Barkbelly

Author: Weatherill, Cat

Brand: Penguin Random House

Edition: UK ed.

Binding: paperback

Number Of Pages: 352

Release Date: 25-04-2006

Part Number: 9780141318745

Details: Product Description


A fantastic epic and magical adventure story set in a beautifully realised world that's almost but not quite like our own. Barkbelly is a wooden boy, brought up by loving human parents, whose life falls apart when he accidentally kills one of his playmates and has to go on the run. His journey turns into a quest for his real home and his real mother, and takes in along the way the circus, fierce pirates and mysterious giant hedgehogs. Full of poetry, magic, and dark twists of fate, Barkbelly discovers what can happen when your dreams come true, but not in the way you expect.


Review


“This is a magical and moving debut.”
—The Times (U.K.)

“A glorious book . . . beautiful and touching.”
—The Observer (U.K.)

“Fresh and inventive.”
—The Children’s Bookseller (U.K.)

“A startling fresh voice in children’s books! Cat Weatherill is one of our great storytellers, vivacious and inventive.”
—Michael Morpurgo, Children’s Laureate (U.K.)

“A magical adventure . . . all these rich characters reflect real life but allow the reader to imagine the details for themselves.”
—Carousel (U.K.)


About the Author


Cat Weatherill is a performance storyteller, performing internationally at storytelling and literature festivals, on national radio and television, and at schools throughout the country. She lives in Wales with her musician husband. BARKBELLY is her first novel for children.


Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.


Chapter 1


Fish Patterson pulled out a grubby handkerchief and mopped his brow. It was still early, but already he could feel the heat rising. Sunbeams were dancing on the roofs in Pumbleditch.

I should be down at the river on a day like this, he thought, not stuck in a field with the oldies. But everyone had to help with the harvest. That was the rule. For two exhausting weeks, every Pumbleditcher had to sweat and heave and tie and truss until the fields were stubbly as chins.

His mates were already at work--if shoving wheat stalks down someone's shirt could be called work. Moth, Dipper, Log: they were all there, over on the far side of the field. Even at this distance Fish could hear Moth's protests. He was writhing around on the ground, shouting and laughing in turn. Poor Moth. Always the victim.

Fish felt someone tugging at his sweater, as if it weren't baggy enough already. He knew it was Little Pan Evans before he heard his voice.

"Fish! Fish!"

"What?" He looked down onto a face as eager as a puppy's.

"One of the harness rats is being real nasty," said Pan, hopping from foot to foot. "In the next field. I'm going to tell the lads." He sprinted away.

Fish thought for a moment. Did he really want to watch someone fighting a rat as big as a lion, with teeth like penknives and claws like daggers? Yes. Oh, yes!

Fish sped into the next field.

The harness rats powered the tractors. They were devils to handle if they were angry, and this morning one was. The handlers had it trapped in a corner of the field. They had ropes, but Fish could see that the rat wasn't going to be harnessed without a fight. It bared its teeth and gripped the earth with polished claws.

"He's wicked," said a familiar voice at his side. Moth Williams. "Look at those eyes. They'll never get him in the wheelcage."

"Course they will," said Dipper Dean, coming up behind. "They just need to get those ropes round his neck, then they can haul him in. They'll have to mind his tail, though."

The gang watched as the men positioned themselves. Boot Marlow, the head rat handler, was a brawny man with watery eyes and a beard like a hawthorn hedge. Next to him was Sock Samuels, a thin man with patched trousers and foul feet. And lastly, Rag Weaver, the youngest of the three--little more than a lad, with a thatch of yellow hair and a gap-toothed grin. He wasn't smiling now, though. He was terrified. The rope dangled in his hands like a dead adder.

"I think they should forget about the ropes," said Log Worthing,

EAN: 9780141318745

Package Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 1.1 inches

Languages: English