Heartsong Synopsis
An orphan with no voice but an extraordinary musical gift. A man of music who discovers her gift. Heartsong is a spellbinding tale about the healing power of music, set against the mystery and beauty of Venice.
"Destined to be a future classic" Manchester Evening News
"This is a spectacular book... a quiet, heart-soaring triumph" Big Issue
"A very special present for music-loving readers" The Times
Abandoned at the orphanage in Venice as a baby, Laura has never spoken. Her life is transformed when the composer Vivaldi unlocks her passion for music. The seasons turn, dark turns to light and miracles happen.
Carnegie award-winning author Kevin Crossley-Holland makes every word a master stroke. This short novel is exquisitely illustrated by acclaimed artist Jane Ray. Her work is inspired by Vivaldi's Four Seasons and the real girls and boys who lived and laughed and worked in the Venetian orphanage.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781408336076 |
| Publication date: |
6th October 2016 |
| Author: |
Kevin Crossley-Holland |
| Illustrator: |
Jane Ray |
| Publisher: |
Orchard Books an imprint of Hachette Children's Group |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
128 pages |
| Suitable For: |
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| Other Genres: |
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Kevin Crossley-Holland Press Reviews
This is a spectacular book ... it is part social history, part mystery and part haunting love story ... A quiet, heart-soaring triumph The Big Issue
Ray's illustrations are exquisite. A very special present for music-loving readers aged seven and above The Times
Award-winner Kevin Crossley-Holland is a beautiful writer and this haunting story is simply stunning. Destined to be a future classic, it is complimented by the exquisite illustrations by Jane Ray Manchester Evening News
Crossley-Holland's limpid prose matches Ray's diaphanous watercolour images perfectly, evoking 18th-century Venice in all its gaudy grandeur and bringing to life someone who would not otherwise have been even a footnote in history Financial Times
A ravishing object and a touching poetic tale ... Altogether lovely The Sunday Times
This is a jewel of a book carefully crafted by two experienced master storytellers who have worked together to create a memorable life affirming story based around the power of music to transform lives. The Letterpress Project
Vivaldi's Four Seasons provides the background to an elegant story of a mute girl's discovery of her voice. Irish Times
A lovely curiosity ... This is Kevin Crossley-Holland's take on her story, with poinant, detailed drawings by Jane Ray The Spectator
This very special short novel is a work that could surely unlock poetry in the soul of the most pragmatic reader Teach Primary
About Kevin Crossley-Holland
Kevin Crossley-Holland was born in 1941 in Mursley, North Buckinghamshire, and grew up in Whiteleaf, a village in the Chiltern hills of western England. He attended Oxford University, where after failing his first exams, he developed his passion for Anglo-Saxon literature. After graduating, he was the Gregory Fellow in Poetry at the University of Leeds, and from 1972–1977, he lectured in Anglo-Saxon for the Tufts University of London program. He worked as a children's book editor while beginning to write his own poems and reinterpretations of medieval legends. He has also taught for extended periods in America. He now lives in Norfolk, England.
Kevin Crossley-Holland has published six volumes of adult poetry and several libretti for opera. In the world of children's books, he is best known for his numerous retellings and anthologies, and in particular his version of Beowulf. "Storm," his novella, won the Carnegie Medal in 1985.
More About Kevin Crossley-Holland
