The Puppets of Spelhorst

From master storyteller Kate DiCamillo comes an original fairy tale, enchantingly illustrated, in which five puppets confront circumstances beyond their control with patience, cunning and high spirits.

Once, there was a king. And a wolf. And a girl with a shepherd’s crook. And a boy with a bow and arrow. And also, there was an owl... They were puppets, and they were waiting for a story to begin.

In this new work of short fiction by twice winner of the Newbery Medal Kate DiCamillo, exquisitely illustrated in black and white by Governor General Literary Award Finalist Julie Morstad, five puppets who find themselves together in an abandoned trunk are carried off into the adventure of a lifetime.

MEDIA REVIEWS

An exquisite little book… With lovely retro images and wisdom about friendship and adventure. - Children’s books of the year, The Sunday Times

This is a polished little gem… Atmospheric black and white drawings add to the short but absorbing drama. - Sally Morris, Daily Mail

This story is like a perfectly polished pebble. While other writers for children build extravagant worlds and create exhausting quests, Kate DiCamillo has done the opposite with her latest book, The Puppets of Spelhorst, taking all the big themes — love, loss, longing — and distilling them down, down, down to the beautiful, bare bones of a fairytale… It is quite unlike everything else. DiCamillo is a puppetmaster extraordinaire and such an effortless storyteller that you can barely see the strings… A playful, poignant and peculiar story that might just “break your heart and also heal it”. - Lucy Bannerman, The Times

An exquisite little book about five puppets in which a play they perform overlaps with their experience. With lovely retro images and wisdom about friendship and adventure. - The Sunday Times

A captivating and magical tale… The book has a fable-like quality, touching on ideas of belonging and destiny, it’s beautifully presented, too, with enchanting black and white illustrations throughout. - Juno