I’ll be honest, I am a huge Chris Riddell fangirl so I am always going to love anything he’s illustrated. However, if you pair his illustrations with the the masterful writing of award-winning author Kevin Crossley-Holland and thrilling Arthurian legend. Well, then you have something really rather special!
‘The definitive retelling of the legends of King Arthur, from Carnegie Medal-winner Kevin Crossley-Holland and former Children’s Laureate Chris Riddell.
Be enthralled by the world of Arthurian legend in this lavishly illustrated, masterful retelling. From King Arthur’s childhood to his final battle, the timeless tales of the sword in the stone, the quests of the Knights of the Round Table and the wizardry of Merlin are woven together into a breathtaking feat of storytelling. An extraordinary collaboration between the world-renowned Kevin Crossley-Holland and the three-time Kate Greenaway Medal-winner Chris Riddell’
This truly is a stunning tome to be treasured and pored over. Readers who are new to Arthurian legend will immediately be drawn into the quasi-medieval world of King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. There is so much to explore and to discover both in text of the tales which has been carefully compiled from a range of sources, and in the intricate and often playful illustrations of Chris Riddell.
It wasn’t until I started reading this book that I realised just how little I knew of King Arthur’s story. Of course, I knew about The Sword in the Stone, and the Round Table, but knew relatively little about Arthur’s childhood or even about the seven trials. All of these stories and more are retold in glorious detail by Crossley-Holland and brought to life by Riddell’s gorgeous and often gruesome illustrations.
‘Arthur The Alway King’ would make an excellent Christmas gift and is special enough to be one of those books which is passed down through the generations. I can’t stress enough how fantastic this book is!
Library Girl.
*Many thanks to Walker Books for inviting me to be a part of this blog tour*
