The storybook knight

What's a knight's greatest power? Stories, of course! From the beloved author/illustrator team behind The Snatchabook comes the ultimate storytime book about castles, knights, dragons, and the power of stories!

Even dragons love a good story...

Leo was a gentle knight

in thought and word and deed.

While other knights liked fighting,

Leo liked to sit and read...

When Leo's mom and dad pack him off to fight a dragon, he takes a shield, a sword--and a pile of his favorite books. But can a story be as mighty as a sword?

This delightful rhyming story about books and the joy of reading is also perfect for kids who love dragon books, adventures, brave knights, and books about castles!

An Autumn 2016 Kids Indie Next Pick

A 2017-2018 SSYRA Jr. List Title

Praise for The Snatchabook:

#1 Indie Next Pick

"I dare you to try to read The Snatch-a-book silently to yourself. You can't do it. The book is so wonderful it demands to be read out loud. And besides, if you didn't read the book out loud, how would the Snatch-a-book hear it?"--Caldecott Medalist Brian Selznick

"This ever-so-sweet story begs to be read out loud." --Booklist

" The gorgeous illustrations are a perfect match for the lively text. This book is a fabulous fit for both storytime and one-on-one reading. Children will be begging for this book to be read to them every night-clever ones will claim they want to keep the Snatchabook happy." --School Library Journal

"The husband-and-wife team of the Dochertys have a winner in this heartwarming tribute to the essential role of bedtime reading in the lives of families." --Publishers Weekly

"The story is sweet and the illustrations darling." --Kirkus

"This whodunit with an uplifting ending will appeal to fans of How the Grinch Stole Christmas! . . . [it] celebrates bedtime reading as a ritual to be revered, and features a thief who merely wants to share in the fun." --Shelf Awareness Pro

Author Notes

Helen Docherty has spent most of her career as a language teacher, most recently specializing in Spanish. She lives in Wales with her husband and co-author, Thomas, and their two young daughters.
Thomas Docherty studied metalwork and sculpture at college before becoming an illustrator of children's book. He lives in Wales with his wife and co-author Helen and their two young daughters. His website is thomasdocherty.co.uk.

Reviews (1)

Publisher's Weekly Review

The duo behind The Snatchabook takes readers back to medieval times to meet Leo the mouse, "a gentle knight/ in thought and word and deed." Leo would rather read than fight, and readers first see him contentedly perched on a tree branch with his nose in a book while a melee unfolds in the valley below-a scene that brings to mind another happy pacifist, Ferdinand. Sent packing to fight a local dragon ("One morning Leo's parents said/ they'd like to have a chat./ There was nothing wrong with reading,/ but he couldn't just do that!"), Leo encounters three belligerent beasts-a pugilistic griffin, a ravenous bridge troll, and finally the fiery red dragon-and persuades them to become peace-loving bibliophiles by showing them that they are stars in the storybooks he's brought along. (With such a gift for handselling, Leo could easily make it work as a bookseller if the knight thing doesn't work out.) Helen Docherty's breezy rhyming and Thomas Docherty's lighthearted, imaginative cartooning make this a sweet, fresh take on the typical reading-is-fun tale, while also slyly nodding to our culture of personal celebrity. Ages 4-up. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Reviews (1)

Publisher's Weekly Review