The beguiling story of a lonely girl who befriends a 300-year-old mole who tells a terrific tale of old.
The beguiling story of a lonely girl who befriends a 300-year-old mole who tells a terrific tale of old.
When Bet is first asked to go into the meadow and read a passage aloud from a book – apparently to no-one – she wonders why. But then she realises that her audience is a little mole, who listens attentively. This isn't just any mole. This mole can speak, he is more than 300 years old and he has an amazing tale to tell.So begins an extraordinary friendship between a lonely little girl and The Little Gentleman in Black Velvet.
'A deeply moving meditation on the transience and mutability of childhood.' -- The Guardian
'... written with elegance and wisdom ...' -- Sunday Times
Philippa Pearce was an English author of children's books. Her most famous work is the time slip fantasy novel Tom's Midnight Garden, which won the 1958 Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's outstanding children's book by a British subject. Pearce was four times a commended runner up for the Medal.The peculiar relationship between the old and the very young is a constant theme in Philippa's writing and when, late in life, she had the unexpected delight of two small grandsons, it gave her a renewed burst of creative energy. She called being a grandmother a privilege, a rare, almost inexplicable pleasure not just fun but something different, more. Philippa Pearce died in December 2006. Concentrating mainly on children's titles, Jan Francis has read (and sometimes sung on) well over 100 works for children alone, delighting young listeners and, judging by the feedback reviews on internet sites, earning the gratitude of parents. Jan's reading skills have also been utilised on more adult titles, both classic and contemporary, and her readings can be regularly heard on the digital radio spoken-word station Oneword.
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