London Mums‘ book of the week is Storyland by Amy Jeffs. You’ve heard of Thor and Hercules, but what about British legends? Immerse yourself in myths and magic and uncover heroes and monsters right on your doorstep. In this beautifully illustrated mythology of Britain, children will discover enchanting tales of magic and adventure, giants and demons, princesses and prophecies.
Travelling across the wildest of landscapes – as far north as Orkney and south as Cornwall – young readers will build Stonehenge with the young Merlin, chase hounds up the mountains of Wales, ride stags into the forests of Scotland, and sail with Trojans along the rivers of Britain, discovering a land steeped in myth, monsters and heroes.
Adapted from Amy Jeffs’ beautiful and bestselling Storyland, this is a definitive and dynamic children’s introduction to Britain’s lost myths and legends for readers aged 9+.
The author
Amy Jeffs is an art historian specialising in the Middle Ages. In 2019, she gained a PhD in Art History from Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, having studied for earlier degrees at the Courtauld Institute of Art and the University of Cambridge. During her PhD Amy co-convened a project researching medieval badges and pilgrim souvenirs at the British Museum. She then worked in the British Library’s department of Ancient, Medieval and Early Modern manuscripts. She is now based in Somerset as a full-time author and artist print maker.
Her first book, STORYLAND: A New Mythology of Britain, was a Sunday Times Bestseller. By offering it here as a children’s book, she hopes to bring medieval stories to young readers, enabling them to populate a familiar landscape with goddesses, Trojans, giants, runaway servants and power-hungry kings.
Hachette Children’s Group is one of the largest children’s publishers in the UK, with an excellent track record in creating bestselling and award-winning books for children. The Group aims to cater for every child, with baby and pre-school books, picture books, gift, fiction, non-fiction, series fiction, books for the school and library market and licensed publishing and comprises the imprints Hodder Children’s Books, Orchard Books, Orion Children’s Books, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Quercus Children’s Books, Laurence King Children’s Books, Pat-a-Cake, Welbeck Children’s Books, Wren & Rook, Franklin Watts and Wayland Books.
The Group publishes a wide range of authors, illustrators, series and licences including: Alice Oseman, Cressida Cowell, Jim Field,Onjali Q. Raúf, Tim Peake, Rachel Bright, Dean Atta, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Marion Deuchars, Nina Chakrabarti, Adiba Jaigirdar, Alex Wheatle, Alexandra Bracken, Rosie Jones, Dr Ranj Singh, Benjamin Zephaniah, J.K. Rowling, Sinead Burke, Jacqueline Wilson,Juno Dawson, Leigh Bardugo, Matthew Syed, Bryony Gordon, David Almond, L. D. Lapinski, Lauren Child, Dermot O’Leary,Francesca Simon, Alex T. Smith, Zanib Mian, Giles Andreae, Guy Parker-Rees, Piers Torday, Rainbow Magic, Beast Quest, Kes Gray,Gabby’s Dollhouse and Jurassic World.
Hachette Children’s Group is also the publisher of author Enid Blyton, and the owner of Enid Blyton Entertainment.
