Children's Book of the Year Award and has been translated into sixteen languages; its sequel, The Secrets of the Wild Wood, followed in 1965, and both are published by Pushkin Press. Dragt was awarded the State Prize for Youth Literature in 1976 and was knighted in 2001.