Children's Fiction / Fantasy

Here's what Amazon.co.uk has to say:
Attractively packaged in an all-important shiny cover, and clocking in at just shy of 450 pages, Matthew Skelton’s debut novel is a substantial and impressive addition to the oeuvre of modern children’s books that many commentators say is undergoing something of a ‘Golden Age’.

Endymion Spring, feverishly sought after by many a publisher when it was completed and thrust forth upon the books community for acquisition, has catapulted its shy creator into a very large limelight. And it is attention richly deserved. It’s a well-written book that impresses from the beginning.

The author expertly interweaves two narratives with aplomb. The first tells of the adventures of 12-year-old Blake Winters, who is visiting Oxford with his academic mother and his kid sister, Duck. While their mum immerses herself in dusty academia, Blake feels trapped in the rarefied air of the college library until one day, while running his finger along a shelf, something pierces his finger, drawing blood. The biting book responsible is a battered old volume, with a strange clasp like a serpent's head--with real fangs. Printed on its front are two words: Endymion Spring.

The second part of the story takes place in 1452, in medieval Mainz, the German city where Johannes Gutenberg invented the first printing press to use movable type. It's the tale of Gutenberg's young apprentice, and the sacrifices he makes to keep a precious, dangerous dragon book from falling into the wrong hands.

The publishing industry loves a rags-to-riches story, and it hit the jackpot when Matthew Skelton, a penniless academic from Oxford, wrote a first novel that sold for huge sums of money. But Skelton has justified the investment in him by writing an intriguing, dramatic and suspenseful novel that cannot to fail to entertain all those who dare to pick it up.

(Age 10 and over)

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This book was presented on a children's television programme on literature that I stumbled upon... The presentation was focussed on "the power of words" - a theme this book seems to illustrate very well... I was so intrigued that I immediately ordered the English version (since I don't read translations when I can have the original) via amazon. I'm really curious...
TBR! :)

Very nice children's literature!!
Plus I found a great poem just because it's mentioned in this book (i.e. "Goblin Market" by Christina Rossetti)...
And the Gutenberg coat of arms does indeed contain a strange hunchbacked figure in a yellow coat...
:)

**** Permanent Collection ****

I think Almarna Tiaam would love the bit about leaf dragons - and also the library scenes. Maybe she'll read it some time...

Just got it from Anathema - thanks! I am looking forward to reading it, sounds very nice :)

Oh yes, this is a very good book. I''d love to have a leaf dragon in the Garden :) and according to Endymion Spring, there are two Cities of Dreaming Books in the UK: not only Hay-on-Wye, but also Oxford.

Thanks for sharing!

Back on my shelf and ready to be loaned out again. :)