The Story Giant - Tapa dura

A large-format, colour edition of this magical novel which weaves together over fifty world tales – of immense appeal to both adults and children.

One day a story fell from heaven and landed on a giant’s tongue... ’

The Story Giant is a master illusionist and the ur-storyteller. In his memory exists every tale ever told in the world – except for one, which has eluded him for millennia.

In a last desperate attempt to track down this lost tale, he draws four children from the different corners of the globe into his castle while they sleep, there to exchange the tales they know from their own cultures, to see if between them they can piece together the elusive missing story. For if he cannot track it down and install it in his memory, the whole facade of the castle will crumble and fall, and the Story Giant himself will die. And if he does, so will all the stories, and the world will be a poorer, duller, grimmer place.

Fifty tales are told within this magical framework in Brian Patten’s inimitable style – from Bruh Rabbit to the tale of how St George killed the Dragon (except it wasn’t St George – it was his mother, with a pudding... ) but none of them are the missing tale. The castle falls; the giant dies. But all is not lost – the four children dream themselves back to the ruins to concoct the missing tale themselves...

The Story Giant woke and sniffed the air. Children had come again...

THE STORY GIANT has spent centuries gathering every story ever known for safe-keeping. But one story is missing – a story that has eluded him for thousands of years. In his remote moorland castle he has woven an illusion of ruins to protect himself from the prying eyes of mortals. But if the Story Giant cannot find the missing story before he dies, the castle will crumble to dust and all the stories will be lost forever.

When four children from different parts of the world dream their way into his castle, the Story Giant feels hope. He weaves them into one unifying dream and, as the night passes, they all share stories from their different backgrounds. As tale after tale unfolds, the children learn something about the nature of stories, and about themselves. But will one of the children tell the missing story – the story that holds the key to the Story Giant's future?

Brian Patten has skilfully blended an original, magical tale with recreated fables and morality tales from all over the globe. Together with Chris Riddell's wonderfully inventive illustrations, this is a classic work that will entrance children and adults alike for generations to come.