The Story Giant

Publisher and industry reviews

Jacket review

'Patten brilliantly links fables and moraity tales from around the world!a timeless classic' Sunday Express Praise for Love Poems: 'He thinks and feels ferociously' Listener 'A magic ability to turn radiant imagination loose' The Times

UK Kirkus review

This enchanting collection of 50 tales from every corner of the world pays tribute to the mystical power of stories and storytelling - for without stories, the human race would be bereft of imagination. As the giant says at the start of the book: 'The light of imagination transcends decay.' Empires may rise and fall, men are born and are returned to the earth at death, but the power of the imagination lives on. At the start of the book, the Giant is incarcerated in his castle, alone and preparing to confront his death. For although he has heard every story since time began, there is still one story missing. He has been searching desperately for the story for many years, and as the book opens, he knows time is finally running out as his castle slowly collapses around him. Summoning his last ounce of strength, he calls four dreaming children to the castle from different parts of the world, in the hope that one of them may be able to tell him the elusive story. Spoilt Hasan, a diplomat's son from Riyadh, is used to a life of luxury and having servants at his beck and call, while Rani comes from an Indian background of unbelievable poverty. Betts has an alcoholic faded starlet for a mother and lives in a seedy LA flat and Liam lives in a boat off the Devon coast. As the four children begin their tales, it soon becomes clear that, despite their different backgrounds and cultures, many of their stories are remarkably similar. With a sad inevitability, the Giant loses his race to find that last story, but the book closes on a positive note. For the children realize that they are fundamental to the story, and they must work together to ensure that the story is finally told. The stories are woven into the framework of events in the castle as the four children desperately try to track down the final story. Patten's poetic language flows bewitchingly through the pages, conjuring up a vivid image of a castle crumbling inexorably as the giant gradually fades and decays before the children's eyes. The stories themselves are told in a variety of styles, and range from the humorous ('The Dragon Slayer's Mum'), to the well-known ('Brer Rabbit') to the strangely disturbing ('The Talking Skull').This is a book for dipping into again and again; the stories have stood the test of time, and will survive as long as readers have the imagination to experience them. Ages 6-9 (Kirkus UK)

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