James Riordan re-tells Charles Dicken's classic novel about a boy who is taken from his poor beginnings to be educated as a gentleman and his ultimate discovery of the identity of his mysterious benefactor. With illustrations by Victor Ambrus. James Riordan lives in Sussex. He did his National Service in the RAF and gained degrees from Birmingham, London and Moscow before working for several years in Moscow as a translator. Recently retired as Professor of Russian Studies at Surrey University, he has written several collections of folk-tales, a number or picture books and four novels. One of his many novels for young adults was a runner up for the Whitbread Children's Book Award. He is well-known for his outstanding retelling of classics. Other retellings in this series are "Gulliver's Travels", "King Arthur" and "The Wizard of Oz". Victor Ambrus lives in Surrey. He was born in Budapest, Hungary. At the Royal College of Art he achieved the position of 'Royal Scholar' in 1958. Now a freelance artist, he also teaches illustration and drawing and has been involved in the production of over seventy children's books for OUP. The Kate Greenaway Award has been twice won by him and in 1977 he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He has brilliantly brought to life the other classics in this series including "Moby Dick", "Gulliver's Travels", "Don Quixote", "The Odyssey", "King Arthur", "The Wizard of Oz" and "The Canterbury Tales".

 

This book was recognised in the Big Read Top 100 category by the Bbc Book Awards. It was recognised in the Big Read Top 20 category by the Bbc Book Awards.

There are 96 pages in this book. This is a picture book. A picture book uses pictures and text to tell the story. The number of words varies from zero ('wordless') to around 1k over 32 pages. Picture books are typically aimed at young readers (age 3-6) but can also be aimed at older children (7+). This book was published 2002 by Oxford University Press .

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was an English writer and social critic who is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. James Riordan has written many books for children, including many translations of Russian tales. His Peter and the Wolf is published in cloth and paperback by Oxford. Victor Ambrus is a well-known illustrator of over 300 children's picture books.